Learning Related Vision Problems

Vision Therapy Needs To Be Shared 

TEDxCheltenham video 

I see too many people that indicate they have never heard of vision therapy.  In my mind this is atrocious.  Vision therapy can help to remediate so many problems.  The obvious are lazy eye (amblyopia) and crossed eyes (strabismus).  Not as well known are learning related vision problems.  The Internet is helping to get this information out to the masses. 

A recent TEDxCheltenham video goes a long way in getting this type of information out to the public.  It was done by Keith Holland from England.  He skillfully puts across ideas that need to be learned by many.  He is a comforting speaker who gets his point across - ENJOY!!

--James B. Mayer, O.D., F.C.O.V.D.
     Agape Learning & Optometry Center
     Thousand Oaks, CA   91360

Children's Vision Warning Signs

CHILDREN’S VISION: WATCH FOR SIGNS

Some of the learning problems your child faces in school may be related to vision. Even if your child has 20/20 eyesight, there may be hidden visual problems that affect your child’s understanding of school tasks. These visual problems can usually be treated with prescription eyeglasses and/or visual training. According to the American Optometric Association (AOA) nearly 25% of all school-age children in the United States have a vision problem.   

          

The AOA found that few of these problems extend to full blindness. Instead, they are often subtle vision problems that can impair or even prevent a child’s development. These visual inefficiencies can interfere with learning, inhibit participation in sports and other activities and create frustration for children of any age.

Unfortunately, because some visual problems related to learning are often mistaken for low motivation, rebelliousness, short attention span, or unwillingness to study, they can be hard to detect.  However, sometimes these behaviors can be symptoms of an underlying visual cause.

Parents and teachers can look for the following signs that may indicate visual problems in a child:

• Has short visual and listening attention span; becomes easily    bored and restless
• Loses place easily when reading
• Suffers from car sickness
• Trips or stumbles regularly
• Has little or no interest in books beyond mechanical turning    of pages
• One eye turns in or out at any time
• Headaches, burning or itching eyes after reading
• Complains of seeing double
• Omits letters, numbers or phrases
• Avoids near-centered tasks
• Covers or closes one eye when reading
• Does not improve, even after continued practice

If these symptoms are discovered in your child, schedule a visual examination.  A child’s vision examination differs from an adult.  A thorough developmental optometric exam of a child includes a battery of tests.   These may be new to you and provide insights not known.

--James B. Mayer, OD, FCOVD

     Agape Learning & Optometry Center

     Thousand Oaks, CA   91360 

Children's Vision

VISUAL READINESS

As your children grow, you can help them adapt to the many visual changes they face. At different stages of development, a child needs different visual skills.  The toys, games and visual input you provide can help your child build a strong foundation for reading, studying and working.

For many years, people believed that newborn babies could not see. However, experts have found that infants can see up close. Young babies are attracted by faces, brightly colored objects and patterns, so give them lots of visual variety.

It’s best not to push preschoolers to read, but you can help them get ready to read by exposing children to a wide range of ideas and words.  To a young child, words on a page are just a mass of interesting symbols—this is a normal part of a child’s development and will grow into understanding later.

In kindergarten, children learn about spatial relationships that will help them cope with reading.  They learn to look at things from left to right, to differentiate form, to distinguish between curved and straight lines. Simple tasks such as coloring circles one color and squares another are a step towards reading letters later on. 

Developmental problems in children occur when they are deprived, restrained or restricted during early months and years.  Deprivation comes from insufficient exposure to a variety of experiences which prevents the visual system from developing adequate skills.  Too much restriction or restraint causes inefficient seeing habits, such as using only one eye.

As your child grows, you can watch for visual development clues and signs that might signal a problem.  Here are signs to watch for at various stages of development:

In preschool (from 5 months to 5 years), the eyes should be straight and healthy looking—watch for tilting of the head, poor coordination and balance; eyes should follow people or objects.  Your child should be able to point to an object he or she sees.  By age 5, a child usually shows an interest in books, can draw and color and knows how to write own name.

The stress of school and classwork frequently shows up around the second grade, which is the earliest stage of concentration of intensity and staying with a task.

Watch for signs of myopia (nearsightedness), like squinting or working too close to a task; headaches; squinting or burning eyes; a short attention span or losing of place while reading; covering of one eye or tilting head while reading; complaints of seeing double.

By the third or fourth grade, a sudden drop in achievement may occur. At this point, children must start using what they read. They read to learn, not learn to read. Reading must be used to learn other, more complex, areas of school work.

A state-wide study of 160,000 children in the Texas schools showed that 20% had vision problems by the time they finished first grade, and 40% by age 9. However, few children show the existence of vision problems at birth.

The visual stress on your children cannot be underestimated. We suggest that parents schedule a vision examination by age 1 (no cost to you because we are InfantSee.com providers), age 3 and before children enter kindergarten and yearly thereafter to help prevent and treat visual problems.

--James B. Mayer, OD, FCOVD

     Agape Learning & Optometry Center

     Thousand Oaks, CA   91360

Learning Related Vision Problems

Learning Difficulties?  Get Vision Therapy!

Sometimes a success story from a parent will help in understanding how vision therapy can help with learning difficulties.  Maybe there are headaches or eyestrain.  Many times there will be difficulties in skipping words or lines when reading.  Visual concentration is often reduced. In the following video you will learn about anger problems with a child who had learning related vision problems.  I think you will really enjoy "Sophie's Story".  It was provided by Dr. Gabby Marshall of Bend, OR.

--James B. Mayer, O.D., F.C.O.V.D.
     Agape Learning & Optometry Center
     Thousand Oaks, CA   91360

Vision & Toys

CHILD’S TOYS HELP BUILD

A SOUND BASE FOR VISION

"It is only a slight exaggeration to say that what we see today, how we perceive the visual world around us, depends on the visual experiences we had during the first stages of our lives."  So said the Nobel Committee in awarding the 1981 Prize in Medicine to three researchers in vision who had affirmed that discovery.  Among the best “visual stimulators” for youngsters are the toys they play with each day.

Here are some toys that help build eye-hand coordination, general movement skills (for everything from writing to sports), shape and size discrimination (needed for reading), space and distance judgments (needed for driving and sports) and visualization and visual memory skills that enable us to develop concepts.

Birth to 5 months:

       Toys: sturdy crib mobiles, gyms, large, bright rattles, bright rubber squeak toys

       Activities: Peek-a-boo, patty cake

6 to 8 months:

       Toys: stuffed animals, floating bath toys

       Activities: Hide and seek with toys

9 to 12 months:

       Toys: sturdy cardboard books, take-apart toys, snap-lock beads, blocks and stacking-nesting toys

       Activities: roll a ball back and forth

1-year-olds:

       Toys: bright balls, blocks, zippers, rocking horse and riding toys pushed by the feet

       Activities: throwing a ball

2-year-olds:

       Toys: pencils, markers, crayons, beanbag-ring toss games, peg hammering toys, sorting shapes-and-sizes toys, puzzles and blocks.   A great toy for children this age is a stacking, nesting coffee percolator with parts that nest together when properly assembled.

Careful selection of toys that can build visual skills should help provide a solid foundation upon which a child can develop more efficiently in school and life.

For youngsters who have missed out on some of the vision developmental steps during their early life, an individual optometric visual training program can help them “fill in gaps” to provide that solid visual foundation.

--James B. Mayer, OD, FCOVD
    Agape Learning & Optometry Center
    Thousand Oaks, CA

Learning Related Vision Problems

Vision and Learning(Info provided by COVD.org)

Many parents indicate to us that their child's eyes are fine.  They have passed the pediatrician's vision screening or one at their school.  How could there possibly be a vision problem contributing to difficulties in learning and school?  The answer is complex but we often find subtle problems that are not detected in screenings.  Academic success requires 17 different visual skills and seeing 20/20 is just one of these skills.  Screenings do not check for all of these skills.

Symptoms of a learning related vision problem include:
---Struggles with schoolwork
---Short attention span with reading
---Poor reading comprehension
---Homework overwhelm

Contact us if your child has any of these symptoms.

James B. Mayer, OD, FCOVD
   Agape Learning & Optometry Center
   Thousand Oaks, CA   91360

 Tech Use Taking Toll On Kids' Eyes

Doctor: School vision exams don't catch everything

AUSTIN (KXAN.com) - One-in-four school-aged children have vision problems that can affect learning. But often, children and parents don't have a clue there's anything wrong.
Between buying school supplies, school lunches and new clothes, parents have their hands full getting kids ready to head back to class.

But there's one more thing that can start them off on the right foot.

"It's really imperative that all children receive a comprehensive vision exam before they start school," said Dr. Mary McMains.

McMains says school vision screenings only detect about 5 percent of problems and often miss identifying children who have trouble seeing up close.

The National Eye Institute also reports longer stints in front of the computer screen are leading to more eye problems at an earlier age.

"What we're seeing is that we're having more nearsightedness, more complaints of double vision, blurry vision, tired eyes, headaches," McMains said.

When Kirby Youngblood first came to her office, the third grader was experiencing several headaches a day and his school work was suffering.

"You can see there's colored letters that are thicker, erase marks -- I didn't erase very well," Kirby Youngblood said.

After eight months of special vision therapy catered to kids that often looks more like an arcade than a doctor's office, his vision has improved.

"It's like watching your child transition into someone new -- someone you always knew that they were, but something was holding them back," said Sheila Youngblood.

Because most kids don't know there's a problem, there are warning signs to look for.

"Rubbing the eyes, watery red eyes can be a factor or if you notice a child is taking their book and holding it too close and pushing it far away, squinting, turning their heads so that their nose might be blocking one eye because they're having difficulty coordinating both eyes on the page," McCains said.

A good rule of thumb is to be proactive rather than reactive.
Doctors recommend a child's first eye exam be done before they turn age one, then again at age three and another right before schools starts.

Vision & Special Needs Kids

Kids with special needs can have a myriad of vision problems.  We are proud to have the capability, equipment and expertise to diagnose and treat these difficulties.

Developmental disorders arise in some stage of a child's development.  They are often grouped into:

• Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD)
       Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
            Autism (39% of ASD)
            Asperger Syndrome (14% of ASD)         
            PDD-Not Otherwise Specified, NOS (32% of ASD)
       Rett Syndrome
       Childhood Disintegrative Disorder (CDD)     
• Specific Developmental Disorders (SDD)
       Specific Learning Disabilities
       Developmental Coordination Disorders

I came across a very nice blog today written by Pat Wyman (HowToLearn.com).  She wrote an excellent piece on how optometric vision therapy can help reading problems in autism.  I believe you will find her article very informative.  Access it by clicking HERE. 

Vision Exams For Kids!! (Video)

Betsy Cowand, a kindergarten teacher from West Shore Elementary in Tampa, Florida & Dr. Larry Lampert, a developmental optometrist from Boca Raton, Florida are interviewed  by Danielle Knox (Lifetime TV) about children's vision & eye exams.

Over 80% of learning comes through the visual system.  Almost 25% of children have a undetected vision problem that affects learning.  Vision screenings at school and the pediatrician's office are missing visual skill checks with areas of processing that are crucial for learning.

Resource Website

--James B. Mayer, OD, FCOVD

     Agape Learning & Optometry Center

     Thousand Oaks, CA

Letter & Number Reversals - Dyslexia? (COVD White Paper)

Problems of letter and number reversals in children have concerned parents and educators for many years.  Some have considered reversals as a symptom of dyslexia.  More commonly reversals reflect a lag in spatial development. Most research has shown there is no structural or medical basis for these reversals. Although reversals are common and expected in five to six year old children, they may persist through childhood.  Some adults may even continue to manifest these problems.

For many years, scientists have studied children with reversal problems, particularly regarding orientation to right and left as related to their own bodies (laterality), and to objects around them (directionality). At three, or even younger, the child should have grasped the concept of top and bottom, and right side up or upside down (even though still looking at books upside down). The four year old is grappling with front and back, and may still put a shirt on backward.  Many four year olds show reversals as they put on shoes by themselves.  Some four to five year olds may start printing numbers and letters from right to left.  At these ages, this is a normal stage of developing orientation in children.

Although most children master this concept of directionality by age seven, this confusion in orientation may continue, in some people, all their life.  Reversals are a manifestation of a developmental lag in the process of orientation.  They are indicative of an underlying problem in the integration of the vestibular and visual systems in the brain.  Rote repetition of learning to write letters and numbers correctly or rotely learning right and left hands may help us pass a test, but it does not solve the problem of the underlying causative factor of delayed orientation development.

The development of orientation starts in the prenatal period with the attitudinal reflexes which help the fetus orient in utero.  This development continues through varied learned experiences in our lives.  Interferences in movement activities involving vision and neuromotor relationships limit the development of orientation. According to the neuroscientist J.D. French, orientation contributes in an important way to the highest mental processes--the focusing of attention, and the ability to think, to learn, and to act.

Specific optometric vision therapy, including the unique application of lenses and prisms during visual-neuromotor activities (movement with awareness and feedback), provides learning experiences to improve the development of laterality, directionality and orientation, and the related problems of reversals.  When a child learns to orient easily, the evidence points to a well integrated and effectively operating person.

Members of the College of Optometrists in Vision Development (COVD) are optometrists who have demonstrated interest in the problems and remediation of reversals. Fellows of the College are certified in the diagnosis and treatment of learning related vision problems. For further information, contact COVD or consult with a COVD member optometrist.

This informational paper was produced by the College of Optometrists in Vision Development, which board certifies qualified optometric physicians in vision therapy. For further information, see our website, www.covd.org. WP5 Rev 1/2/08 ©2008

--James B. Mayer, OD, FCOVD
     Agape Learning & Optometry Center
     Thousand Oaks, CA 

Back To School Eye Exams

SOME STATS . . . .
Can you believe that 50% of all kids in the U.S. have never received a comprehensive vision exam???  Many have vision problems that have never been addressed.  Some have eye health issues.  Others have visual skill deficits such a tracking or convergence difficulties.  This is especially troubling because 80% of what kids learn come through their eyes.  Problems can impact school performance.  In fact, 25% of kids have a problem which interferes with their learning.

VISION PROBLEMS & BEHAVIOR . . . . .
Did you know that many kids diagnosed with ADHD or ADD actually have vision problems?  Attention and concentration can improve tremendously with a eye exam!!  CAVEAT - I always do tests for tracking and convergence - others don't.  Vision screenings at school and the pediatrician are especially poor.  I have parents tell me routinely their child passed the school screening despite having problems with tracking and/or convergence.

FREQUENCY . . . . . .
Eyes are as important as teeth, especially with academics!!  Be sure to have yearly eye exams.  They provide peace of mind in our hectic society.

--James B. Mayer, OD, FCOVD
     Agape Learning & Optometry Center

Vision & Learning: COVD White Paper

Research has demonstrated that vision is a contributing factor to an individual’s ability to attend and respond to classroom instruction. A major portion of what we learn is taken in through the visual system.

There are many aspects of vision which might affect an individual’s abilities to attend and respond to teacher instruction.  It is well known that nearsightedness (myopia), farsightedness (hyperopia), and astigmatism, all of which can result in blurred vision or eye strain, relate to performance in the classroom. 

However, individuals may have focusing problems which do not allow them to rapidly change focus from book to chalkboard and vice versa. 

They may have difficulty using both eyes together.  This dysfunction can require excess effort to overcome and may interfere with visual information processing.

Also, an individual may have difficulty controlling eye movements. This could result in loss of place when reading, frequent guessing of words, need for the use of the finger to maintain one’s place, or other more subtle difficulties.

Visual information processing problems may result in children being overwhelmed the day they start school.  The academic curriculum is designed on the assumption that children possess certain visual information processing abilities, as well as other skills, at certain chronological ages. In other words, is the child visually ready for school?  The child who has not developed the required level of skill may have difficulty from "day one".  These difficulties might manifest themselves as problems in reading, writing, mathematics, spelling, thinking, sports endeavors, playground activities, and even the social relationships children have with their siblings and peers.

Individuals manifesting visual problems associated with learning problems may benefit from the use of lenses and prisms for both the prevention and remediation of these visual problems. Other visual problems might best be remediated by optometric vision therapy.  This includes the application of lenses and prisms in conjunction with procedures to provide the individual with strategies which will aid in the development of adequate visual performance.

There are numerous research and clinical studies demonstrating the effectiveness of optometric vision therapy for treating problems in the functioning of the visual system.  There are also numerous case reports supporting specific diagnoses and treatment plans.  Studies have also demonstrated visual deficiencies and visual information processing deficits in older individuals, supporting the fact that children do not simply outgrow these deficits.

Members of the College of Optometrists in Vision Development (COVD) have post graduate education in vision and learning. Fellows of the College are certified in the diagnosis and treatment of learning related vision problems. For further information contact COVD or consult with your COVD optometrist.

This informational paper was produced by the College of Optometrists in Vision Development, which board certifies qualified optometric physicians in vision therapy. For further information, see our website, http://www.covd.org/.


I have attained Fellowship status in COVD.  The initials after OD (Doctor of Optometry), FCOVD indicate Fellow in the College of Optometrists in Vision Development.  There are approximately 500 Fellows in the world that have completed the written and oral requirements.  Give me a call with any questions.

--James B. Mayer, OD, FCOVD

   Agape Learning & Optometry Center

   Thousand Oaks, CA   91360

   (805)495 3937