All children should receive comprehensive eye exams during their first year of life. Another exam should also be performed before they start school. Our vision impacts motor, cognitive, academic, and social development.

 

Education and Visual Pathways

About 80% of all learning goes through the visual pathway. Any problems in the pathways can hinder a child from performing well in school and participating in social interactions. The American Optometric Association (AOA) indicates that 25% of all school-going children have vision problems, and said problems can affect their learning. A child may pass a vision screening but still have undetected visual issues that impact their daily life. 

 

Identifying Visual Problems

Good vision is more than having 20/20 vision. It is essential to understand that a child can have perfect eyesight on paper but still have poor visual skills. Many children have underlying vision problems even after passing visual acuity eye exams. 

 

Visual problems are not just about blurry vision or refractive errors. It is necessary to identify visual skills and learn how they are essential for various learning components. Vision rehabilitation is a treatment method that can help improve visual skills in kids and adults alike. 

 

How Vision Impacts Education

Strong visual skills are helpful in all aspects of learning. Most vision problems do not go away without treatment. In many cases, children are not aware that their learning difficulties are due to vision or processing problems. 

 

Vision issues can lead to activity avoidance and behavioral problems. It is vital to obtain a diagnosis and appropriate treatment as soon as possible. Vision issues can impact reading, spelling, comprehension, and handwriting. Poor vision can affect classroom performance, attention and concentration, homework completion, and creativity.

Essential Visual Skills

Visual skills essential for a child's education include:

 

• Visual integration

• Focusing skills

• Visual perception

• Peripheral vision

• Fine visual motor skills

• Visual memory

• Convergence

• Binocular coordination

• Gross visual motor control

• Central vision acuity

• Accommodation flexibility

• Color Perception

• Visual thinking

Independent Education Plans 

Optometrists, including neuro-optometrists, can play a crucial role in developing Independent Education Plans (IEPs) for children who are struggling with visual disorders or visual processing difficulties.
 

• Functional Vision Exams: They can conduct functional visual exams that go beyond routine vision screenings. These exams can assess various aspects of visual function, including visual acuity, binocular vision,perceptual skills, sensory integration, eye tracking, focusing ability, and visual processing. This will evaluate how a child's visual skills are impacting their ability to perform everyday tasks. By identifying any visual issues that may not be detected in regular vision exams, the doctor can provide valuable information to inform the development of IEPs.

• Collaboration with Other Professionals: Eye doctors can collaborate with other professionals, such as special education teachers, occupational therapists, and speech-language pathologists, who are involved in the development of IEPs. By working together as part of a multidisciplinary team, these professionals can combine their expertise to develop an IEP that addresses the child's visual needs, as well as other areas of development.

• Recommendations for Visual Interventions: Based on their assessment findings, optometrists/neuro-optometrists can provide recommendations for visual interventions that can be included in the child's IEP. These may include accommodations or modifications to the child's learning environment, such as preferential seating, use of visual aids, or modifications to reading materials. Optometrists can also recommend visual therapy or other interventions that can help improve the child's visual skills and reduce visual processing difficulties.

• Ongoing Monitoring and Progress Evaluation: Optometrists/neuro-optometrists can provide ongoing monitoring and progress evaluation of the child's visual skills to assess the effectiveness of the visual interventions included in the IEP. This may involve regular follow-up exams and assessments to track the child's progress and make adjustments to the IEP as needed.
  
  
   

For more on how optometrists can help with independent education plans for kids, visit Eversee Boutique Eyecare at our office in Winnetka, Illinois. Call (847) 386-9045 to book an appointment today.