What does it mean to have a visual processing problem?

Functional vision problems, , , ,

The Visual Learning Center offers 
developmental optometry & vision therapy
in Olney, Maryland, near Silver Spring.

A visual processing problem is a type of perceptual deficiency that hinders a child’s ability to make sense of information that they take in through their eyes. Reading, writing, learning and countless important everyday activities require strong visual processing skills.

Click here to watch a video about vision problems and learning.

To be able to see clearly is just the beginning, and 20-20 vision is not enough. It is the brain, not the eyes, that interprets and applies visual data. A visual processing problem occurs when there is a disruption or inefficiency in the way the brain processes information after the eyes see something.

Vision requires healthy neurological activity and communication between the eyes and the brain within a complex set of mechanisms. A visual processing problem results when this system either hasn’t developed properly or it has been damaged in some way.

Click here to download our free guide, “10 Things You Need to Know About Vision”

When a child has a visual processing disorder, they may see clearly and their eyes may function normally, but they may not have the ability effectively and efficiently interpret, categorize, remember, or associate meaning with the images and information in their brain.

Examples of visual processing problems include difficulty with visualization, visual memory, visual processing speed and accuracy,  visual-motor integration and speed, and more.

Visualization is the process of creating a mental picture in the mind. It’s what occurs when someone says to “picture this” or when you’re reading and you imagine the characters and scene in your mind. This process is fundamental to creating and associating meaning. A child with a visualization problem struggles to create that mental picture, so they are missing an important building block of learning.

Visual memory refers to the ability to accurately remember something you see. We have to remember what letters look like, what words look like, and what letters and words mean from sentence to sentence, from page to page, and from day to day. If there is a problem with visual memory, learning of the same material has to occur again and again.

Visual processing speed and accuracy involves reading words, sentences, and numbers quickly and with few errors. Children with visual processing problems tend to work slowly and make more errors in their work.

Visual-motor integration is the ability to correctly perceive visual information, process it, and move your hands or body accordingly. Visual-motor speed is the ability to efficiently integrate visual skills and motor skills for the purpose of completing a task.

Visual sequencing is the ability to tell the correct order of words, symbols, or images.

Visual figure-ground discrimination enables a child to distinguish a shape or text from the background in which it is situated. Visual discrimination is the ability to recognize the difference between similar objects, shapes, or letters, such as p and q or b and d.

Visual closure is the ability to identify an object from its parts. For example, the child might not be able to identify a car that’s missing its wheels or a word missing letters, which interferes with learning, reading, and spelling.

Visual-spatial processing refers to the ability to tell space or distance of an object, either on paper or physically. It also enables understanding of time and narrative, which factors into comprehension levels.

If your child has a visual processing problem, school, athletics, and even social interaction can be challenging. The good news is visual processing therapy with one-on-one vision training can effectively improve visual processing skills.

Signs of visual processing problems include:

  • Difficulty reading
  • Complaints of tiredness while reading
  • Losing place or skipping words while reading
  • Trouble with math or inability to make progress in math
  • Messy handwriting
  • Difficulty buttoning or zipping clothes or trouble cutting food or using scissors

Read 9 Signs Your Child May Have an Undiagnosed Vision Problem.

If you suspect your child could have a visual processing disorder, schedule a comprehensive vision exam with a developmental optometrist who specializes in functional vision care.

For visual processing therapy in Silver Spring or Olney Maryland, contact Dr. Philip Nicholson’s Visual Learning Center to schedule a comprehensive vision exam today.

Eye Movement Recordings Demonstrate Learning-Related Vision Problems

Learning-related vision problems

Is your child having trouble reading? Have you noticed them skipping letters, words, or entire lines of text? Perhaps they start off strong and then seem to get tired or lose interest quickly.

Getting to the bottom of what’s causing reading problems in children can be challenging. You may wonder if their difficulties are caused by dyslexia, a learning disability, or Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD/ADHD). What you may not have considered is that a learning-related vision problem could be to blame.

If a student has passed a typical vision screening, the child’s teacher or reading specialist will rarely suspect a vision problem to account for their reading difficulties. Most educational professionals are trained to believe 20/20 eyesight rules out the possibility that vision deficiencies could cause reading difficulties.

A typical eye exam only tests for clear vision at a distance for as long as it takes to look at a chart. But reading requires close, focused, sustained vision, smooth and coordinated eye movement, and the efficient processing of information through the visual system.

Normal oculomotor movement while reading occurs as a series of “fixations” and “jumps”– the eye fixates on certain points within the text and then jumps to another point. When we read, we take in either part of a word or a whole word each time we fixate or pause. Next, that word processes through the visual system. And then our eyes fixate briefly on the next word or word fragment, just long enough to see and process it.

In a healthy visual system, this process of fixating and jumping occurs without disruption or weakness. But a child with an eye tracking or eye teaming problem strains to accurately and efficiently control eye movements. While their classmates’ eyes move along a line of text smoothly with little effort, oculomotor dysfunction causes the eyes to jump erratically.

You may not be able to detect the irregular eye movement upon observation because even subtle problems can interfere with learning and performance. Slight eye movement deviations can make it challenging to read and write without becoming fatigued, skipping text, or losing one’s place.

Eye tracking is a complex function that involves our ocular muscles as well as many different areas of the brain. When someone with a healthy visual system reads or writes, eye tracking movements are not smooth as they scan along the text from left to right; however the movements are controlled, efficient, and unconsciously effortless.

For a child with oculomotor dysfunction, reading requires strained effort that becomes especially apparent as paragraphs and reading assignments grow longer. So you may notice a child who reads “on level” in Kindergarten begins to fall behind by second or third grade.

Because the eye muscles are not functioning in a normal healthy way, the child will often lose their place while reading or copying from the board, reread words or lines repeatedly, or try to cope by sliding a finger or pencil across the page as they read.

The video below is an actual eye movement recording using state-of-the-art technology to analyze for the presence of teaming and tracking problems.

As you will see in the recording, the child noticeably slows down as she gets to the last few sentences. This suggests that she grew tired of the strained effort required to follow the text. Imagine what this would look like after reading a chapter.

The video demonstrates one aspect of a comprehensive functional vision exam conducted in our office by an optometrist who specializes in developmental vision care to diagnose or rule out a learning-related vision problem.

If you suspect your child may have a learning-related vision problem, contact your local developmental optometrist as soon as possible. To schedule a comprehensive vision exam and access vision therapy in Olney, MD near Silver Spring, contact us at Dr. Philip Nicholson’s Visual Learning Center.

visual-motor problems

Signs That Your Child Could Have a Visual-Motor Problem

Functional vision problems, Uncategorized

The Visual Learning Center offers
developmental optometry & vision therapy
in Olney, Maryland,  convenient to Silver Spring.

Vision plays a significant role in guiding our movements. If your child is having problems with movement — whether they are struggling with fine motor skills or gross motor skills — the difficulty could be caused by visual-motor dysfunction, which is treatable with vision therapy.

Fine motor function is what we think of as eye-hand coordination, and it requires translating abstract visual information into the equivalent fine motor activity. Fine motor skills include handwriting, cutting with scissors, coloring, drawing, typing, texting, and other small movement hand functions.

Gross motor function, which is eye-body coordination, requires translating visual information into the equivalent gross motor activity. Gross motor skills include walking, running, sports, and general physical agility and coordination.

Visual-motor integration is comprised of the ability to correctly perceive visual information, process it, and move your hands or body accordingly. Visual-motor speed refers to the ability to efficiently integrate visual skills and motor skills for the purpose of completing a task.

Research shows a significant correlation between visual-motor integration skills and academic performance in writing, spelling, reading, and math. Even when taking overall cognitive abilities and learning disabilities into account, visual-motor dysfunction negatively impacts performance and standardized test scores.

To learn more how vision can affect learning, download our free guide here and watch our pre-recorded webinar here.

Early signs of visual-motor problems in children can include missed milestones and delays in gross motor skills, such as crawling, standing, and walking or fine motor skills, such as grasping and manipulating objects or gripping crayons.

In early elementary years, children with delayed or disordered visual-motor skills may have trouble with tasks such as copying their name or even copying basic shapes. Low visual-motor skills in Kindergarten have been shown to predict reading difficulties in later years.

Other signs of visual-motor dysfunction include:

  • Messy handwriting and sloppy drawing
  • Poor grades on written tests despite being able to give answers orally
  • Trouble gripping or repeatedly re-gripping pencil
  • Difficulty coloring inside the lines or writing within lines
  • Misaligning numbers in columns for math problems
  • Excessive errors and erasing
  • Slow to complete written assignments
  • Frustration with pencil and paper activities
  • Difficulty copying from the board
  • General clumsiness or trouble with coordination
  • Poor performance in sports, such as hitting, catching, or kicking a ball

Coordinating visual perception, visual processing, and fine or gross motor output can be so challenging for children that learning occurs more slowly and overall performance is affected. Students with visual-motor problems often know the material being covered, but putting pencil to paper is not as easy for them as it is for their peers.

It’s possible that in a child with a visual-motor problem, visual perception is intact and that there may not be a problem with body movement and coordination. The issue could be with the mechanism that enables motor and visual systems to communicate well and work together efficiently.  

Even if a child is working with an Occupational Therapist (OT) to improve motor skills, this may not address problems with visual perception, visual-motor integration, and visual-motor speed. OTs are trained to work with children to improve and strengthen specific skills and abilities, but deficiencies in the visual processing system can interfere with a child’s ability to make progress.

If you suspect your child may be struggling with a visual-motor problem, the first step is to schedule a functional vision exam with an optometrist trained in developmental vision care. Once diagnosed, the good news is, an individualized vision therapy program can result in noticeable improvement in a relatively short period of time.

At the Visual Learning Center in Olney, Maryland, we provide vision therapy that regularly results in improved visual motor speed, better legibility with written tasks, accelerated development of visual-motor integration skills, and improved coordination and sports performance.

daughter struggling with reading

7 Reasons Children With Undiagnosed Vision Problems Struggle to Read

Uncategorized,

The Visual Learning Center offers 
developmental optometry & vision therapy
in Olney, Maryland,  convenient to Silver Spring.

Is your child struggling to read, and you don’t know why? One of the most frequent complaints by parents who visit the Visual Learning Center is that their child is having difficulty reading or reading below grade level.

This can be particularly disheartening for parents who love to read or remember fondly curling up with a good book as a child. You may have even noticed that your child seemed to read easily in Kindergarten, but then fell behind as time went on.

You sense something is wrong, but assessments and interventions for learning disabilities, dyslexia, or attention deficit disorders haven’t helped.

One commonly overlooked type of condition that might be interfering with your child’s ability to read could be a learning-related functional vision problem, even with “20/20” eyesight. An undiagnosed vision disorder or deficiency can make reading incredibly difficult.

To learn more how vision can affect learning, download our free guidehere and watch our pre-recorded webinar here.

When parents first learn that their child may potentially have a learning-related vision problem that’s interfering with their ability to read well, they usually wonder why the school’s vision screening or family eye doctor didn’t detect a problem.

The problem is routine vision screenings typically only test for the child’s ability to see clearly at a distance for a few moments. Reading requires intense and sustained focusing of the eyes for a prolonged period time, moving the eyes smoothly along lines of text, and processing of the information through the entire visual system for comprehension.

Here are 7 Reasons Children With Undiagnosed Vision Problems Struggle to Read (even with 20/20 eyesight):

They lose their place when reading.

To read, the eye jumps across the text and fixates on certain points; with each fixation, the child takes in either a whole word or part of a word while the eye is momentarily stationary. If your child has trouble with eye tracking, they will often lose their place in the text, making reading difficult.

They see letters in reverse.

Many parents assume letter reversals are always a sign of dyslexia. Letter reversals are also a common symptom of vision problems, such as eye movement disorders and visual processing deficiencies, which can make reading challenging.

Their eyes are not moving together as a team.

The ability to move, turn, and point the eyes together at the same time is called eye teaming or binocular vision skills. If a child’s eyes are not working together as a team, they may be experiencing double vision or blurry vision, which makes reading tiring.

Their eyes and brain do not work together efficiently.

Vision includes a lot more than eyesight. Vision is comprised of three main components — reception, processing, and output; and each of these main components of vision is complex. If any aspect of the complex vision system is not functioning in a normal and healthy way, this can interfere with the ability to read.

Their eyes do not stay focused.

Children with accommodative dysfunction, or trouble focusing, have difficulty maintaining a clear image for a reasonable length of time. Reading is challenging because the text grows fuzzy or blurred, and they have to strain to stay focused.

They quickly forget what they just learned or read.

Visual memory is the ability to look at something, create a mental image for that thing, and hold that picture in your mind for later recall and use. To read, a child must look at a word, recognize and recall individual letters and strings of letters, create a mental image for that word and associate it with a meaning, and hold that word picture in mind to see and retrieve later. If a child has a visual memory deficiency, the process is a struggle and it affects their ability to read.

They’re frustrated and tired.

Children with vision problems are constantly overcompensating for their deficiencies and straining, so resulting  irritability and physical symptoms are common. For this reason, the child may seem restless or “act out” with disruptive behavior. They may experience headaches or exhaustion after reading or complain that their eyes hurt, feel tired, or that their eyes are excessively dry or watery.

To detect a learning-related vision problem, your child must undergo a thorough functional vision exam by an optometrist trained in developmental vision care.

Once diagnosed, the good news is, an individualized vision therapy program can result in significant improvement in a relatively short period of time.

If your family is located in the Olney or Silver Spring, Montgomery County, Maryland area, contact Dr. Philip Nicholson’s Visual Learning Center today to schedule an appointment.

An Eye Teaming Problem Could Be The Reason Your Child Struggles to Read

Difficulty reading, , ,

The Visual Learning Center offers 
developmental optometry & vision therapy
in Olney, Maryland,  convenient to Silver Spring.

Have you noticed that your child or a child you work with tries to avoid reading? Do they look away from the text often, rub their eyes repeatedly, or claim that they are tired every time they sit down to read?

This observed behavior could be caused by an eye teaming problem that might be interfering with their ability to learn and read effectively.

When a child is doing close work, such as writing, reading, or using a tablet, mobile device or computer, they must be able to keep both eyes turned in to point at the same position long enough to complete the task. This vision function–the ability to move, turn, and point the eyes together–is called eye teaming or binocular vision skills.

To learn more how vision can affect learning, download our free guide here and watch our pre-recorded webinar here.

Signs that your child may have an eye teaming problem include:

  • covering or closing one eye while reading
  • rubbing eyes excessively
  • complaining that words are blurry even with “20/20 eyesight”
  • having double vision
  • attempting to avoid reading or homework
  • declining performance over prolonged spans of close work
  • seeming to have a short attention span
  • tiring quickly while reading or doing close work
  • losing place while reading
  • frequent headaches

When a visual deficiency prevents both eyes from moving precisely in the same direction at the same time, reading can be challenging and the extra effort required to perform basic tasks can cause fatigue quickly.

Reading requires our eyes to aim in together at the same point on the page. Our vision is only clear, single and comfortable as long as both of our eyes are aiming at the same point.

Children with poor convergence or divergence skills have difficulty with eye teaming. Their eyes move somewhat independently of one another, which causes double or blurry vision, distorted depth perception, and sometimes dizziness.

They find it difficult to maintain the inward eye aim that required for reading. As their eyes get tired, they move inward or outward, pointing at different places on the page. Even a slight variation that isn’t noticeable when casually observing can cause a significant problem. The result is blurred vision that looks like double print.

vlc-eye-teaming

A typical eye exam by your family eye doctor or during a school vision screening does not test for eye teaming skills. If a child has an eye teaming disorder, he may be able to fixate on the vision chart in a typical eye exam and see it clearly long enough to see clearly for a moment. But maintaining proper eye turn for a sustained period of time can be a problem.

If you suspect that a child might have an eye teaming problem, it’s important that they undergo a comprehensive vision exam by a developmental optometrist who specializes in functional vision care and vision therapy. Studies have shown that as many as 78% of kids with reading and learning problems cannot track or team their eyes properly.

The good news is intensive vision therapy can improve binocular vision skills significantly and even eliminate eye teaming problems. See our vision therapy success stories.

For vision therapy in Olney or Silver Spring, Maryland contact Dr. Philip Nicholson’s Visual Learning Center today.

skipping letters when reading

Skipping Letters When Writing and Reading

Functional vision problems, , ,

The Visual Learning Center offers
developmental optometry & vision
therapy in Olney, MD near Silver Spring.

Is your child skipping letters when writing or skipping letters when reading? Perhaps they are even skipping words or entire lines of text. This is a common symptom for patients who come into our office, and it may indicate a vision disorder or deficiency, even if the child has 20/20 eyesight.

To learn more how vision can affect learning, download our free guide here and watch our pre-recorded webinar here.

When a child skips letters or words, parents and teachers often initially blame carelessness. They encourage the child to try harder and to concentrate and mistakenly believe the child is simply distracted. At first, adults tend to attribute skipping letters, words, and lines to too much screen time, lack of interest, or laziness.

But when they observe over time that the child is trying yet still struggling to read or write, skipping words and letters may seem to be a sign of impatience or sheer frustration.

However, children with eye tracking problems– an oculomotor dysfunction–may actually be experiencing difficulty with eye muscle coordination.

A child with an eye tracking problem strains to accurately and efficiently control eye movements. Oculomotor dysfunction causes their eyes to jump erratically, rather than move along a line of text smoothly. The irregular eye movement may be subtle enough not to detect by observation. But even slight eye movement deviations can make it challenging to read and write without skipping text.

Without the eye muscles functioning in a normal healthy way, you may notice your child losing their place while reading or copying from the board, rereading words or lines, or using a finger, pencil or some other tool in an attempt to maintain his place while reading or writing.

Eye tracking is a complex function that involves both muscles and many different areas of the brain. When someone with a healthy visual system reads or writes, eye tracking movements are not smooth as they scan along the text from left to right.

Normal oculomotor movements occur as a series of “jumps” and “fixations” on certain points across the text. Readers take in either a whole word or part of a word with each these pauses and fixations. Next, they process the word through the visual system. And then their eyes fixate on the next set of text, just long enough to see and process it.

All of this has to happen in a healthy manner without disruption or dysfunction. If your child is struggling with oculomotor weakness, reading is challenging and requires strained effort, especially as the paragraphs and reading or assignments grow longer.

If oculomotor dysfunction causes a child to continues to skipping letters, words or lines by third or fourth grade, they will likely fall below expected grade level performance. Fortunately, if your child is diagnosed with an oculomotor problem, vision therapy can treat and even cure the deficiency.

See our vision therapy success stories.

Only a functional vision exam by an optometrist who specializes in developmental vision care can diagnose or rule out a learning-related vision problem.

To schedule a comprehensive vision exam and access vision therapy in Olney, MD near SIlver Spring, contact Dr. Philip Nicholson’s Visual Learning Center.

Register for an upcoming webinar here.

Does Your Child Need to see a Developmental Optometrist or is a Routine Eye Exam Good Enough?

Functional vision problems

 

Dr. Philip Nicholson’s Visual Learning Center
provides developmental optometry and vision
therapy in Olney, Maryland near Silver Spring.

Has your child been screened for vision problems that may interfere with learning? Typical eye exams only test for clarity and sharpness of eyesight at a distance. However, most parents and teachers are not aware that many children with common vision disorders and visual processing deficiencies need to be assessed by a developmental optometrist who specializes in functional vision care.

Most states around the U.S. have some regulations requiring access to vision screening for children, typically through schools. The state of Maryland requires each county school board to provide vision screenings to all students entering first grade and again when entering eighth or ninth grade. These requirements are in place to prevent students with poor eyesight from falling through the cracks.

By getting annual exams with your family eye doctor, you likely believe your child is being tested for common problems and that you’re ensuring the best care for their child. Annual exams are important–if a child doesn’t have 20/20 eyesight, corrective lenses can make a world of difference. But 20/20 eyesight isn’t enough.

For children to be able to learn effectively and perform at their best, they must have a fully functional and healthy visual system. They must be able to coordinate their eye movements effectively and efficiently, and they must be able to process information quickly through their visual system.

Unfortunately, routine eye exams do not screen for learning-related vision problems. Your family eye doctor is most likely not trained in developmental optometry or functional vision care and vision therapy.

Even if your child has 20/20 eyesight, you may notice some of the following problems that could be attributed to a vision disorder or deficiency:

  • Skipping words, letters or lines while reading or writing
  • Reversing or substituting letters or numbers
  • Performing below grade level or below average on standardized tests
  • Poor handwriting
  • Difficulty copying from the board
  • Attention problems similar to ADHD
  • Complaining of headaches, eye aches, or tiredness while reading
  • Clumsiness, awkwardness, and poor coordination

Many children diagnosed with developmental delays, learning disabilities, dyslexia, or attention deficit disorder and behavior problems, actually have treatable vision problems that can be improved or cured with vision therapy.

To learn more how vision can affect learning, download our free guide here and watch our pre-recorded webinar here.

The only way to diagnose a learning-related vision problem is with a comprehensive eye exam by a developmental optometrist who specializes in functional vision care.

Here is a helpful list of questions to ask your family eye doctor:

  • How do you test for and correct accommodation facility (focusing) and lateral vergence facility (lateral eye alignment and speed), vertical vergence ranges (vertical eye alignment) ?
  • Do you test for and correct eye movement while the child is reading or answering questions that require comprehension?
  • Do you use equipment such as prisms and Visigraph infrared monitoring devices?
  • How do you test for visual perceptual or visual processing skills such as visual discrimination, visualization, and visual memory?

Here’s a handy PDF guide you can use for screening your eye doctor:

vlc-screen-your-eye-doctor

A child with a normal healthy visual system does not need to see a developmental optometrist–routine vision screenings and an annual visit to the family eye doctor will suffice.

But if a child is having trouble in school–academic, behavioral, social, or physical–you may discover that an undetected vision problem is to blame.

This vision checklist and questionnaire will help you determine if your child needs to see a developmental optometrist.

To schedule a comprehensive vision exam with a developmental optometrist in Olney, Maryland or Silver Spring, contact us at Dr. Philip Nicholson’s Visual Learning Center today.

Visual Processing Disorders Often Go Undetected in Children

Uncategorized

Dr. Philip Nicholson’s Visual Learning Center 
provides developmental optometry and vision therapy
in Olney, MD and the surrounding Silver Spring area.

A visual processing disorder is a type of perceptual deficiency that hinders a child’s ability to make sense of information that they take in through their eyes. When a child has a visual processing disorder, they may see clearly and their eyes may function normally, but they are not able to efficiently or effectively interpret, categorize, remember, or associate meaning with the images and information in their brain.

It’s the brain, not the eyes, that associates meaning with images, symbols, text, and spatial dimensions or distance. Typical vision exams usually only test for clarity and sharpness of vision.  Even with 20/20 eyesight, there can be a weakness in visual processing that interferes with learning and other functions.

Warning signs and symptoms of visual processing disorders include:

Difficulty reading, complaints of tiredness while reading, losing place or skipping words while reading:

Visual processing disorders can cause children to mix up the order of words and letters, reverse letters, or have poor visual memory, which affects comprehension and leads to confusion and frustration.

Trouble with math or inability to make progress in math:

If a child has a visual processing disorder, you may first notice that they have trouble remembering numbers, such as their phone number or address. They may copy down the wrong numbers from the board or from an equation. They may also confuse math symbols or have difficulty distinguishing the order and meaning of symbols in an equation.

Messy handwriting, difficulty buttoning or zipping clothes, trouble cutting food or using scissors:

In these cases, the child may be experiencing a visual processing problem related to their visual-motor skills and fine motor skills, meaning they are having difficulty coordinating what they see with their associated body movements to accomplish tasks.

Types of visual processing disorders include issues with:

Visual sequencing: the ability to tell the correct order of words, symbols, or images

Visual figure-ground discrimination: the ability to distinguish a shape or text from the background in which it’s situated

Visual closure: the ability to identify an object from its parts. For example, the child might not be able to identify a cat missing a tail, a car missing wheels, or a word missing letters, which interferes with reading and spelling.

Visual discrimination: the ability to recognize the difference between similar shapes, objects, or letters, such as p and q or b and d

Visual spatial processing: the ability to tell distance or space of an object, either physically or on paper. This also affects understanding of time and narrative, which interferes with comprehension.

Visual memory: the ability to recall what they’ve seen or read, which could occur either in the short-term or long-term. This interferes with reading, comprehension, and spelling, as well as using a keyboard or calculator.

Visual-motor processing: the ability to use what you see with your eyes to coordinate movement in the rest of your body. This interferes with writing, drawing, cutting, tasks that require hand-eye coordination, and sports.

Much of what we learn and do requires efficient and effective visual processing. If there is not a problem, these visual processing skills are easily taken for granted in a normal, healthy, functioning visual system.

If a child has a visual processing disorder, however, it can cause many problems in school with learning, in social situations, and with self-esteem. A large percentage of children who have trouble in school have some sort of processing disorder, including visual processing.

The good news is, intensive vision therapy treatment can improve visual processing skills and even cure visual processing deficiencies.

If you suspect your child could have a visual processing disorder, schedule a comprehensive vision exam with a developmental optometrist who specializes in functional vision care.

For an exam to detect possible visual processing disorders and vision therapy in Onley, Maryland and Silver Spring, contact The Visual Learning Center today.

Register for an upcoming webinar here.

What Appears to be a Learning Disability Could Be Cured With Vision Therapy

Learning-related vision problems, , ,

Learning disabilities and vision disorders or visual deficiencies share common signs, symptoms and behaviors. While a learning disability cannot be cured or fixed, common vision problems in children that are often mistaken for learning disabilities, can be successfully treated and cured with vision therapy.

Having 20/20 eyesight does not rule out vision problems that interfere with learning. Watch this video to learn more about the relationship between vision and learning.

A learning disability is a neurological disorder that indicates a person’s brain is “wired” differently. Children with learning disabilities are no less intelligent than their classmates, but they may have difficulty learning through conventional teaching methods. A child with a learning disability may struggle with reading, writing, math, organizing information, memory, or with reasoning skills.

Examples of learning disabilities include auditory processing disorders (difficulty understanding spoken language), dysgraphia (difficulty with writing), dyslexia (difficulty understanding written language), dyscalculia (difficulty with math problems and concepts), and nonverbal disabilities (difficulty with spatial and facial cues).

Each type of learning disability presents unique challenges; and if the disability is identified early enough, children can be taught using different approaches and taught specific skills to cope and even thrive.

Learning-related vision problems may present almost identically to some learning disorders that can be significantly improved or even eliminated permanently with vision therapy.

Both a child with a learning disability and a child with a vision deficiency may reverse, transpose, invert, or mix up letters or words when reading and writing.

Both a child with a learning disability and a child with a vision deficiency may appear restless, fidgety, or distracted in a classroom setting or while doing homework.

Both a child with a learning disability and a child with a vision deficiency may have poor coordination or fine motor skills.

Both a child with a learning disability and a child with a vision deficiency may struggle with reading, writing, spelling, comprehension, and memory.

Both a child with a learning disability and a child with a vision deficiency may perform below grade level on standardized tests or perform more poorly than expected on exams.

Both a child with a learning disability and a child with a vision deficiency may be exceptionally bright or gifted but also struggle in school.

If you or child’s teacher suspect a learning disability, you’ll want to rule out a treatable vision problem. Your child might not need to learn differently. Instead, your child may need to undergo a treatment program to train and reinforce vision skills, with lasting results.

The only way to rule out a vision problem is with a comprehensive vision exam by a developmental optometrist who specializes in functional vision care.

For functional exam and vision therapy in Olney, Maryland or Silver Spring, schedule an appointment with Dr. Philip Nicholson’s Visual Learning Center.

Register for an upcoming webinar here.

behavior problems in children

Can Vision Therapy Improve Your Child’s Behavior Problems?

Behavior problems,

Does your child have behavior problems, and you just can’t seem to figure out why? What many parents and educators don’t know is that sometimes behavior problems in children are caused by undetected vision problems that can be successfully treated with vision therapy.

Even if a child has 20/20 eyesight, vision deficiencies can interfere significantly with learning. And when a child struggles to learn and complete tasks that are easy for classmates, they grow frustrated, distracted, and may act out or display coping behaviors that appear to be common childhood behavior problems.

To learn more how vision can affect learning and behavior, download our free guide here and watch our pre-recorded webinar here.

You may get frequent calls from your child’s teacher, and perhaps you’ve even met with counselors about their behavior. But despite disciplinary actions or positive reinforcement, the disruptive behavior continues, seemingly undeterred.

Issues that contribute to a child’s behavioral problems can be as varied as hereditary factors, malnutrition, allergies, physical illnesses, or instability at home. Behavior problems in children have many possible root causes–environmental concerns, abuse, cries for help, emotional problems, developmental delays, attention deficit disorder, anxiety, oppositional defiant disorder (ODD),  obsessive compulsive disorder, and much more.

Parents and educators rarely suspect a vision deficiency  because there’s simply little awareness about how vision problems affect learning and behavior in children.

Signs or symptoms often attributed to behavior problems that may be caused by a vision disorder include:

  • Antsiness or fidgeting
  • Getting up from seat at inappropriate times
  • Talking during instruction or distracting classmates
  • Inability to stay on task or complete work
  • Defiantly refusing to do assignments or to take a turn reading in front of the class
  • Disruptive behavior or “acting out”
  • Deflecting blame or making excuses
  • Social awkwardness, missing social cues about politeness and personal space, and trouble getting along with peers

Children with vision deficiencies often don’t know they have a problem, or they are not able to articulate it. They think everyone else sees and processes information the way they do, and they don’t know why things are difficult for them. Their eyes get tired, they get headaches, and they are constantly straining to do even the simplest tasks, such as read a line of text or copy from the board.

Vision exams by your family eye doctor typically only test for vision clarity. As long as a child can clearly see and identify the letters on an eye chart, he can pass the exam with 20/20 vision or get prescribed corrective lenses. The exam usually doesn’t test for eye movement, eye coordination, or visual processing problems.

The only way to determine if your child’s behavior problems are caused by a vision problem is to schedule a comprehensive vision exam with a developmental optometrist who specializes in functional vision care.

The good news is, learning-related vision problems that affect behavior can be treated successfully with vision therapy. Many parents notice significant lasting behavioral improvement within a few short months of intensive vision therapy.

If you’re located in Olney, MD or Silver Spring, MD and you suspect that your child may have a learning-related vision problem that affects behavior, contact Dr. Philip Nicholson’s Visual Learning Center to schedule an appointment today.

Register for an upcoming webinar here.