Mother Kathy saw her daughter’s life change for the better recently. With dramatic improvements in her learning, concentration and confidence, Kathy attributed the positive changes to vision therapy, which helped the turn around within months.
With focus and tracking problems, Kathy realised there was an issue when she noted, “My child had problems with reading. She would read a few lines and then skip words. She would notice that it was not making sense so would make up words along the way.”
“I had placed my daughter with a tutor for English. She also picked up that my daughter was not reading to a year 4 standard. We tried together to work with her,” Kathy continued. “I would read with her every night. She was improving but still guessing words. My daughter was falling behind at school, which made her self-confidence very low.”
Recommended Eyecare Kids by friends, Kathy went with her daughter to have her eyes examined and was advised she should wear glasses to correct her moderate refractive error. However, the major “problem with skipping and guessing words” was improved through vision therapy which sought to correct her daughter’s focusing, teaming and tracking problems.
“We started Vision Therapy in December and my daughter was so determined to fix this problem as she was very upset and could see she was falling behind at school” said Kathy. “My daughter was so determined that we would spend up to 40 minutes a day on the eye exercises. After a few weeks of Vision Therapy we saw results, which made my daughter happy and made her more confident in reading”.
With 1 in 5 Australian children susceptible to vision complications early in their development, it is important to note the signs your child may be suffering from impaired sight. Behavioural Optometrist, Soo Jin Nam flags, “We understands many vision problems with children are not solely based on how clearly they can see , but on how efficiently they can use their visual system in an academic environment. Prescribing glasses is only one of the solutions we offer”.
Soo Jin continued, “Children with moderate vision impairments tend to be unaware of the issue and less vocal about it, with devastating effects on their development, academic performance, social interactions and health if not corrected immediately.”
Some of the vision related difficulties parents can keep an eye out for include:
- Covering one eye when reading
- Complains of blurry or double vision
- Takes a long time to copy from the board at school
- Re-reads or skips words and/or lines
- Complains of eyestrain and headaches after near work
- Poor reading comprehension
“My daughter has improved in reading and she is now on a year 4 level. My daughter now loves to read which is great thing to see. I highly recommend Vision Therapy,” concludes Kathy.
Eyecare Kids provides behavioural optometry services and vision therapy as part of a more holistic approach of looking after a child’s visual system. Particularly tailored for children, vision therapy programs are offered to assist children with tracking, focusing and teaming problems as well as lazy eyes and eye turns. With a child-friendly environment, each consultation is fun and interactive, with educational qualities that ensure children improve at their own pace and develop confidence as well as clarity with their future.
Optometrists Association Australia recommends that children have a full eye examination with an optometrist before starting school and at least every two years thereafter. Eye examinations usually attract a Medicare rebate and no referral is required.
