Dyslexia & Learning Disorders
Pediatric ophthalmologists are frequently consulted by families, pediatricians and teachers of children with reading and learning disorders.
A comprehensive pediatric ophthalmologic examination will determine if there are any vision problems requiring eyeglasses, eye muscle imbalances including convergence difficulties or ocular health issues that may be contributing to any reading or learning difficulties.
If the pediatric ophthalmologic examination is normal, the appropriate remediation is then required either with a private reading tutor or resource room at school providing “evidence based” remediation. Parents must be wary of non-evidence based remediation such as various “vision therapy” regimens and prism glasses.
These are excellent sources of information for parents of children with reading or learning difficulties:
1. Landmark article published in Scientific American highlighting the pioneering work of Dr. Sally Shaywitz at Yale regarding reading disorders (click HERE) .
2. Excellent book chapter on learning disabilities (click HERE).
The fallacy of vision therapy for treating reading or learning disorders is well defined in these links:
1. American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Ophthalmology statement denouncing vision therapy for learning disabilities ( to read full report, please click HERE).
2. Medical Journal article denouncing vision therapy for learning disabilities (click HERE).