EYE MUSCLE EFFICIENCY
Do the eye muscles work as expected for the person’s age?
What is the impact of fatigue on the eye muscles?
An issue here can result in a child having lower attention spans as they tire quickly or skipping words or using their finger to follow the line.
FOCUS ACCURACY
Do the eyes maintain an accurate focus during prolonged reading?
Do the eyes efficiently shift focus from board to book to board?
An issue here can result in a child become frustrated with reading and thus avoidance as well as holding the book too close or too far.
BINOCULAR VISION
How well do the two eyes work together as a pair?
Do they maintain proper alignment when looking at text on a page?
An issue here can result in a child skipping or repeating words.
VISUAL PROCESSING
How the brain makes sense of the information the eyes provide
Is the brain interpreting what the eyes are seeing accurately?
Does the system work less well when looking at certain patterns (black and white stripes)?
ASSESSMENTS
Vision in Learning assessments are more involved than general sight tests or eye examinations.
More emphasis is spent on assessing how the eyes work during the reading process, especially when they are tired.
Management can include any of, or a combination of:
Eye stress relieving spectacles - these help the eye muscles work in a more efficient way, and often are just needed as a temporary measure
Colour - In a small percentage of patients, colour tints or overlays can help in stabilising text that seems to move on the page
Eye exercises - Sometimes eye exercises are advised to build eye muscle strength.
Please note Vision in Learning assessments are for patients aged 7 to 35. Outside of these ages, please book a normal eye examination so that we can rule out normal age related changes first. A vision in learning assessment is a private assessment and therefore there is no NHS help towards the cost of the test or spectacles.
Please see the questionnaire below for a guide as to whether a vision in learning appointment is appropriate for you or your child.
