| A Today Show appearance by the deputy director of | | | | children can't see properly,(notice too that almost 70% |
| Prevention Magazine, touched upon the real reasons | | | | of our4th and 8th graders are not reading at grade |
| kids and adults struggle to read and answers the | | | | level) the CDC found that that 60% of children under 6 |
| questions I have been asking in my books and | | | | have never had their eyes checked.They also found |
| seminars for years:Is the typical eye chart screening | | | | that of school-age children only 20% have had their |
| adequate to pick up factors that are certain to cause | | | | vision tested by an eyedoctor in the past year.OK - |
| reading problems? The answer is no, by both the | | | | here's the info you need that is so critical to your child's |
| American Optometric Society and even the Center | | | | reading success:Get your child's eyes checked during |
| for Disease Control. Reading is at the core of the | | | | infancy (there's a free resource below); and once a |
| learning process, and if you want you or your child to | | | | year while he or she is in school. The visual demands |
| be a better reader, continue reading this article: Eye | | | | of school are high, and the stakes of undetected |
| chart screenings are not related to reading at near | | | | eyesight and even subtle vision problems are even |
| point.They simply tell you whether you can see a letter | | | | higher.Make sure that T.V. and computer use is limited, |
| 3/8 inch high from 20 feet away, while covering one | | | | since too much of that, all by itself, may arrest some |
| eye. When was the last time you tried to read a book | | | | visual skill development. Get your child outside to play |
| or report at 20 feet with one eye covered? According | | | | all kinds of games, ride bikes and definitely add sports |
| to Dr. Glen Steele, eye charts miss up to 60% of vision | | | | to the mix.Resources:Comprehensive Vision Exams: |
| disorders.Eyesight and vision are not the | | | | For infants - Be sure and listen to former President |
| same.Eyesight is the acutity and health of the eye, and | | | | Jimmy Carter on the infantsee website.For more |
| vision is the ability to make meaning from what you | | | | information on why even a former President'sdaughter |
| read and see.A typical eye exam is not the same as | | | | struggled with unnecessary vision problemsthat |
| a comprehensive exam.While a regular eye exam will | | | | affected her school work and how she fixed it: |
| pick up big problems, the comprehensive eye exam | | | | informative chapters on how to detect and solve your |
| measures things like tracking (essential to reading | | | | child's reading problems, as well asmore information on |
| without losing your place, and tracking a ball in sports), | | | | practical learning strategies take a look at the best |
| focusing and how the eyes move together.When your | | | | selling book, Learning vs Testing at Your child's eyes |
| child is first born, their eyes tend to work separately | | | | and vision are far too important to take forgranted. |
| and may wander slightly outward. If, over time, that | | | | You have no idea how the world looks through their |
| doesn't naturally correct, you'll find your child | | | | eyes and if you want reading and learning to be faster |
| complaining of headaches, covering one eye to read, | | | | and easier, now is the time to act. Don't rely on the |
| not really wanting to read, or getting tired quickly when | | | | eye chart in the typical school vision screening.Pat |
| reading. Your child may also need to sit right and the | | | | Wyman is a the best selling author of Learning vs |
| front of the classroom to see better.The action: get a | | | | Testing, international consultant and learning expert on |
| comprehensive vision exam now, and below, there are | | | | Instant Learning, and founder of the number 1 Instant |
| serveral resources below where you can use to find | | | | Learning site on the web, has appeared on more than |
| the doctors who perform those exams.Jean Ramsey, | | | | 300 radio and T.V. programs, had her work featured in |
| M.D., director of pediatric opthmology service at Boston | | | | such publications as Family Circle, Woman's World and |
| Medical Center, says,"By the time you're an adult your | | | | Nickelodeon's Nick Jr. Family Magazine, and regularly |
| vision is hardwired, but a child's brain is plastic and | | | | conducts coaching seminars on faster learning. She |
| changeable. Treatment (for vision disorders) by 8 or 9 | | | | e-mails her Instant Learning newsletters to over |
| may even repair conditions such as lazy eye."While | | | | 250,000 subscribers each week. |
| the American Optometric Society estimates that 1 in 4 | | | | |