By Dr. Charles J. Bock

Learning Problems, Dyslexia, and Vision Therapy

During their evaluation for learning difficulties, most children are referred for an eye examination. The purpose of this examination is to look for significant problems that may be contributing to the child's learning problems. However, even if there is a vision problem, such as a need for glasses or a wandering or lazy eye, it is unlikely that this problem alone is responsible for the child's learning difficulties.

During the course of this evaluation, some parents are encouraged to have an examination to determine if vision therapy may be of help. A developmental optometrist frequently performs this examination. When vision therapy is recommended, diagnoses such as "deficient eye teaming," "tracking problems," or problems with "visual memory" are often used.

There is no scientific evidence to support the use of eye exercises to treat these diagnoses. Although these treatments have not been proven harmful, they are expensive, and appropriate intervention with reading tutorial has been proven effective. Moreover, it is important that your child's specific type of learning disorder (such as dyslexia, verbal learning disorder, nonverbal learning disorder, ADD/ADHD) be accurately diagnosed so that appropriate treatment and remediation can begin promptly.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO), and the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus (AAPOS) have issued a joint position paper on vision therapy. Although a thorough ophthalmic examination is recommended to determine whether glasses are necessary or not, vision therapy is not recommended because, "There is no known eye or visual cause for these learning disabilities and no known effective visual treatment."

You may view the entire position paper at any of these organizations' websites. The easiest to navigate is that of AAPOS: On the main page, select Public Information. Next select Official Policy Statements. The position paper is titled Learning Disorders (Dyslexia). There is also a comprehensive national report on reading and dyslexia (473 pages) which you can download as a .pdf file titled Vision Therapy for Learning Disorders.

If you have questions

If you have questions about vision therapy or the relationship of vision problems to learning difficulties, feel free to call Dr. Bock at 503-656-4221 at any time.