TIMELY INFORMATION ABOUT SCHOOL & YOUR CHILD!
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School is Starting!
School just started in Lodi, and within the month, the surrounding schools will also begin. Maybe your kids are eager for the start, or some are not so eager, but are they ready? |
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You have the new backpack. You have the school supplies. You packed the lunch. You even have the apple for the teacher! Yet, have you forgotten anything? Why yes, your child's vision!
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Science says 80% of learning takes place through vision. Yet, what part of vision is most involved in learning? We've known for decades that it's more than 20/20 eyesight. The decades-old Dartmouth study showed that the best students had the worst visual acuity! Yes, clear eyesight is essential and is the starting point of our care. Thus, to find if your child’s vision is interfering with learning, you need a doctor who looks beyond your child's eyesight. Binocular vision is a factor, and vision processing is the major one. Binocular vision and vision processing are emphasized in our office.
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There is another oft-forgotten issue just as important as finding if vision affects their learning. Does the classroom environment and curriculum hurt your child’s vision? We are equipped to see if the rigors of the classroom interfere with your child’s vision and how to correct it.
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Are your kids performing at grade level? Statistics say 25% are failing. Then, many more just get by. Was your child among the 25% who could not keep up with the rest of the class? Does your child have to revisit the same grade? Will your child need special attention next year that adds to the burden your child had to endure last year? Perhaps your child has a visually related learning problem in the areas discussed above, such as binocular vision and vision processing, which are common. That may be the main reason for your child’s reduced performance.
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Yet your child passed the school vision screening, you say. Unfortunately, despite its good intentions in 1947, screening detects only those without 20/20 eyesight. We knew after the Dartmouth study mentioned above that learning requires more than 20/20 acuity. The screening only finds an already existing problem, too late to reverse. At worst, it gives a false impression that vision is not causing your child’s learning problem. Maybe you have that false impression. We can reassure you.
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A key aspect of the vision screening law that can help determine if a vision condition may affect learning is Section (e) of the CA vision screening law, CA Education Code 4945. It requires teacher and nurse training to recognize vision symptoms, in the classroom.
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Could you or your teachers tell if this child needed a vision referral? Probably not, unless you were trained by a developmental optometrist!
She has three very evident vision conditions:
1. She has a vision development problem evidenced by the fist pencil grip.
2. She has a binocular vision condition evidenced by the twist of her head, making her nose block her right eye.
3. She is or about to become nearsighted since she is too close to her paper and holding the pencil near the tip.
Teachers attending Dr. Henshaw’s training would know the above and more. Go to Teacher Parent Info, then scroll down to How can I tell if my student or child has a visually related learning problem? Better yet, bring your child in to ensure no vision conditions are hindering their school performance. Call 334-2020.
She has three very evident vision conditions:
1. She has a vision development problem evidenced by the fist pencil grip.
2. She has a binocular vision condition evidenced by the twist of her head, making her nose block her right eye.
3. She is or about to become nearsighted since she is too close to her paper and holding the pencil near the tip.
Teachers attending Dr. Henshaw’s training would know the above and more. Go to Teacher Parent Info, then scroll down to How can I tell if my student or child has a visually related learning problem? Better yet, bring your child in to ensure no vision conditions are hindering their school performance. Call 334-2020.