The Visual Learning Center offers
developmental optometry & vision therapy
in Olney, Maryland, near Silver Spring.
Summer reading lists are meant to reinforce reading skills learned during the school year and inspire kids to become avid readers — discover great stories, increase their knowledge, and expand their creativity and empathy. Reading for fun can help to set your child up for academic success, and summer can be a wonderful time for children to spend pleasurable hours curled up with a few good books.
But if a child struggles with reading, summer reading is anything but pleasurable. For some families, tackling a summer reading list is a tough battle. You may assume children who struggle to read have dyslexia, a learning disability, attention problems, or they’d simply rather be playing video games. However, many parents instinctively know something is wrong.
Click here for 9 Signs Your Child May Have an Undiagnosed Vision Problem
Perhaps the child is bright, imaginative, and has a strong vocabulary, but reading still stumps them. Maybe the child learned to read in Kindergarten without a problem and then fell behind their classmates as they advanced to third or fourth grade. If any of this rings true for you or someone you know, there’s a little-known reason that could be causing the reading list summertime blues — but there could be a cure.
If your child has difficulty reading, it could be due to an undiagnosed but treatable functional vision problem. Typical vision exams by your family eye doctor and school vision screenings only test for clear vision at a distance. They do not test for visual processing problems and eye movement deficiencies that can interfere with reading and learning.
Some signs that reading problems in children might be caused by a functional vision problem include:
- Reversing letters
- Skipping words, lines, or letters
- Difficulty copying from the board
- Frequent headaches
- Dizziness while reading
- Messy handwriting
- Trouble watching 3-D movies
- Behavior or attention problems
- Poor memory and comprehension
Children with learning-related vision problems may struggle to read due to a disorder or deficiency. Examples include problems with eye tracking, eye teaming, visual processing, focusing, or memory.
Vision is comprised of three main components — reception, processing, and output; and each component of vision contains its own complex system.
- Reception is the input function comparable to entering data into a computer. It’s the ability to see singularly, clearly, and comfortably.
- Visual Processing is the brain’s ability to compute the information that the eyes receive. After the computer gets the data, it categorizes, manipulates, and runs it through thinking processes.
- Output is the result of visual processing.
If any aspect of the complex system of vision doesn’t function in a normal and healthy way, it will interfere with a child’s ability to read and learn.
The good news is vision therapy can be the cure for the summertime reading blues and lead to a lifetime as a strong and confident reader.
Vision therapy (also known as vision training) quickly improves visual processing problems and eye disorders by facilitating exercises and activities that strengthen existing deficiencies within the visual processing system.
The only way to determine if a child’s reading challenges stem from a learning-related vision problem is with a comprehensive vision exam by a developmental optometrist who specializes in functional vision care.
Many children who participate in our vision therapy programs in Olney, Maryland come to us having tested below their current grade levels in reading. Upon completing therapy, they experience impressive results and reading improves significantly.
Read some of our vision training success stories to learn more about how vision therapy can help your child in reading.
Contact us to schedule an appointment and discover how vision therapy can improve speed and accuracy of eye movements, visual concentration, letter reversals and other skills, making reading easier, faster, and more enjoyable any time of year.
Register for an upcoming webinar here.
