Humans by nature are visual creatures. As a matter of fact, 75 to 90% of all that we learn comes to us through visual pathways.

It’s amazing that we know so much about the visual system and its affects on learning, yet when a child struggles in school, very little is done to help strengthen this crucial system. It is usually up to the parents to seek out help, most often in the form of vision therapy. Educators only seem to know to add more academics or to try a different approach to academics, rarely considering that the academics portion is difficult for the student due to visual processing problems.

Think about it. What do you need the most in order to read? That’s right – eyesight. You must be able to see the print before you even think about the sounds and blending them together. I have worked with many children who don’t know all of their sounds or who are missing huge chunks of phonemic awareness skills, yet they were still able to read through memorization. This, of course is no the most efficient method of reading, but it can work.

My daughter has a 4.125 grade point average since she is working above grade level. What’s amazing about this is that she is hearing impaired. She refuses to wear hearing aids but continues to do so well in school because her visual processing system is so advanced. She is also a visual learner, and this system serves her well even though she misses a great deal of what is said.

Knowing this, it’s important to identify children who may have weakened visual processing skills and give them a method to overcome these weaknesses. First, understand that 20/20 vision has very little to do with this. Second, you should have a general understanding of the anatomy of the eye. And finally, you will need some basic exercises to help the student overcome any of these problems.