Learning-Related Vision Disorders

What does vision have to do with learning? Everything. 80% of learning is visual. Additionally, visual acuity (which measures how far you can read down the eye chart) is only 1 of 17 of the visual skills involved in learning. If you have 20/20 vision, but can’t use your eyes effectively together, easily switch between engaging and relaxing the focusing system, precisely move your eyes, coordinate the visual system with other body systems, or accurately interpret what you see, learning becomes exponentially more difficult. What’s worse, deficient eye skills can masquerade as other conditions such as ADHD or dyslexia and often go undiagnosed. Why are they often misdiagnosed or undiagnosed? School nurses and screening services, pediatricians, and even most general optometrists and ophthalmologists don’t evaluate these skills. As a developmental optometrist, Dr. Lisa Januskey actively checks for these conditions. If your child is having trouble with school, or if you feel like you’re not reading as efficiently as you should, please let us know. We’d love to help.

Binocular Vision

Binocular vision is the three dimensional vision we perceive as a result of fusing slightly different images from each eye. If the brain has difficulty performing this task, you will not be able to achieve SINGLE, CLEAR, and COMFORTABLE vision when you use the two eyes simultaneously.

Computer Vision Treatment

Do your eyes hurt after looking at your computer or phone screen? Our optometrists offer a variety of solutions for your symptoms including blue-light blocking lenses.

Crossed and Lazy Eyes

There is a lot of misinformation about crossed and lazy eyes. Eye turns CAN be treated without surgery and amblyopia (lazy eye) treatment has NO age limit. If you’ve been told that there’s nothing else that can be done, call us. We can help!

Dyslexia

Your child has trouble reading … is it dyslexia? It could be, but it could also be an binocular vision (eye-teaming) disorder, instability in the focusing system, an eye movement dysfunction, or a perceptual disorder. Is your child writing letters or numbers backwards? Vision therapy can help!

Eye-Hand/Ear/Balance

It’s not enough for our visual system to work well in isolation. The visual system must also coordinate with the motor system, auditory system, and vestibular systems in order for us to interact comfortably and efficiently with our environment.

Eye Movement Disorders

Well-integrated eye movements allow for rapid and accurate shifting of the eyes along the lines of print in a book, quick, and accurate shifts from far to near, and sure tracking in sports. If there is a deficit in these abilities, words jumble on a page, reading is slowed, reading comprehension suffers, judging speed and position becomes difficult, and sports performance tanks.

Focusing Disorders

You can have a focusing disorder and still be able to read the 20/20 lines at distance and near. Focusing refers to how quickly and effortlessly you can switch your focus between distance and near and how comfortably you can perform visually intensive near tasks, like reading, over extended periods of time. If your eyes become tired or strained after prolonged near work, you may have a focusing disorder.

Perceptual Disorders

When there’s a concern about dyslexia or learning disabilities, don’t forget to rule out perceptual disorders first. Perceptual disorders occur when the eyes send clear images to the brain, but the brain does not process them correctly. Perceptual disorders interfere with learning, can mimic dyslexia, and diminish productivity.

Monday	9:00 am - 5:30 pm
Tuesday	9:00 am - 5:30 pm
Wednesday	9:00 am - 5:30 pm
Thursday	9:00 am - 5:30 pm
Friday	9:00 am - 1:00 pm
Saturday	Closed
Sunday	Closed