Studies show that 80 percent of learning happens visually. If visual pathways get interference, one may not reach their development potential. Statistics show that one in 10 children have vision problems that significantly affect their learning. Read on to learn how vision affects learning.

Visual Problems Impact the Focusing Ability

Visual sharpness or acuity is vital for every learner. Refractive errors such as nearsightedness, farsightedness, or astigmatism can cause constant headaches. As a result, this can hinder your child’s ability to focus in class. Blurred vision can cause eyestrain as they struggle to read the chalkboard.

The ability to focus and concentrate is essential when learning. Difficulty reading text can affect focus in school and growth in an educational setup.

Poor Vision Affects Hand-eye Coordination

The best part about school for most kids is recess time. However, poor vision can affect how this time gets spent. Most kids with undiagnosed vision problems avoid sports that require sharp sight. They also highlight poor hand-eye coordination.

Refraining from sporting activities due to poor hand-eye coordination also affects learning. Studies show that taking part in being active and playing has a positive effect on academic excellence.

Vision Impacts Confidence

Studies show that confidence has a direct relation with academic capabilities. Vision-related problems can negatively impact learning and essential foundational skills. Ideally, your child must have the necessary vision skills to empower them to succeed in school.

Necessary Vision Skills for Learning

Below are some of the vision skills that can boost their confidence and impact their academics:

• Visualization - The ability to see things in the mind. Visualization can influence the ability to think.
• Perception span - Some children can only read one or part of a word. Each eye fixation makes them read as though they see through a straw. As a result, that slows down their learning.
• Esophoria - Children with the problem of their eyes turning inwards tend to see things smaller than their actual size. The eye coordination problem causes one to bring an object closer to see better.
• Eye teaming and eye tracking - Learning becomes effortless when the eyes work together.
• Convergence - Reading requires the eyes to turn inwards in a movement called convergence. If the learner’s eyes deviate outward, they tend to use so much energy and effort to remain fixated on the reading task. Specialists call this struggle convergence insufficiency.
• Visual acuity - The ability to see things clearly allows the learner to read easily.

Vision and Reading Comprehension Have a Relation

Poor vision lowers reading comprehension. As a result, this affects learning. The eyes ought to work together effectively. Eye teaming and tracking are necessary visual skills for every learner. Such skills help move the eyes across a page, and whatever you read will make sense.

Vision-related learning problems can affect reading. You are likely to confuse words that appear similar because you cannot see the text clearly. You also lose your place while you read. Most children with vision problems often struggle to keep up with their class work and have poor comprehension.

For more about vision and learning, visit Look! Optometry at our office in Manhattan Beach, California. Call (310) 796-5665 to book an appointment today.