Benefits of Vision Therapy for Gifted Students Who Struggle
1.
Does your child get frustrated in school despite being gifted? 2.
Does your gifted child spend hours struggling to complete school assignments? 3.
Do you have a bright child who will not read for fun? 4.
Does your gifted child have difficulty completing written or board work? 5.
Is your gifted child a better reader on the first pages than after reading several pages? 6.
Does your bright child ever complain that words on the page move or get jumbled? Most children are born with healthy eyes and a healthy brain.
However, vision is a learned process.
Visual performance is dependent on the relationships between visual movement skills and body movement skills.
The process of vision is not the only means of receiving information, yet it happens to be the dominant sensory system in learning.
A properly functioning visual system allows an individual to quickly and accurately localize and identify objects.
This guides our movements.
Vision affects and is affected by posture and balance.
If there are disturbances structurally, functionally, or perceptually in vision or motor areas, these disturbances may be reflected in the decreased ability of the person to perform in areas of higher level academics and sports.
Even with 20/20 acuity, overall comfort and efficiency may be compromised.
Vision disorders may not be the only cause of a problem, but may be a factor and, thus, needs to be thoroughly investigated by a professional, since many of these children pass the school screenings or other cursory eye examinations.
What are the most common symptoms of learning related vision problems? Blurriness Double vision Fatigue (especially with sustained near work) Loss of place with reading Rubbing and/or closing an eye Omitting letters or words Needing a finger or marker Difficulty with writing (sizing, spacing, copying) Difficulty with spelling (often spells more phonetically) Poor gross and/or fine motor coordination.
This list contains just some of the more obvious symptoms.
Many children only exhibit some of the symptoms but not all.
These children often have strengths in creative thinking, verbalization, and high abstract reasoning.
On IQ testing, there is often a significant disparity, where the performance section is much lower than the verbal section, typically indicating some type of visual perceptual motor problem.
Vision therapy is not a program just for children, as many adults can and do benefit from it.
Although this article speaks to the needs of some gifted and twice exceptional children, these difficulties, which usually start in childhood, may plague a person throughout his or her adult life.
Learning problems are often masked in children; many compensate or avoid certain tasks.
Whether the child is labeled as having a learning disability often depends on the tester's ability to observe the frustration or compensatory actions.
Of more concern than the actual label, is whether or not there are significant gaps in abilities which could reduce overall performance.
The child with learning related vision problems can be so frustrated that he or she will not attempt to do the schoolwork, or can be the gifted straight A student who has to work extremely hard to get the grade.
Self-esteem is often compromised when children struggle, thereby complicating the emotional and behavioral picture.
Children who are not performing to their potential should be thoroughly evaluated to determine their strengths and weaknesses.
This testing might include a psychological-educational battery as well as an auditory and vision evaluation.
Dr.
Mary Meeker (1985), Director of the SOI Institute in California states, "There are many reasons why gifted children do not or will not perform adequately, but poor vision function tops the list.
There are a multitude of youngsters whose giftedness will go unnoticed, remain undeveloped or be suppressed because of undetected visual problems".
Many gifted children struggle with undetected vision problems that extend well beyond 20/20.
These visual difficulties can result in a multitude of symptoms ranging from headaches and a dislike of reading, to social awkwardness, gross motor difficulties, and a tendency to limit exposure to stimuli.
Does your child get frustrated in school despite being gifted? 2.
Does your gifted child spend hours struggling to complete school assignments? 3.
Do you have a bright child who will not read for fun? 4.
Does your gifted child have difficulty completing written or board work? 5.
Is your gifted child a better reader on the first pages than after reading several pages? 6.
Does your bright child ever complain that words on the page move or get jumbled? Most children are born with healthy eyes and a healthy brain.
However, vision is a learned process.
Visual performance is dependent on the relationships between visual movement skills and body movement skills.
The process of vision is not the only means of receiving information, yet it happens to be the dominant sensory system in learning.
A properly functioning visual system allows an individual to quickly and accurately localize and identify objects.
This guides our movements.
Vision affects and is affected by posture and balance.
If there are disturbances structurally, functionally, or perceptually in vision or motor areas, these disturbances may be reflected in the decreased ability of the person to perform in areas of higher level academics and sports.
Even with 20/20 acuity, overall comfort and efficiency may be compromised.
Vision disorders may not be the only cause of a problem, but may be a factor and, thus, needs to be thoroughly investigated by a professional, since many of these children pass the school screenings or other cursory eye examinations.
What are the most common symptoms of learning related vision problems? Blurriness Double vision Fatigue (especially with sustained near work) Loss of place with reading Rubbing and/or closing an eye Omitting letters or words Needing a finger or marker Difficulty with writing (sizing, spacing, copying) Difficulty with spelling (often spells more phonetically) Poor gross and/or fine motor coordination.
This list contains just some of the more obvious symptoms.
Many children only exhibit some of the symptoms but not all.
These children often have strengths in creative thinking, verbalization, and high abstract reasoning.
On IQ testing, there is often a significant disparity, where the performance section is much lower than the verbal section, typically indicating some type of visual perceptual motor problem.
Vision therapy is not a program just for children, as many adults can and do benefit from it.
Although this article speaks to the needs of some gifted and twice exceptional children, these difficulties, which usually start in childhood, may plague a person throughout his or her adult life.
Learning problems are often masked in children; many compensate or avoid certain tasks.
Whether the child is labeled as having a learning disability often depends on the tester's ability to observe the frustration or compensatory actions.
Of more concern than the actual label, is whether or not there are significant gaps in abilities which could reduce overall performance.
The child with learning related vision problems can be so frustrated that he or she will not attempt to do the schoolwork, or can be the gifted straight A student who has to work extremely hard to get the grade.
Self-esteem is often compromised when children struggle, thereby complicating the emotional and behavioral picture.
Children who are not performing to their potential should be thoroughly evaluated to determine their strengths and weaknesses.
This testing might include a psychological-educational battery as well as an auditory and vision evaluation.
Dr.
Mary Meeker (1985), Director of the SOI Institute in California states, "There are many reasons why gifted children do not or will not perform adequately, but poor vision function tops the list.
There are a multitude of youngsters whose giftedness will go unnoticed, remain undeveloped or be suppressed because of undetected visual problems".
Many gifted children struggle with undetected vision problems that extend well beyond 20/20.
These visual difficulties can result in a multitude of symptoms ranging from headaches and a dislike of reading, to social awkwardness, gross motor difficulties, and a tendency to limit exposure to stimuli.
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