posted Nov 11, 2015, 9:47 AM by Doug Muha
[
updated Nov 11, 2015, 9:47 AM
]
Counselor
Notes 9
May 9, 2013
Vision and Attention
Most parents are
well aware of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). What many
parents aren't aware of however is that undetected vision problems
have many of the same symptoms as ADHD. A typical eye exam does NOT check for
all the things that go into vision and thus even a child with 20/20 eyesight
could have undiagnosed vision problems.
I
have been reading the book Eye Power by Ann Hoopes and Stanley Appelbaum
on this subject. I would encourage all parents of children who seem to have
some issues with learning disabilities, attention, and/or hyperactivity to check
into this book. It may be that some (or all) of your child’s symptoms can be
ameliorated with vision therapy.
Here
are some notes from the book:
“Millions of
people do not realize they have vision problems because they've been
told they have good eyesight, or they wear corrective eyeglasses or lenses.
They do not realize that eyesight and vision are not the same. That their
‘ADHD’ symptoms, reluctance to read, ‘tension’ headaches, ‘counting the pages’
when they read, fear of driving at night, problems looking people in the eye, or
even fidgeting, may well be vision problems, not eyesight problems.
P.1 “What
few people realize – including many doctors – is that most common ADHD symptoms
are identical to visual performance problems. Inattentive behaviors such as
making careless mistakes and distractability, and hyperactive behavior such as
fidgeting or interrupting others are just a few of the symptoms of vision
problems that match ADHD problems.” P. 3 “Another
2005 study published in the journal; Strabisumus established a direct link
between ADHD and CI.” P. 4 (CI is convergence insufficiency, a vision
problem) “Vision
development is often delayed in children with ADHD, seizure disorders, cerebral
palsy, autistic behaviors, or pervasive development disorders. Vision therapy
is key for helping children build their sensory skills for better learning and
function in the activities of daily living.” P. 7 “…
over 80% of learning takes place through the visual system.” P. 9 “The
20/20 eyesight test measures how clearly you can see – it does not measure your
visual function, and does not test your ability to see at closer distances, such
as for reading and computer work. It does not tell you if you have headaches
with reading, double vision, or visual stamina. The test was developed in the
1800’s by an eye doctor, Dr. Herman Snellen. This old fashioned chart also does
not evaluate many other important aspects of normal vision such as eye focusing,
eye coordination, focus stamina, eye teaming (binocular vision), eye movement,
visual perceptual skills, and color vision. This means that though you might
not need eyeglasses to see clearly, you still could have a vision problem.” P.
12
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