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Ready For School |
Good Vision: A Tool for Learning |
All parents want to be sure that their child is ready for school. They get the notebooks, pencils, books and other items on the school list. They dust off the lunch box and make the trip to the mall to buy some new clothes. But too often, one important back-to-school step may be overlooked - a visit to the eye doctor. |
Reading, writing, chalkboard work, and using computers are among the visual tasks kids do daily in school. A child's eyes are constantly in use in the classroom and on the playground. However, if his or her vision is not working properly, schoolwork and participation in sports can suffer. Having good vision is one of a child's most important learning tools. As children progress in school, they face increasing demands on their vision. The size of print in schoolbooks becomes smaller and the time spent reading and studying increases significantly. Daily class work and homework can place significant stress on a child's eyes. Unfortunately, some kid's visual abilities aren't up to the task. |
Smart in Everything but School Take Susan for example. She was a bright 12 year old who was a puzzle to her parents and teachers. Even though she was trying as hard as she could, she was struggling just to stay an average student. |
Vision Problems Make Learning More Difficult When a child's visionl skills are poorly developed, learning is more difficult and stressful. Children typically react to this stress by either: |
l Avoiding reading and other near tasks as much as possible or |
l Attempting to do the work anyway and developing eye |
discomfort, fatigue, and a short attention span. |
Vision can change frequently during the school years. So regular vision exams are important. Some children develop refractive errors like nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism. In addition, the presence of eye focusing, eye tracking and eye teaming problems can affect school and sports performance. Eyeglasses or contact lenses provide the needed correction for many vision problems. However, a program of eye exercises called vision therapy may also be needed to help develop or enhance vision skills essential for reading and learning. |
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She had a very difficult time reading. She would read very slowly and her comprehension was much better when listening to something read to her, than when reading it herself. It took her twice as long as expected to complete her homework assignments. A school psychologist evaluated her and suspected her academic problems were due to an emotional disorder and possibly a learning disability. However, the exact reason for her poor performance in school remained a mystery. There seemed to be a missing link, but no one could put a finger on it. |
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Finally, on the recommendation of a neighbor, her parents decided to have her vision checked. Testing showed that Susan had eye teaming and eye tracking problems. She was struggling to succeed because her eyes and brain were unable to work together efficiently to obtain and use visual information needed to read and learn. |
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Don't wait for your child to tell you he or she is having trouble seeing. Many children won't report any symptoms of an eye or vision problem because they think the way they see is the way everyone sees. |