{"id":19900,"date":"2021-11-07T08:25:50","date_gmt":"2021-11-07T08:25:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/?page_id=19900"},"modified":"2021-11-07T08:25:50","modified_gmt":"2021-11-07T08:25:50","slug":"university-of-waterloo-binocular-vision-and-reading-problems","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/childrens-vision\/vision-for-school\/university-of-waterloo-binocular-vision-and-reading-problems\/","title":{"rendered":"University of Waterloo: Binocular Vision and Reading Problems"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><b>University of Waterloo, Ontario Canada:<\/b><b><i> \u2018Kids with reading problems may have abnormal binocular vision\u2019.<\/i><\/b><\/h2>\n<p>According to a new study by the University of Waterloo: Elementary school children who read below their grade level may have lower than expected binocular vision results, even if they see 20\/20.<\/p>\n<h2><b>Summary from Dr. Lisa Chapman<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>Dr. Lisa Christian, lead researcher on the project and an Associate Clinical Professor at the School of Optometry and Vision Science, summarized the study with these two statements:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><i>\u201cKids can see words on the page, but if they have difficulty turning their eyes in to read, they may experience symptoms of eye strain, double vision or fatigue after 5 or 10 minutes\u201d\u00a0<\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><i>\u201cIt\u2019s not just about visual acuity but about how well the eyes work together when performing an activity such as reading.\u201d<\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Background<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>Researchers from the Faculty of Science, University of Waterloo, conducted a retrospective study of 121 children aged 6 to 14 who all had a reading-specific Individual Education Plan (IEP).<\/p>\n<p><b>33% of these students had reduced binocular vision skills.<\/b><\/p>\n<h2><b>What are binocular vision problems?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>Binocular vision anomalies are divided into three categories by optometrists: accommodation, vergence, and oculomotor &#8211; with symptoms often appearing benign or masquerading as other problems.<\/p>\n<p><b>1. Accommodation (eye focusing)<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Children with accommodative problems have difficulty focusing on objects that are close or far away, or moving their focus between objects such as a worksheet on their desk (near) and the blackboard (far).<\/p>\n<p><b>2. Vergence (eye teaming)<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Vergence problems affect children&#8217;s ability to turn their eyes inwards (converge) or outwards (diverge).<\/p>\n<p>Children with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/vision-therapy\/vision-therapy-for-children\/convergence-insufficiency-2\/convergence-insufficiency-faqs\/convergence-insufficiency-and-reading\/\">convergence insufficiency<\/a>, for example, have difficulty turning their gaze in to read.<\/p>\n<p>After just 5 or 10 minutes of reading, they may experience symptoms such as headaches, fatigue or eye strain.<\/p>\n<p><b>3. Oculomotor (eye tracking)<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Oculomotor problems affect children&#8217;s ability to easily move their eyes across a page, either by small following eye movements (pursuits) or large eye jumps (saccades).<\/p>\n<p>Children with these challenges are more prone to lose their place when reading, and will typically compensate by using their finger or a ruler.<\/p>\n<p><b><a href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/practice-search\/\">Contact an eye doctor near you<\/a> if you child is showing signs of a reading difficulty.<\/b><\/p>\n<p><strong>SEE RELATED: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/childrens-vision\/vision-for-school\/healthy-eyes-for-life-10-facts-for-school-children\/\">Healthy Eyes for Life: 10 Facts for School Children<\/a><\/p>\n\n\t<div class=\"practice-search-widget\">\n\t\t<h3>Find an eye doctor near you<\/h3>\n\t\t\n\t<form class=\"practice-search-form practice-search-form-widget\" action=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/practice-search\/results\/\" method=\"get\">\n\n\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"distance\" value=\"100\" class=\"practice-search-distance\">\n\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"page\" class=\"practice-search-page\">\n\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"address_latitude\"><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"address_longitude\">\n\n\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"address\" class=\"practice-search-address\" placeholder=\"City, Surburb or Address\" value=\"\">\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"distance\" value=\"100\" class=\"practice-search-distance\">\n\n\t\t\n\n\t\t<button type=\"submit\" class=\"practice-search-button\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 19 19\" fill=\"none\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M10.6796 0.130005C9.15708 0.130059 7.66615 0.5646 6.38198 1.38258C5.09781 2.20057 4.07373 3.36803 3.43004 4.74783C2.78634 6.12763 2.54976 7.66246 2.74808 9.17205C2.9464 10.6816 3.57139 12.1033 4.54964 13.27L0.729639 17.08C0.6364 17.1732 0.562439 17.2839 0.511979 17.4058C0.461519 17.5276 0.435547 17.6581 0.435547 17.79C0.435547 17.9219 0.461519 18.0524 0.511979 18.1743C0.562439 18.2961 0.6364 18.4068 0.729639 18.5C0.917942 18.6883 1.17334 18.7941 1.43964 18.7941C1.5715 18.7941 1.70207 18.7681 1.82389 18.7177C1.94571 18.6672 2.0564 18.5932 2.14964 18.5L5.99964 14.62C7.35406 15.6038 8.98566 16.1324 10.6596 16.13C12.7814 16.13 14.8162 15.2871 16.3165 13.7869C17.8168 12.2866 18.6596 10.2517 18.6596 8.13C18.6596 6.00827 17.8168 3.97344 16.3165 2.47315C14.8162 0.97286 12.7814 0.130005 10.6596 0.130005H10.6796ZM10.6796 14.13C9.49295 14.13 8.33291 13.7781 7.34622 13.1188C6.35952 12.4595 5.59049 11.5225 5.13636 10.4261C4.68224 9.32975 4.56342 8.12335 4.79493 6.95946C5.02644 5.79558 5.59788 4.72648 6.437 3.88736C7.27611 3.04825 8.34521 2.4768 9.5091 2.24529C10.673 2.01378 11.8794 2.1326 12.9757 2.58673C14.0721 3.04085 15.0092 3.80989 15.6685 4.79658C16.3277 5.78328 16.6796 6.94332 16.6796 8.13C16.6796 9.7213 16.0475 11.2474 14.9223 12.3726C13.7971 13.4979 12.2709 14.13 10.6796 14.13Z\" fill=\"#fff\"\/><\/svg>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\n\t\t<button type=\"button\" class=\"practice-search-use-my-location\">\n\t\t\tSearch near me\n\t\t<\/button>\n\n\n\t<\/form>\n\n\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n<h2><b>Treatment<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><b>Fortunately, a child&#8217;s binocular vision skills can be significantly improved with specific optical lenses, such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/vision-therapy\/neuro-optometry\/what-are-prism-lenses\/\">prisms<\/a>, or<a href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/vision-therapy\/guide-to-vision-therapy\/\"> vision therapy.<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n<p>In addition, optometrists experienced in managing children with reading issues can advise teachers on how to optimize the learning environment for these students.<\/p>\n<h2><b>What is vision therapy?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>Vision therapy is a personalized program offered by specific optometrists which successfully improves the visual skills.<\/p>\n<p><b>Over 80% of learning comes via our eyes, so any visual problem can have major consequences.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>A vision therapy program is more than just eye exercise as the goal is to strengthen the eye-brain communications to treat a wide range of problems including <a href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/vision-therapy\/vision-therapy-for-lazy-eye\/lazy-eye-faqs\/\">lazy eye<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/childrens-vision\/a-guide-to-eye-turns\/strabismus-crossed-eyes\/strabismus-faqs\/\">eye turns<\/a> and other binocular vision problems.<\/p>\n<p>Once the student can use their eyes more effectively, often the reading, learning and attention all improve.<\/p>\n<h2><b>How do prisms work?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>Wearing micro-prismatic lenses is an effective approach to treat binocular vision problems. These lenses are prescribed by optometrists to correct the misalignment of the eyes, which causes fatigue and eye strain.<\/p>\n<p>When patients use their prescribed prism lenses, their symptoms usually fade over time or totally disappear &#8211; improving the reading and academic performance of the student.<\/p>\n<p><strong>LEARN MORE:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/childrens-vision\/vision-for-school\/\">Vision For School<\/a><\/p>\n<p><b><a href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/practice-search\/\">Contact an eye doctor near you<\/a> to start treatment for your child\u2019s binocular vision problems.<\/b><\/p>\n<h2><b>University of Waterloo: Take home message<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><i>\u201cOur take home message is: It is important for the optometrist to provide a binocular vision assessment in all children, especially those who have been identified with reading problems.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>University of Waterloo, Ontario Canada: \u2018Kids with reading problems may have abnormal binocular vision\u2019. According to a new study by the University of Waterloo: Elementary<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1206,"featured_media":19901,"parent":1385,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"template-article.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19900","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>University of Waterloo: Binocular Vision and Reading Problems - Optometrists.org<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/childrens-vision\/vision-for-school\/university-of-waterloo-binocular-vision-and-reading-problems\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"University of Waterloo: Binocular Vision and Reading Problems - Optometrists.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"University of Waterloo, Ontario Canada: \u2018Kids with reading problems may have abnormal binocular vision\u2019. According to a new study by the University of Waterloo: Elementary\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/childrens-vision\/vision-for-school\/university-of-waterloo-binocular-vision-and-reading-problems\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Optometrists.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/child-reading-640x350-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"350\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/childrens-vision\/vision-for-school\/university-of-waterloo-binocular-vision-and-reading-problems\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/childrens-vision\/vision-for-school\/university-of-waterloo-binocular-vision-and-reading-problems\/\",\"name\":\"University of Waterloo: Binocular Vision and Reading Problems - Optometrists.org\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/childrens-vision\/vision-for-school\/university-of-waterloo-binocular-vision-and-reading-problems\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/childrens-vision\/vision-for-school\/university-of-waterloo-binocular-vision-and-reading-problems\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/child-reading-640x350-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-11-07T08:25:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-11-07T08:25:50+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/childrens-vision\/vision-for-school\/university-of-waterloo-binocular-vision-and-reading-problems\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/childrens-vision\/vision-for-school\/university-of-waterloo-binocular-vision-and-reading-problems\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/childrens-vision\/vision-for-school\/university-of-waterloo-binocular-vision-and-reading-problems\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/child-reading-640x350-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/child-reading-640x350-1.jpg\",\"width\":640,\"height\":350},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/childrens-vision\/vision-for-school\/university-of-waterloo-binocular-vision-and-reading-problems\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Children&#8217;s Vision\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/childrens-vision\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Vision for School\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/childrens-vision\/vision-for-school\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"University of Waterloo: Binocular Vision and Reading Problems\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/\",\"name\":\"Optometrists.org\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"University of Waterloo: Binocular Vision and Reading Problems - Optometrists.org","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/childrens-vision\/vision-for-school\/university-of-waterloo-binocular-vision-and-reading-problems\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"University of Waterloo: Binocular Vision and Reading Problems - Optometrists.org","og_description":"University of Waterloo, Ontario Canada: \u2018Kids with reading problems may have abnormal binocular vision\u2019. According to a new study by the University of Waterloo: Elementary","og_url":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/childrens-vision\/vision-for-school\/university-of-waterloo-binocular-vision-and-reading-problems\/","og_site_name":"Optometrists.org","og_image":[{"width":640,"height":350,"url":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/child-reading-640x350-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/childrens-vision\/vision-for-school\/university-of-waterloo-binocular-vision-and-reading-problems\/","url":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/childrens-vision\/vision-for-school\/university-of-waterloo-binocular-vision-and-reading-problems\/","name":"University of Waterloo: Binocular Vision and Reading Problems - Optometrists.org","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/childrens-vision\/vision-for-school\/university-of-waterloo-binocular-vision-and-reading-problems\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/childrens-vision\/vision-for-school\/university-of-waterloo-binocular-vision-and-reading-problems\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/child-reading-640x350-1.jpg","datePublished":"2021-11-07T08:25:50+00:00","dateModified":"2021-11-07T08:25:50+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/childrens-vision\/vision-for-school\/university-of-waterloo-binocular-vision-and-reading-problems\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/childrens-vision\/vision-for-school\/university-of-waterloo-binocular-vision-and-reading-problems\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/childrens-vision\/vision-for-school\/university-of-waterloo-binocular-vision-and-reading-problems\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/child-reading-640x350-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/child-reading-640x350-1.jpg","width":640,"height":350},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/childrens-vision\/vision-for-school\/university-of-waterloo-binocular-vision-and-reading-problems\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Children&#8217;s Vision","item":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/childrens-vision\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Vision for School","item":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/childrens-vision\/vision-for-school\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"University of Waterloo: Binocular Vision and Reading Problems"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/","name":"Optometrists.org","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/19900","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1206"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19900"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/19900\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19902,"href":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/19900\/revisions\/19902"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1385"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19900"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19900"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19900"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}