Does your child suffer from visual stress?
The quick answer is possibly – Yes!
Studies have shown that a lot of the time symptoms can be ignored or children can be mis-diagnosed as being dyslexic when really they are suffering from visual stress.
How can you tell? Below are signs that we look out for:
- Moves closer to, or further away from the book
- Moves the book around on the desk
- Fidgets continuously
- Using finger as a marker on the page
- Skips words or lines
- Frequently re-reads the same line
- Rubs eyes or blinks frequently when reading
- Poor comprehension of reading content
- Frustration and low self-esteem
And what causes them to show these signs? See below of what someone who suffers from visual stress typically sees:
- Movement of the printed text
- Blurring of print
- Letter changing size or shape
- Patterns in the print (sometimes described as rivers or worms)
- Halos of colour surrounding letters or words
- Tiring easily whilst reading
- Headaches or visual discomfort
- Red, sore, watery eyes
And it’s not just children. Universities have cottoned on to the fact that this is a real life day to day issue that their students are dealing with. With this in mind they offer support for the costs of the examinations and glasses. It is only Universities that offer this as a general rule at the moment.
So how can we all help our children? Firstly education is key and we hope to reach out to primary schools to help teach them of the things to look out for. This enables the child to be given the support they need during a very important and influential time in their lives.
Secondly it is knowing how to react.
Call us now on 0207 638 6192 (24 hrs), or email reception@cityeyesopticians.com to see how you can help fight Visual Stress with us!