It’s October, which means that school has been back in session for a couple of months now. Has your child’s teacher noticed him or her struggling to read or sit still during class time? Maybe you noticed him or her struggling to complete homework after school? It is issues such as these that often cause children to be misdiagnosed with a disorder such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), when the child simply has a correctable vision problem.
More than 11 percent of children in the U.S. are considered to have ADHD, and approximately 90 percent of those children that have been diagnosed with ADHD have vision problems. It is these vision problems that often cause the symptoms that teachers and parents mistake for ADHD. How are these vision problems going unnoticed? A basic school eye exam only tests 1 of the 17 skills required for children to properly read and learn. This means a child can pass his or her school vision exam, and still have an undetected vision problem.
Symptoms of vision problems that are often assumed to be ADHD symptoms include: hyperactivity, impulsiveness, short attention span, lack of ability to remain still and easily distractible. Vision problems that cause these symptoms include:
- Convergence Insufficiency (CI)
- Affects nearly 20 percent of individuals.
- Patients have trouble converging their eyes together to read or complete near work.
- Causes extreme discomfort when reading or doing near work, which causes the patient to lose concentration or become fidgety.
- Tunnel Vision
- Patients have restricted peripheral vision.
- When reading, an individual can only focus on one word at a time and struggles to scan ahead to the next word or page.
- Causes reading and near work to be frustrating and time-consuming.
- Studies have revealed that there is a high incidence of tunnel vision in people who have been diagnosed with ADHD.
- Focusing, Eye Teamwork and Tracking Disorders
- Many people unknowingly have these vision problems.
- These disorders all cause symptoms that mimic ADHD symptoms.
- These disorders cause a child to have extreme difficulty reading or completing near work, often leading to frustration or incompletion.
If you believe your child is suffering from any of the vision problems above, call us today at 618-288-1489. Our complete vision evaluation can detect any vision issues your child may be having. If your child is diagnosed with a vision problem, we will then develop a vision therapy program for him or her. Our individualized programs have proven to be successful in treating vision problems among children and adults. With our help, learning can become easier and more natural for your child, and perhaps even enjoyable! Invest in your child’s future and contact us today. Learn more about Vision for Life and all that our office has to offer by visiting https://visionforlifeworks.com.