What is the Relationship between Eye Muscle Problems and Learning?

Some of the mechanical visual skills which are related to reading include focusing or accommodation, and eye teaming, or convergence. Weaknesses in the binocular vision system may interfere with reading. There is also a relationship between eye movement skills such as saccades (whereby we change fixation from one target to the next) and smooth following movements known as pursuits and reading. Children who cannot make accurate eye movements are often found to skip lines and words while reading.

Binocular vision problems usually cannot be fixed with glasses alone. A treatment course of eye exercises done in the office and at home will help many binocular vision problems. Convergence insufficiency is the most common binocular vision problem in children. At Wake Forest Family Eye Care, Dr. Ward follows the protocol used by the Convergence Insufficiency Treatment Trial to treat her patients with this condition.

My Child Reverses Letters and Words. Does He See Backwards?

It has been presumed that children who reverse letters or words see them backwards. This is false. They have directional confusion. In the real world direction has no meaning. For example, a chair is a chair no matter which way it is placed. Changing direction does not change interpretation. In the world of language, direction changes meaning. Connect the bottom of a chair and it looks like a "b". Turn it 180 degrees it becomes a "d", flip it upside down and it becomes a "q" and flip it again it becomes a "p". Thus, direction changes meaning. The difference between "was" and "saw" is direction.

Visual processing disorders often cause problems in school because they affect the way the child processes and interprets information. Dr. Ward is pleased to offer Perceptual Skills Analysis testing, culminating in a report of visual processing weaknesses and strengths.

What Are the Other Visual Components Necessary for Academic Achievement?