Seeing is believing - understanding visual difficulties

As a child we naturally assume that what we see is the same as what others see.......

But what if it isn't?

What if we are struggling to see the gaps between words and the page looks like a jumble of letters?
What if everything is blurry but when we concentrate really hard we can just make out some vague shapes?
What if our eyes jump from word to word and what we read makes no sense?

Although many children have their eyes tested at an early age, these screenings may not pick up the full range of visual perceptual difficulties or aspects of visual efficiency like tracking.

It is estimated that 60% of children with learning difficulties have undiagnosed visual difficulties and 1 in 5 of all children may have undetected visual difficulties.  

In our ever increasingly visual world good vision is vital.  In school about 80% of our learning is through visual channels.  Both teachers and parents need to be aware and vigilant of the signs of visual difficulties.  Very often they can be misinterpreted for concentration difficulties as the child can not focus or make sense of the visual material presented to them. Also visual fatigue can make it hard to persevere with longer tasks.

What should we look out for?
 Difficulties with reading despite systematic phonics teaching

Losing place when reading, re-reading words, difficulty with smaller texts, skipping words

Writing ability does not match verbal ability


Moving head close to the page or object

Difficulty copying information, reversals

Head aches, rubbing eyes, squinting, blinking

Concentration difficulties, easily distracted, short attention span, fatigue

What should we do?

Consider visual difficulties first when we are concerned about a child's progress.

Referring a child to a Behavioural Optometrist for a straightforward assessment may change a child's whole educational future.  All the tests are standardised and any strengths and weaknesses can then be addressed. Visual therapy can be very effective in helping a child to overcome their difficulties.

A great source of information in an easy to understand format for both parents and teachers can be found at www.eyecanlearn.com