August is Children’s Vision and Learning Month, for the 20th year in a row! The goal of this month is to help educate parents and educators about the critical link between vision and learning. This year, the College of Optometrists in Vision Development is focusing on the link between concussions and visual-learning symptoms. The story of Kelsey Ransom is a perfect example of this link:
80% of learning at school is done through the visual system, meaning vision problems can play a huge role in struggles at school. But most vision problems don’t have easily detectable symptoms, and the symptoms presented can be mistaken for various learning and behavioural problems in kids.
Why would vision be so important that vision tests might be considered mandatory? It’s because 80% of learning at school is done through the visual system, meaning that vision problems can play a huge role in struggles at school. Having good vision can set your child up for successful learning to reach their full potential.
Have you heard of online eye exams? At-home, self-administered online tests are now able to give patients prescriptions for glasses and contact lenses. And while it sounds great, it poses some real problems.
In my practice, we recently treated a young girl who, in addition to her vision-related reading problems, was upset that she could not skip rope like her friends. Jumping rope is a gross motor skill highly influenced by the quality of your visual processing. This type of vision problem had nothing to do with her 20/20 eyesight. Giving her glasses wasn’t going to help her jump rope, but a vision therapy treatment could!
