There is new hope for struggling readers By Dr. S. Moshe Roth Working with a child who is having difficulty with reading and learning can be challenging, frustrating and emotionally draining. Imagine that you are working with your child and watching him read the same paragraph for the third time.Perhaps you notice that something doesn't look right with the way his eyes are moving, so you call your eye doctor to schedule an appointment.You hope to find a solution,but are told,"everything is fine."Now what? Maybe it's something else.But what could it be? Is he just an auditory learner? According to theAmerican Public Health Association,"25 percent of students in grades kindergarten through six have visual problems that are serious enough to impede learning."In addition, theAmerican OptometricAssociation has found that more than 60 percent of children who have learning difficulties actually have undiagnosed vision problems. Many vision problems go undetected because most people think that"20/20"means that you have perfect vision.This test only measures that how someone sees at a distance of 20 feet away.But where do children do most of their learning?At arm's length. In addition, it must be sustained for a significant amount of time.Most eye doctors don't test how well a child can see up close for the length of time required in order to read and learn.There are more than 15 visual skills, in addition to being able to see 20/20, that are required to read and learn.How would you know if your child has a vision problem or not? Regular eye exams typically evaluate only eye health,acuity (how clearly you can see the eye chart) and the need for glasses. In order to determine if your child has a visionbased learning problem, it is important to see a developmental optometrist.A developmental optometrist is a doctor who provides developmental vision evaluations to test eye movement control, focusing near to far, sustaining clear focus,eye teaming ability,depth perception,visual motor integration, form perception,visual memory and visual perceptual skills. It is also vital that parents know the signs of a vision problem. If your child struggles with reading,please ask yourself the following questions.Does your child: • Get frustrated trying to read? •Take much longer to read or write than it should? • Have trouble making out words? • Slow when copying or make lots of errors? • Find it harder to read at the end of the day than in the morning? • Omit or substitute small words (like"of" for"for",or"if"for"of,"etc.)? • Skip words or repeat lines when reading out loud to you? • Reverse letters like b's into d's when reading? • Have a short attention span with schoolwork? These are signs of an underlying vision problems that are treatable.Although some problems can be corrected with glasses,at times,vision therapy may be the only answer. Developmental optometrists provide vision therapy in their offices.Research published in the Journal of Learning Disabilities revealed that sixth-graders with below-average reading skills improved their test scores by up to two grade levels after vision therapy. Vision therapy is somewhat similar to speech therapy,occupational therapy or physical therapy. It enables the individual to more effectively use their eyes and make sense of what they are seeing. It involves a combination of supervised in-office therapeutic activities,along with activities that are done at home.The length of the program varies,depending on the diagnosis and the severity of the problem. For more information on developmental optometry,vision therapy and the critical link between vision and learning,visit www.njeyesite.com. Dr. S.Moshe Roth, optometric physician, practices at Family Eye Care, Old Bridge.He is a developmental optometrist and provides specialized services in the diagnosis and treatment of vision-based learning problems.Dr. Roth's license number is 4635 and his Therapeutic Certificate is TO 413. For more information, call (732) 679-2020.