Most children have no idea how they are supposed to see and rarely complain. The way they tell you they have a problem is with their behavior. Therefore, it is vital that you know the signs that a vision problem is interfering with your child’s ability to read, learn, play or perform other activities in daily life.
There are more than 15 visual skills required for reading and learning, including the ability to point the eyes together, to focus the eyes, to move across the page properly. These skills are often not tested in most vision screenings. Passing a vision screening which tests only distance vision leads parents to believe incorrectly that nothing is wrong. Distance vision (seeing 20/20) is just one of these visual skills.
If any of these visual skills are not working properly, it can make reading and learning an unnecessary challenge. Some children develop behavior problems, while others avoid reading or simply refuse to read. Usually the child is bright, causing parents to be confused by the child's difficulties. Parents and teachers often mistakenly think the child is hyperactive, lazy, slow, learning challenged, etc., because the symptoms are very similar with those of certain types of vision problems. In addition, many of these signs can easily be mistaken as learning disabilities or attention problems such as ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder).