Fixing the Problem

Vision therapy, if done correctly, can do wonders for kids who are struggling in school. By exercising the eye muscles and helping these muscles to work together, students can learn to see like nature intended.

Unfortunately, vision therapy is quite costly, and not all people can afford it. I feel it is shameful that only parents with enough money to afford this process or who the proper insurance to cover this process can give it to their children.

Vision therapy was the first step we took in helping our son overcome learning problems. But, we spent thousands of dollars to do this. Most parents don’t have this kind of money. Should the children of parents who don’t have the means to provide vision therapy be left with nothing? I don’t think so.

If you suspect your child is struggling in school due to a visual processing problem and you can afford it, then by all means, have a behavioral optometrist test your child to see if vision therapy helps. (Use the checklist that is provided). However, if you are looking for some basic eye exercises that have been proven to help students strengthen their eye muscles, then you should be provided with these exercises. Keep in mind that this is not a replacement for vision therapy, but I have been using these eye exercises on students for years and have had fantastic results.

Approximately 20% of school-aged children may be affected to some degree by learning related visual disorders. There is a dramatic increase in this percentage within special education, learning disabled, and remedial reading populations where up to 70% of the students show a significant visual component to their learning problem.

There are many students suffering from visual disorders and not enough help available for them. I have put together a series of eye exercises that are similar to vision therapy that can be done at home. These exercises are not intended to replace what an eye doctor can do. But they are helpful for the individual who is looking for help and cannot do vision therapy or doesn’t have access to a qualified vision therapist. These exercises are aimed at correcting insufficiencies related to learning, primarily reading. Like strengthening muscles for a marathon, you can strengthen the eye muscles and prepare the eyes for the daily marathon they go through every day at school.

And, what are the symptoms that one might see in a student suffering from visual distress? There are numerous things to look for:

 Headaches

 Blurred vision

 Watering eyes

 Excessive blinking
 Double Vision

 Skipping lines while reading

 Losing place while reading

 Poor reading skills, especially oral reading

 Reversed letters or words

 Poor concentration

 Poor coordination

 Difficulty with copying