Struggling Wauwatosa Learner Finds Success with Vision Therapy

By Dr. Kellye Knueppel, The Vision Therapy Center

This time of year, parents of struggling learners are scheduling summer catch-up classes for their kids. Just as important is figuring out why their children are falling behind in their studies. If they are like Daniel Brown of Wauwatosa, it might simply be due to them having a vision problem.

Daniel used to find school to be a never-ending workload. In kindergarten, he was one of the last to learn the letters of the alphabet, and, in first grade, he had trouble decoding words. Although he had a high IQ and 20/20 eyesight, focusing on his schoolwork was difficult.  Even a reading specialist was unable to help Daniel improve.

Daniel’s mother, Synara, was relentless in her search for a solution. She took him to The Vision Therapy Center in Brookfield, where our developmental optometrists performed a functional vision test and confirmed his eyes were not working together to process what he was seeing.

25% Have Vision Issues That Affect Learning

According to the American Optometric Association, one out of every four students has an undetected functional vision problem like Daniel’s that can affect their ability to learn. 

There is a big difference between sight and functional vision.  Sight is the ability of the eyes to see clearly, and is generally measured in most typical eye screenings using a Snellen eye chart.  Someone with normal sight can clearly see the 20/20 line on the chart. This eye chart measures a person’s eyesight, but not their functional vision.

Sight is one of the many visual skills that make up functional vision. Functional vision involves a wide range of additional skills, such as control of eye movements, focusing and eye teaming, which are used to organize what the brain sees.

What are some typical symptoms of function vision problems? In Daniel’s case, they include an inability to read a line of text on a page, poor concentration, and even behavioral problems. Children, or even adults, may also suffer from headaches, watery eyes, and experience words moving on the page.

From Functional Testing to Vision Therapy

Daniel’s vision therapy activities, conducted over the course of few months, corrected his function vision problem.

Vision therapy uses optical devices and exercises to retrain how a person uses their visual skills in order to make functional vision more efficient. Vision therapy can range from one session to two to three years and involves office visits combined with at-home activities. Most vision therapy programs last from six to nine months.

According to Synara, Daniel’s vision therapy results have been dramatic. He has not only caught up to the reading level of the rest of his class, but his grades overall have improved.  Along with academic improvements, his demeanor has positively changed as well.

The first step to determine if your child is suffering from a functional vision problem is to check out The Vision Therapy Center’s online vision quiz to see if your child is exhibiting any typical symptoms of a vision problem.

VIDEO:

Daniel Brown’s educational outlook changed after he was correctly diagnosed as having a vision, rather than a learning problem. Synara describes her son’s vision problem.