If your child struggles with reading it may not be solely a skill-based problem, more and more vision problems are being contributed to poor school performance.
According to See to Learn, 20% of kindergarten students have vision problems, rising to 30-40% as children reach high school. This is a huge learning deterrent since 80% of learning is accomplished visually.
When two Kansas educators, Chris Cooper and his wife, found their son struggling with reading they eagerly looked into the cause of the problem. After getting him reading assistance and considering holding him back, the reading specialist he was working with told his parents: “he doesn’t’ see what everybody else sees” (often a sign of dyslexia). Since he had had several vision checks, all saying he had perfect sight, his parents hadn’t considered this a possible problem.
The Coopers’ immediately scheduled an appointment with Dr. Stacy Clark, and optometrist from Kansas who practices vision therapy that works to help the “20% of school-aged children [who] have undetected vision problems that are hindering their school performance.” The Coopers’ were told that their son had perfect sight but poor vision; his eyes did not allow him to read because he could not track from top to bottom or left to right.
Some other signs that indicate vision is causing reading problems include:
- Confusing words
- Rubbing eyes
- Tilting reading material at an angle
- Holding books too closely
After three months of vision therapy the Coopers’ son had improved one full reading level. “Vision therapy doesn’t make a student a good reader, but it eliminates a hurdle,” stated Chris Cooper.
Dr. Julie Toon, president of the Eye Care Council, advices that “vision problems often cause issues that might be explained by other conditions, always get a thorough eye examination when children struggles in school.”
Because of the Coopers’ experience, vision assessments are now used when evaluating student underperformance in the Kansas Abilene school district.
If your child is struggling with reading consider scheduling an eye appointment to check his vision. However, be aware that many optometrists won’t have the background of those in this article and may not know what to look for.
If your child’s vision problems are indicative of dyslexia and he struggles with directional tracking and word confusion, consider getting him a reading program which is based on explicit and systematic phonics instruction (proven to help dyslexics learn to read).
