Many people are not aware that dyslexia and vision therapy go hand in hand. Most children with dyslexia need vision therapy in addition to their other interventions. Furthermore, children with reading struggles are often misdiagnosed with dyslexia or attention issues when they simply need vision therapy. What we are talking about is more than eyesight or reading glasses. It is visual development issues that can be corrected easily. Visual disabilities are missed in many children with reading disabilities even when seeing an optometrist regularly. This happened with my own son for years.

Vision Develops

Vision development starts in the womb and accelerates after birth. It also strengthens as the child begins to bat at objects, pull them to their mouth, and later move around to explore their environment. Underdevelopment can happen when milestones are missed. For example, not integrating the primitive reflexes, or missing the crawling stage. These can contribute to poor vision development. When the visual processing and visual motor control do not develop properly, it can cause reading disabilities but goes unnoticed. The child has nothing else to compare their experience with.

Vision vs. Eyesight

It may seem confusing, but vision and eyesight are not the same thing.  Eyesight is the ability to see something clearly (known as Visual Acuity 20/20) and is tested with eye charts and other equipment at regular Optometrist visits.

Vision, on the other hand, is more than just eyesight. It is a skill developed as the child grows. Vision is the brain’s ability to use the images from both eyes, coordinate the images in the brain, and control eye movements.  There are several dysfunctions of vision that cause learning disabilities, especially in writing, reading, & math.

Symptoms of Visual Dysfunction

• Loses place when reading.
• Diagnosed with dyslexia.
• Diagnoses with ADD or ADHD.
• Loses attention reading.
• Avoids reading.
• Gets nauseous when reading.
• Tires quicker than others when reading.
• Eyes burn after reading.
• Gets headaches reading with or without glasses.

Treatment

Because vision is learned after birth, it can be stimulated and exercised to develop through exercises with an optometrist who has a fellowship in COVD (College of Optometrists in Vision Development). They will assess your child’s vision therapy and dyslexia needs in 1-2 appointments. If your child requires vision therapy, they usually recommend weekly or bi-weekly appointments with one of their therapists. You will be sent home with exercises to work on daily. It usually takes about 12 weeks and makes a life-long difference for your child.

Diagnosis

To get a proper diagnosis of visual skills, you will need to see an Optometrist with a Fellowship in COVD. I find them reasonably priced and well worth your child’s future.  You can find one in your area at the  COVD page Find A Doctor. Be sure to check the tick box for ‘Board Certified in Vision Therapy’.

We used Dr. Davies here in our home state at Utah Vision Development for my son. We were all super inspired at the transformation my son went through with his vision development and reading. He once hated to look at a page in a book. It even made him nauseous. Now he reads for pleasure!

If you have a child struggling with Dyslexia or other learning disabilities, we highly recommend finding one in your area for a consultation.