Pediatric Vision Care
Help your children reach their full potential by ensuring they get the vision care that they deserve
Experts estimate that over 80% of what a child learns in school is acquired via the visual system
The key to understanding the relationship between vision and learning is realizing that vision is so much more than just being able to see 20/20 and the letters on the eye chart. The visual skills necessary for learning go far beyond the ability to see clearly. Most vision screenings either at school or in the pediatrician’s office check for visual acuity alone, but do not screen for functional visual skills including tracking, focusing, eye teaming, convergence, or visual perceptual skills.
Symptoms of vision problems are easily missed or misdiagnosed – understanding what to look for is crucial for educators to help students reach their potential.
LEARN MORE ABOUT VISION
Watch this short fastclass to understand the role and impact of vision
with Dr Bryce Appelbaum, OD, FVODR
Watch this short fastclass to understand the critical impact of vision on learning and children’s development.
Ensure Your Kids Reach Their Potential
Identify Vision Problems
Know the signs and symptoms of functional vision problems and what to look out for when students may have a functional vision problem.
Refer for Care
Refer to a Neuro Optometrist for a comprehensive diagnostic evaluation when you suspect vision problems with your students.
Support their Eyes
Create a ‘visually safe’ environment for children to learn in by ensuring their environment allows for the ‘vision’ component.
How to Identify a Functional Vision Problem
Know the signs and symptoms of functional vision problems and what to look out for when students may have a functional vision problem. If you see your students exhibiting any of the below it’s possible they have a functional vision problem interfering with their ability in the classroom.
Signs and Symptoms of a Functional Vision Problem
- Headaches while or after doing near vision work
- Rubbing eyes frequently
- Sleepiness with reading
- Avoiding reading but enjoys being read to
- Difficulty remembering visual things
- Inattention or inability to stay focused on near work
- Difficulty copying from whiteboard
- Poor hand/eye coordination, clumsiness or avoiding sports
- Poor handwriting or writing on a slope
- Holds books too close, leans too close to computer screen
- Loses belongings or things
If any of these signs or symptoms apply to a child you know have them take the vision quiz and refer them to a Neuro-Optometrist Board Certified in Vision Therapy.
Experts estimate that over 80% of what a child learns in school is acquired via the visual system
Learning related vision problems are those where a visual condition impacts a child’s ability to read efficiently and therefore perform at their optimal potential in the classroom and in life. Reading is a complex process that involves an intimate connection between eye teaming, eye tracking, eye focusing and other visual systems. Reading requires children to accurately use all of their language, decoding, phonetic and visual skills to successfully recognize words and find meaning in written text.
Many children are labeled as “learning disabled” when actually they have correctable vision problems involving underdeveloped visual skills, eye muscle coordination, or a disconnect between what their eyes see and what registers in their brain. Vision is very often overlooked by parents and educators as one of the roadblocks a child may be encountering.
The American Optometric Association recommends that, by first grade, all children should have had at least three vision wellness checkups: one at 6 months, one at 3 years, and again before beginning school to ensure that their visual skills and abilities are developing at the appropriate rate. A thorough vision evaluation rules out any possible vision problems that may be part of the reason for a child’s inappropriate behavior or performance in school.
More Resources
Comprehensive Vision Evaluations
If you suspect your child has a functional vision problem the first step is to book a Comprehensive Vision Evaluation to see what’s going on and to look at treatment options.
Not all Eye Exams Are the Same
Our Comprehensive Vision Evaluations are looking at much more than your standard eye exam. We put you in the drivers seat and make sure that we take into account not only what we see through a “phoropter,” but what you and your visual system are communicating to us so that we can truly address your visual experience and help you to define and reach your vision goals.
Ensure that your child is receiving a developmental vision exam that looks at functional vision as well as eyesight and vision health.
Creating a 'Visually Safe' Environment
All children (and adults!) benefit from a learning/working environment that supports their visual system. Ensure you follow the below steps to create a learning environment that supports your students visual system and therefore ability to learn at their best.
POSTURE
Encourage children to maintain good posture, sitting up straight with both feet on the floor. Keep equal distance from both eyes to reading material and avoid reading lying on the floor or with head on the side propped on elbows.
WORKING SURFACE
A sloped work surface that is tilted between 20 and 25 degrees from the horizontal reduces tension and stress on the head, neck, shoulders and eyes. Encourage the use of slope boards if sloped desks are not possible.
EYE TO DESK DISTANCE
Encourage children to maintain a good distance from reading materials or computers. This should be about arms length and straight ahead not leaning in too close to the screen/book or looking up/down to view.
LIGHTING
Balanced and adequate lighting directly on desk material and in the room is crucial. Reduced lighting and glare in the room has an impact on decreasing peripheral vision sensitivity. Avoid fluorescent lighting and encourage digital performance lenses for students.
PENMANSHIP AND PENCIL GRIP
The pencil/pen should be held no closer than ¾ inch from the tip, avoid tight grip on pencils. Ergonomically correct pencil grips are available for students in the early grades. Writing should involve mainly finger and wrist movement with little movement of the arm.
VISION BREAKS
Practice “The 20/20/20 RULE. Encourage children doing near work to periodically look up and away at an object at least 20 feet away, at least every 20 minutes, for at least 20 seconds. Vision breaks are crucial for allowing the visual system to reset an relax.
Functional Vision Problems are Treatable!
Vision Therapy = Physical Therapy for the brain through the eyes!
Vision Therapy is an individualized program recommended by your doctor to develop, retrain, or rehabilitate the brain, eyes, and body to work more efficiently together as a team. Vision Therapy is designed to develop efficient visual skills and visual processing to correct visual-motor and perceptual-cognitive deficiencies and enhance the brain’s ability to control visual input.
As visual skills and abilities are improved through practice and repetition, they are ultimately integrated into the body and impact movement and cognitive functioning in your day-to-day life.
Research indicates that office-based Vision Therapy combined with home reinforcement proves to be the most effective treatment model. Numerous program options are available at MyVisionFirst in terms of treatment frequency and duration. While the majority of our patients are relatively local to Metropolitan DC, we do see many patients from out of state or out of country for intensive “boot camp” treatments. In most cases, we place an emphasis on home training to support what has been learned in office, but do offer treatment options consisting of solely home, office, and teletherapy, or any combination of these, for portions of Vision Therapy.
Watch some of the success stories
VISION IN THE NEWS
NBC Washington: Could Vision Problems Be the Root Cause of ADHD-like Symptoms in Students?
No ADD/ADHD Diagnosis is complete without ruling out functional vision problems.
NBC Washington — If your child is distracted easily or lose their place when they’re reading, you might be quick to get an ADHD diagnosis. Dr. Bryce Appelbaum, a neuro-optometrist, says that it might be vision issues instead. News4’s Joseph Olmo talks to Appelbaum about how ADHD-like symptoms are similar to problems with vision.
How to Help Your Children Develop their Vision
