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Vision & Learning PDF Print E-mail

Of all of our senses, that which is the most important in the learning process is vision. Over 85% of all we ever learn is thought to have been received
by sight, yet the least investigated and most overlooked sense when the child demonstrates learning difficulties is often the same sense - vision!

eye-chartMany children who are diagnosed as learning disabled (dyslexic) or who are underachieving at school, can in fact show simple vision problems that prevent them from obtaining their true potential in the classroom, and sadly, many will have "passed" simple eye tests which only test distance vision. This creates a false sense of security amidst parents, who no longer suspect or look for visual difficulties.

Reading, writing and spelling are also skills fundamentally dependant on vision, and since reading is the first of the building blocks to be acquired, it is usually the first place to look for difficulties. There are three main vision skills needed for a child to read efficiently, these are: CONVERGENCE, ACCOMMODATION and TRACKING.

CONVERGENCE

The child needs to use his eyes as a team and both eyes must be directed towards the same point on the page. This convergence must be maintained without effort as the eyes scan along lines of letters. This ensures the brain receives a single unified picture of the print.

ACCOMMODATION

The picture seen by each eye must be sharp and correctly focused. This skill is known as accommodation and the child must be able to rapidly and effortlessly adjust accommodation to cope with changing eye to print distances. These two skills, focusing (accommodation) and convergence are closely linked and children showing problems with one are probably going to show some difficulty with the other.

Signs of Convergence/Accomodation Difficulty:

  • Complaints of blurred or double print - often momentarily.
  • Reduced span of regard - only a small area of print is perceived at a time.
  • Variations in ‘blackness' of print noted - often clearing with a blink.
  • Complaints of tiredness and fatigue with close work.
  • Complaints of headaches after school and homework.
  • Poor co-ordination in small ball games such as rounders and tennis.
  • Deteriorating quality of written work.
  • Variations in working distance - often becoming very short after quite brief periods of close work.
  • A tendency to blink, screw up the eyes or rub the eyes - usually during or after close work.
  • Complaints of ‘rivers of white' on page of print.
  • Complaints of print appearing ‘splotchy'.
  • Reading tests produce accuracy and speed scores that are below comprehension level.

TRACKING

The third major skill required when reading is to be able to scan, or track along the line of print, so that the brain is able to receive an orderly and correctly sequenced pattern of information. Not only must we be able to scan from word to word, but we also need to make the larger movement from one line to another without loosing our place.

Signs of Tracking Difficulty:

  • A tendency to loose place or line whilst reading.
  • A need to use the finger or marker to keep place.
  • Tendency to miss out letters or words.
  • Tendency to mis-order letters within words, for example ‘from' read as ‘for'.
  • Tendency to confuse order of numbers when working on columns of figures.
  • Confusion between hundreds, tens and units.

Downloads of PDFs on behavioural optom and practice leaflet.