Vision and Learning

People think 20/20 is enough. But many people with 20/20 eye sight suffer from visual dysfunctions that can impact reading and learning. Some of the behavioral symptoms we see in school age kids are the result of poor visual skills. In fact the check list for ADD and ADHD look very similar to the visual dysfunction checklist.

Majority of learning involves the use of vision. Imagine a child that cannot team his eyes together to see single and clear, how is he supposed to concentrate on his book. What about a kid that has amblyopia, one eye does not see as well as the other, how is he suppose to deal with competing images while he is trying to read. And what about the child that has trouble changing his focus from seeing distance to near, how is he supposed to copy from the board. A person after a car accident appears to be doing well, but he can't deal with the lighting and visual overload in a grocery store, this is a subtle but crippling dysfunction.

These visual dysfunctions can be improved through lenses and vision therapy. Our doctors and vision therapists routinely help patients with reading and learning difficulties, amblyopia, strabismus, traumatic brain injury, post stroke, visual strain, focusing and eye teaming problems, and special needs.

1 in 4 children struggle with reading because of undiagnosed vision problems.

They lack adequate visual skills needed for close up work during reading, writing, and computer tasks. Often, we attribute children’s symptoms to problems such as ADHD or learning disabilities, when the source of their problems in the classroom is undiagnosed visual problems.

80% of learning takes place through vision

The whole brain is involved with vision and integrated with all other senses. Two thirds of our brain pathways is taken up by vision. A few of the visual skills that can impact learning includes eye tracking, focusing, eye teaming, depth perception, eye-hand-body coordination, visual memory, and visual form perception.

60% of students identified as learning disabled have undetected visual problems

Your child can only learn properly if he can move his eyes along the lines of a book efficiently, switch from far to near vision quickly and accurately, sustain clarity on targets at different distances such as copying from the board, team the eyes to see single when reading with minimal effort, integrate what they see and what they write, visually discriminate objects, and successfully perform some other visual tasks. If your child cannot do these visual tasks efficiently, a bright child can easily be mislabeled learning disabled.

Symptoms of poor visual performance

Blurred Vision distance or near
Rubs eyes frequently
Squints
Closes or covers one eye
Occasionally sees double
Able to read only for a short time
Holds things very close or very far
Poor reading comprehension
Frequent headaches or eye strain
Sloppy handwriting
Poor/no spacing when writing
Trouble learning right and left
Reverses letters and numbers
Poor judgement of depth
Difficulty changing focus far and near

Moves head a lot when reading
Frequently loses place when reading
Skips lines when reading
Uses finger to keep place
Short attention span
Mistakes words with similar beginnings
Difficulty recognizing letters,words,shapes
Trouble with basic math concepts
Poor speller
Can respond orally but not in writing
Poor copying skills
Turning of an eye in or out
Covers or closes one eye
Dizziness or motion sickness
Poor posture when reading or writing

For more information, visit the following websites:

To find an optometrist that understands vision and learning near you, visit:

For professional papers and research, visit:

Optometric Extension Program Reference Center (OEPF)