Learning Related Vision Problems

Learning-Related Vision Problems

There’s no question that good vision is important for learning. Experts say more than 80% of what your child is taught in school is presented to them visually.
To make sure your child has the visual skills they need for school, the first step is to make sure your child has 20/20 eyesight and that any nearsightedness, farsightedness and/or astigmatism is fully corrected with glasses or contact lenses. But there are other, less obvious learning-related vision problems you should know about as well.
Good Vision Is More Than 20/20 Visual Acuity
Your child can have “20/20” eyesight and still have vision problems that can affect their learning and classroom performance. Visual acuity (how well your child can see letters on a wall chart) is just one aspect of good vision, and it’s not even the most important one. Many nearsighted kids may have trouble seeing the board in class, but they read exceptionally well and excel in school.
Other important visual skills needed for learning include:

  • Eye movement skills – How smoothly and accurately your child can move their eyes across a printed page in a textbook.
  • Eye focusing abilities – How well your child can change focus from far to near and back again (for copying information from the board, for example).
  • Eye teaming skills – How well your child’s eyes work together as a synchronized team (to converge for proper eye alignment for reading, for example).
  • Binocular vision skills – How well your child’s eyes can blend visual images from both eyes into a single, three-dimensional image.
  • Visual perceptual skills – How well your child can identify and understand what he sees, judge its importance, and associate it with previous visual information stored in his brain.
  • Visual-motor integration – The quality of your child’s eye-hand coordination, which is important not only for sports, but also for legible handwriting and the ability to efficiently copy written information from a book or chalkboard.

Deficiencies in any of these areas can significantly affect your child’s learning ability and school performance.

Many Kids Have Vision Problems That Affect Learning

Many kids have undetected learning related vision problems. In fact, children are often misdiagnosed with learning problems or ADD/ADHD when, in fact, they have a vision problem.
According to the College of Optometrists in Vision Development (COVD), one study indicates 13% of children between the ages of 9 and 13 suffer from moderate to severe convergence insufficiency (an eye teaming problem that can affect reading performance), and as many as one in four school-age children may have at least one learning-related vision problem.
Signs and Symptoms of Learning-Related Vision Problems
There are many signs and symptoms of learning-related vision disorders, including:

  • Blurred distance or near vision, particularly after reading or other close work
  • Frequent headaches or eye strain
  • Difficulty changing focus from distance to near and back
  • Double vision, especially during or after reading
  • Avoidance of reading
  • Easily distracted when reading
  • Poor reading comprehension
  • Loss of place, repetition, and/or omission of words while reading
  • Letter and word reversals
  • Poor handwriting
  • Hyperactivity or impulsiveness during class
  • Poor overall school performance

If your child exhibits one or more of these signs or symptoms and is having problems in school, call us to schedule a comprehensive children’s vision exam.
Comprehensive Children’s Vision Exam
A comprehensive children’s vision exam includes tests performed in a routine eye exam, plus additional tests to detect learning-related vision problems. These extra tests may include an assessment of eye focusing, eye teaming, and eye movement abilities (also called accommodation, binocular vision, and ocular motility testing). Also, depending on the type of problems your child is having, we may recommend other testing, either in our office or with a children’s vision and/or vision development specialist.

Vision Therapy

If it turns out your child has a learning-related vision problem that cannot be corrected with regular glasses or contact lenses, then special reading glasses or vision therapy may help. Vision therapy is a program of eye exercises and other activities specifically tailored for each patient to improve vision skills.

Vision and Learning Disabilities

A child who is struggling in school could have a learning-related vision problem, a learning disability or both. Vision therapy is a treatment for vision problems; it does not correct a learning disability. However, children with learning disabilities may also have vision problems that are contributing to their difficulties in the classroom.

What Are The Risks Of Developing Glaucoma?

Human eyesight is an incredibly complex system, and a problem anywhere along the way can lead to a seriously compromised vision.


One such problem is glaucoma, a group of eye conditions that affect millions of people in the US, making it the second most common cause of vision loss and blindness in the country. In most cases, the result of damage to the optic nerve from increased pressure in the eye.

Intramuscular Pressure: A Delicate Balance

The human eye is filled with fluid — aqueous humor in the front chambers, vitreous humor in the larger rear chamber behind the lens. In a healthy eye, the pressure of this fluid remains within a safe range because the amount of aqueous humor being produced is roughly equal to the amount flowing out through the pupil. In an eye with glaucoma, this drainage system does not work the way it should.

2 Common Type

At least three million Americans have open-angle glaucoma, which comes on very gradually (over the course of years) and accounts for 90 percent of glaucoma cases. The drainage canals of the eye become clogged, stopping the fluid from draining effectively and causing the pressure to build. Because this process is so slow and vision isn’t noticeably affected until late in the disease, regular comprehensive eye exams are essential for catching it early on and halting its progress.
The second most common type of glaucoma is angle-closure glaucoma. Unlike the gradual progression of open-angle glaucoma, angle-closure glaucoma happens very suddenly, when the iris (the colorful circular muscle that regulates the amount of light that comes in through the pupil) actually blocks the drainage canals. This tends to come with a variety of symptoms, such as headaches, nausea, eye pain, very blurred vision, and rainbows around lights. Get to the eye doctor immediately if you experience these symptoms.

Common Risk Factors

While everyone has some risk of developing glaucoma, certain factors can make it more likely. Glaucoma is far more common in people over 60, particularly African Americans and Hispanics. People of Asian descent are at greater risk of angle-closure glaucoma.
A major risk factor for glaucoma is heredity. Studies estimate that over half of glaucoma cases are familial. Someone with a sibling who has glaucoma is ten times more likely to develop it than someone who doesn’t. Other risk factors include eye injury and steroid use.

Why Early Diagnosis Matters

Vision loss is irreversible and there is currently no cure for the disease, but medication and/or surgery can halt its progress as long as it is diagnosed in time. The key to early diagnosis is regular eye exams, especially for those with a high risk of developing the condition. Make sure you’re familiar with your family’s eye health history and don’t forget to keep us in the loop!

Tips For Choosing UV Resistant Sunglasses

4 TIPS FOR CHOOSING UV RESISTANT SUNGLASSES

4 tips for choosing UV resistant sunglasses to get through summer safely
Sunlight can be very harmful to your eyes. Ultraviolet light, or UV light, can cause radiation and damage your eyes over time. The best way to protect your eyes is simple— wear sunglasses when it’s sunny out. But it’s important to wear the right kind of sunglasses. Some do not protect as well as others. Here are some tips on selecting the right kind of sunglasses.

LOOK FOR THE STICKER THAT SAYS “BLOCKS OUT 100% OF UV RAYS”

A lot of sunglasses don’t block out all UV rays, and the way a pair looks and is labeled can be misleading. For example, if a pair is polarized, that may sound like they block out more light and thus more UV rays, but polarization only cuts down on glare. It does not actually block out UV light. You may also think a darker lens blocks out more light and more UV rays, but this isn’t true, either. It may be harder to see through darker lenses, but harmful light can still reach your eyes. The only real way to know if a pair of sunglasses is UV resistant enough is to look for a label that says they block out 100 percent of UV Rays. Anything less than 100 (or 99 percent if that’s all you can find) won’t cut it.

GO FOR THE LENS COLOR YOU LIKE BEST

Lenses come in a variety of different colors, the main ones being gray, brown, and amber. Different colors make it easier to see certain things. For example, gray is the best color if you want to be able to see the most color contrast when wearing your sunglasses. But no color protects better against UV rays than any other. So choose which color works best for you. Just be sure that whatever color you choose, it’s uniform over the whole lens. If the color is different in certain areas that could mean the lens is distorted and won’t work as well.

MAKE SURE THEY’RE BIG ENOUGH

Don’t sacrifice form for function. If your sunglasses don’t cover enough area, light can get under them and still damage your eyes. Ideally, when you try on a pair, you shouldn’t be able to see past the edges of the frame in your peripheral vision. For the best coverage, opt for a pair of wrap-around sunglasses. This ensures no light can get in under the edges.

DON’T SPEND A FORTUNE

It isn’t too hard to find sunglasses that are big enough, uniform enough, and have 100 % protection against UV light. It also doesn’t have to be expensive. Sunglasses from designer brands that sport labels saying that they’re polarized and ultra-effective against Ultraviolet light are really no more effective than any other pair that has 100 percent UV protection. Don’t look for fancy labels and whatever claims are advertised. Just make sure that whatever pair you use is right for you. You don’t want a cheap pair that doesn’t block out UV light, but as long as you have that 100 percent guarantee, you have quite a few reasonably priced options.
Have general eye questions? Schedule an appointment with one of the doctors at 2020 Tulsa!