Focusing deficiencies will increase the time necessary for copying from the blackboard, induce visual fatigue and/or avoidance of close work, and result in reduced reading comprehension. In addition, visual focusing difficulties will make it more difficult for an individual to focus their attention and will contribute to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Binocular Integration - Eye Teaming Ability

The human visual system is designed so that the eyes and their reciprocating muscles can work to such a high degree of teaming that the two eyes perform as one. This skill is intimately related to eye movement control and focusing ability.

Deficiencies in eye teaming will cause an individual to use excess effort when focusing for reading and writing and will reduce their ability to sustain visual attention.

Visual-Motor Integration (Eye-Hand Coordination)

Skill in eye-hand coordination is essential to accurate and stress-free writing and to efficient performance in sports.

Deficiencies in eye-hand coordination will make handwriting more difficult or fatiguing, and may also affect overall sports performance.

Visual Form Perception

Form evaluation skills allow for immediate and accurate discrimination of likeness and differences and the ability to reproduce and generalize forms.

Deficiencies in visual form perception may result in difficulty recognizing or confusion of similar words.

Visual Intake - Visual Memory

Obtaining maximum visual information in the shortest possible time provides for optimal performance. The ability to retain this information over an adequate period of time is essential for reading comprehension and spelling.

Dysfunctions in visual intake and visual memory may cause difficulty recognizing the same word on the next page and reduced reading comprehension. It will also result in prolonged time copying assignments and difficulties transferring information from one place to another.

How Are Visual Problems Treated?

Unresolved visual deficits can impair the ability to respond fully to educational instruction. Management may require optical correction, vision therapy, or a combination of both. Vision therapy, the art and science of developing and enhancing visual abilities and remediating vision dysfunctions, has a firm foundation in vision science, and both its application and efficacy have been established in the scientific literature.

Optometric treatment for a vision dysfunction may include the use of lenses, prisms, visual training programs, and developmental vision guidance. In addition, specific recommendations may also be made concerning general health and nutrition.