My child will pick up a magazine like “Sports Illustrated”, “Teen USA” or even “People Magazine”. It is funny because as soon as I tell them it's time to read a real book or a novel, they procrastinate or seem reluctant no matter what I do. Is it because they like the pictures or because I ask them to read?
Answer: This is more common than parents realize and is really not funny. It is often due to a set of circumstances that few are aware of. Most of the time the child has a “visual tracking” problem in which the left eye and the right eye do not coordinate. Sometimes the eyes do not converge properly. Magazinesare designed in narrow columns. This alleviates the problem because the eyes can scan more easily.
Both children and adults can get a kind of double vision that they are not aware of. Sometimes words can seem to move off the page or have a shadow image. Because they have seen this way throughout their life, they do not how to explain the problem.
How will you know that the eyes are not tracking together smoothly as one unit? Answer: The child will lose their place at the end of sentences. He or She will reread the sentence over again. Their comprehension will be weak. They will complain that they get sleepy or get headaches. The most telling sign will be the position they are in when reading, writing or doodling. You will often see them hunched over with their left arm extended out on the desk (if they are a right- handed) and their head leaning onto the crux of their arm. It looks like he or she is not motivated and has poor posture. What they are doing in actuality is compensating by burying their face, thereby blocking one eye while reading out of the other eye. Parents may remember telling the child, “sit up straight!”, “How can you read bent over?” Well folks, sitting up straight makes matters worse if they have word double vision.
So what should you do??
You should contact a person who has a strong emphasis in vision training therapy. The vision therapist will exercise the muscles of the eyes so that the eyes can learn to work together as a team. The exercises can often be a lot of fun. I call it a “gym” for the eyes. Toys, games, 3D glasses etc. are utilized when done properly. The problem is that few eye doctors even test for eye tracking. You would waste a lot of time and money asking the average eye doctor who is not knowledgeable regarding this subject.
Learning experts and people who sell specific reading programs, are often unaware. No one-size-fits-all-program can work if the child is seeing double. In order to find someone in your area you might want to contact the Optometric Center of New York affiliated with the S.U.N.Y. higher learning institutions. They had a seven story building for just eye care in NYC. Tell them where you live so that they can refer you to someone in your neighborhood.
Like most things, some eye doctors will claim that vision training is a lot of nonsense, but I can say from personal experience many years ago that I could not read a real book until I accidentally came upon this information. It was the first time that I understood why things seemed smaller as I got further away. Shockingly, the term for this is called perspective. Perspective requires both eyes to see. So… if your kid is hunched over, or tilts their head, or you notice that one eye seems to drift, and you are unsure of which eye to look at when you are scolding them, then I have great news. Their reading is fixable in a few months with the proper vision therapy. When I get a new client, it is one of the first things I look for. When corrected, their learning abilities improve dramatically, and it makes me look real good.
SHELLEY TZORFAS is the Founder of Specialized Tutoring/Learning Assessments, and has been tutoring students with ADD, ADHD, Dyslexia as well as undiagnosed kids for nearly twenty-five years.
Shelley views Dyslexia as a "processing of information problem, either in the visual, auditory or kinesthetic mode," and strives to educate the general public about learning disabilities.Like other dyslexics, Shelley has had varied, successful careers. These range from appearing on a PBS documentary, and exhibiting artwork in museums. She is currently writing a book on learning differences.
Shelley, nee Gelfman, is a single mother of two boys and lives in New Jersey. She is available for consultation and/or tutoring, and may be reached at her website at www.betterschoolresults.com . Her email is stzorfas@gmail.com , phone number is
(908) 735-9053.
