Understanding Learning Challenges
I've Been Told My Child May Have Dyslexia
Many children labeled with dyslexia actually have undiagnosed visual dysfunctions that can be treated.
“A high percentage of individuals labeled as dyslexic are actually mislabeled due to undiagnosed visual dysfunctions.”
Have you been told that your child might have dyslexia? Who suggested this?
Many times when we are consulting with families, we hear this dyslexia term thrown out quite loosely. Often it is a label given away by teachers or well-meaning but ill-informed professionals to try to help explain why their child is still having trouble despite all the work being put in.
There are so many people who have been erroneously given the label of dyslexia and most of those receiving this label were given this label from a non-educational psychologist.
While “dyslexia” might not be a true diagnosis, however, many reading issues do have causes you can treat.
Common Misconceptions
The Good News
Many people who have been labeled dyslexic actually have a visual syndrome that interferes with their ability to process information. Vision dysfunctions are often overlooked or not taken into consideration when a child is having a learning issue.
The majority of the time, the child will get their eyes checked and be told that they have 20/20 vision and that everything is fine. However their visual skills may not be working properly for reading and learning.
The 20/20 Myth
Unfortunately most regular eye exams only look for 20/20, the visual acuity for compensating glasses, and eye health. This includes evaluation for optical alignment, but does not evaluate tracking or focusing skills.
• 20/20 does not measure visual tracking skills.
• 20/20 does not test focusing ability needed for reading.
Visual Insight
“If a child has any tracking problem or a binocular coordination dysfunction, that child will have to work 4-6 times harder than classmates.”
Educational Psychologist Reports
If your child has been seen by an educational psychologist and the psychologist has suggested there are some visual or visual perceptual processing issues, it is highly likely that your child may have several visual dysfunctions.
• Speech is slow
• Having a hard time reading
• Doing work slowly
• Losing place while reading
• Using a computer for typing
• Using spell check
Mislabeled?
It is our experience that a high percentage of individuals labeled as dyslexic are actually mislabeled due to undiagnosed visual dysfunctions.