Parents always want to ensure their children live happy and comfortable lives. Their success begins with their school life. Various problems can cause your child to struggle while in school. Ailments and developmental issues could contribute to it. Hyperactivity or attention deficit disorder is among the conditions that cause children to have low performance in school. However, ADHD symptoms often overlap with binocular vision disorder.

Most parents keep thinking their children have learning problems due to a lack of a proper assessment of their visions. Binocular vision dysfunction often gets misdiagnosed as attention deficit disorder. The treatments are not the same. Thus, your child can experience terrible consequences if they get a misdiagnosis.

What is Binocular Vision?

Binocular vision is when both eyes can face one direction and perceive one image in three dimensions as unified. The brain consolidates information from your two eyes to give one clear image.

What is Binocular Vision Dysfunction?

Binocular vision dysfunction or BVD is an eye condition that develops due to the strain of eye muscles because of the eye misalignment. It interrupts the synchronization between your brain and eyes. Often, one eye is lower than the other eye, which is higher. Consequently, the brain receives two images that differ slightly.

Signs and Symptoms of Binocular Vision Dysfunction

• Headaches

• Eyestrain

• Learning or reading difficulties

• Poor hand-eye coordination

• Concentration or attention problems

• Mobility and balance problems

• Double vision

Why Children Need a Binocular Vision Assessment

Children in the modern world spend long periods focusing and processing so much complex information while dealing with many distractions surrounding them. Most children who struggle to understand have learning problems. However, some with such difficulties suffer from BVD.
The eye muscles work overtime to fix the problem when the double images are rejected by the brain. Eventually, the muscles get fatigued from the strain they go through due to the misalignment.

Your child can struggle with learning due to how hard they work to process what their eyes see. They may struggle to read and do activities that require them to concentrate intensely. Some often give up or withdraw socially. You may also notice your child beginning to act out or become very irritable when they get frustrated.

What Binocular Vision Assessment Entails

Standard eye exams can only help examine eye health and visual acuity. A binocular vision assessment does more. The human body moves smoothly due to its visual system. It maintains balance, orients in space, gives motion cues, and helps with learning. It does all these tasks simultaneously.

Binocular vision assessment detects various vision problems that vision screening or standard eye exams may not. It helps evaluate visual skills essential for learning and reading, like:
 

• Visual perception

• Accommodation or focusing skills of the eyes

• Fusion

• Processing speed

• Ocular posture

• Convergence

• Ocular movements or motility

• Working memory

• Eye teaming or vergence

• Visual integration

• Depth perception

Once a deficit in your child’s visual skills is identified, they will strategize on treatment. Your eye specialist can help improve, remedy, or enhance your child’s vision skills through visual training.

For more about binocular vision assessment, visit VEO Vision Therapy at our office in Wichita, Kansas. Call (316) 999-4100 to schedule an appointment today.