As clinicians, we are seeing an increasing number of patients presenting with visual skill problems, such as: teaming dysfunctions, focusing issues and tracking difficulties.
There is a clear and reproducible finding in the research that shows there is a significant link between learning difficulties and visual concerns
Understanding vision
Vision is an umbrella term that stretches from simple sight to deeper visualisation skills. It incorporates the visual skills students use on a daily basis to look, track, focus and interpret work in the classroom. It also involves the deeper visual perception skills that form the comprehension process of learning.
What are visual skills:
Visual skills describe:
· The ability to change focus when shifting attention from near to far (such as copying from the board at school)
· The ability to keep things clear at various distances, to track or move our eyes as we follow a moving target or read across the printed page
· Teaming, or using both eyes together (binocularity) (keeping both eyes on target when
reading)
· The ability to judge depth and distance (playing sport)
· Visual-motor integration (the ability to guide our pencil or catch a ball)
What are visual perception skills:
Visual perception is:
· Good visual-spatial skills (coordination, laterality and directionality, crossing the midline)
· Perceptual skills, the brain’s interpretation of the images taken in by our eyes, such as
figure ground, visual closure and form constancy
· The ability to remember what we see (visual memory)
· The ability to create mental images – learning how to ‘see’ visual concepts (visualise) from the words we read or hear.
What do breakdowns in these skills look like?
If a student has difficulty learning to read and write it is likely they didn’t develop the prerequisites necessary to learn efficiently. This often occurs in children below the age of 8 years.
When there is a breakdown in a child’s ability to read to learn, it is probable that there has been a breakdown of an existing visual skill, such as focus, eye teaming and eye tracking. These problems can occur in isolation or can co-occur and impact on learning development and progression.
Things to look for in the classroom
Visual skill breakdowns can cause:
· Frontal headaches
· Blur when looking from distance to near
· Double vision when reading or looking from distance to near
· Sensitivity to lights
· Watery uncomfortable eyes
· Red/Dry Eyes
Visual Perception breakdowns can cause children to:
· Lose their place frequently
· Have messy handwriting/book work
· Frequently reverse letters and numbers
· Perform well in verbal tasks but struggle in written tasks
· Frequently mistake words with similar beginnings.
These checklists can often help identify struggling students and assist teachers in encouraging parents to have their children assessed with an Optometrist or Orthoptist.
What can be done in the classroom
1. Where possible, have all students facing the board directly. Otherwise, try to rotate the students who sit at an angle to the board on a regular basis.
2. Observe students while reading and writing, make sure they maintain 30cm between their eyes and the paper. This is known as Harmon Distance.
3. Improve the contrast of written text. Some children are very glare sensitive and struggle when smart boards are used. Try to alter lighting in the class for best contrast. Additionally, black or blue markers are best on white boards to improve contrast.
4. In our current technological age, tablets and computers are readily used in the classroom. It’s important when using these devices that brightness is adjusted to halfway, class lights remain on, and the Harmon distance is maintained. Additionally, limiting use of devices to 20 minutes helps with preventing over focus.