Vision problems are sometimes misdiagnosed as AD(H)D By Dr. S. Moshe Roth Peter appears to be very bright but he is falling behind and struggling with reading.He's easily distracted and rarely completes his in-class reading assignments. Even though he has strong verbal and language skills, he gets lost when he reads for understanding.He can recognize a word in one sentence, but then struggles with the same word two sentences later. He may turn his head to one side when trying to read, or rub his eyes and complain of a headache, but you figure he's just making excuses to avoid doing his assignments.He loves to use the computer or play video games or even read comic books. So the only conclusion is that he is either lazy or has an attention problem, right? Not so. It has become almost an assumption that if a child is having trouble paying attention that it must be attention deficit disorder (ADD).Yet most people don't realize that an undiagnosed vision problem has very similar symptoms that can easily be mistaken forADD. Did you know that 80 percent of what children learn is through their vision? When children have undiagnosed vision problems that interfere with their ability to read it can cause considerable problems in their education. Undiagnosed vision problems are hitting epidemic proportions.According to the National PTA,more than 10 million children in the United States are struggling with vision problems that interfere with learning.How could this be? When people go to the eye doctor, or the pediatrician, or the school nurse, they hear terms such as "20/20" and assume that means the child has perfect vision. Unfortunately, this is only a measure of how well someone sees the eye chart from a distance of 20 feet. It is a very dangerous assumption that if someone can see the eye chart, that they can see well enough to read up close.Up close is where we do most of our learning, reading assignments and taking tests. Someone, for example,who is farsighted, (this means that they can see clearly at distance, such as the blackboard) may be able to pass the school nurse's exam or the pediatrician's screening test, but actually have a very serious problem when doing work up close, such as reading or working on a computer. Don't regular eye exams find these types of vision problems? Not always. While all optometrists are trained to test for these visual deficiencies, it sometimes requires more in-depth testing. That type of in-depth testing is typically performed by an eye doctor who is specially trained to test all the visual skills that are necessary to be able to succeed in school. What should parents do? Be alert to the symptoms:homework takes longer than it should, covering an eye when reading or tilting one's head, frequent loss of place when reading, omits, inserts, or rereads letters and words,poor reading comprehension, letter/word reversals after first grade, dislike of reading or reading-related subjects, or attention problems, labeled as ADD/ADHD, slow learner, learning disabled, behavior problem,working below potential. If your child has even one of these symptoms, a developmental vision evaluation may unlock the secret to your child's success. Dr. S.Moshe Roth is an optometric physician. License Number 4365, Therapeutics Certificate TO413.Dr. Roth practices in Old Bridge, and can be reached by calling (732) 679-2020, or visiting www.NJEyeSite.com.