IMPROVING READING/LEARNING SKILLS

OVERVIEW

Reading and learning efficiently are critical skills for success in today's information environment. Let's take a look at some of the components involved with this process.

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COMPONENT #1 - EYE FOCUSING ABILITY

Imagine trying to read a book or white board when all the letters are blurry. Or what if you got a headache every time you tried to focus on your computer or iPad for more than 5 minutes. Functioning efficiently in today's classroom or business environment requires our eyes to focus clearly at many different distances.

That's why the first step in identifying reading and learning problems is diagnosing any viual focusing difficulties such as:

• Myopia (near sightedness)
• Hyperopia (far sightedness)
• Astigmatism (makes things blurry at all distances)
• Accommodative Reserve (how long can our eyes focus at a near distance comfortably)
• Accommodative Facility (how quickly can our eyes focus far to near and near to far)

Some of these problems can be solved with glasses, contact lenses, ortho K or LASIK. But others are best treated with therapy that strengthen the weak focusing muscles.

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COMPONENT #2 - EYE MUSCLE COORDINATION

Our eyes are controlled by 12 of the smallest muscles in the body. They are responsible for how our eyes point and track. Often these muscles do not develop and coordinate with each other the way they should. This leads to problems in the classroom. Children with reduced eye muscle coordination often have lower scores in school performance testing. And they just don't enjoy learning things - they hate doing their school work.

Among the problems caused by poor eye coordination are:

• Esophoria (over convergence)
• Exophoria (under convergence)
• Hyperphoria (vertical imbalance)
• Amblyopia (lazy eye)
• Poor saccadic movement (eye tracking)

Numerous studies show that students can significantly improve reading and learning skills once proper treatment is initiated to improve eye muscle coordination. It's really no different than improving athletic performance or playing a musical instrument better by training certain muscles to become stronger and coordinate together more efficiently.

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COMPONENT #3 INFORMATION PROCESSING - COMPREHENSION

Another factor in learning performance is how information captured by the visual system gets transferred to the processing areas of the brain. This transfer of information can actually be measured by using VEP (Visual Evoked Potential) technology.

Both the amount and speed of information traveling from the eyes to the brain can be measured. The VEP instrument is very child friendly and does not require dilation or sedation. It provides great baseline information and also shows improvements gained after a therapy program.

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IMPROVING ALL THREE COMPONENTS

The doctors at Eye Care Associates are specifically trained to help students OF ALL AGES improve their reading and learning skills in all three of these components. We custom taylor our therapy for each patient by first performing a thorough diagnostic work up that includes a baseline VEP. Then, over the next eight weeks, a combination of "in office" and home therapy sessions are performed, monitored and adjusted according to the each patient's needs.

We unconditionally guarantee that each patient's reading and learning performance will be improved by the end of our program.