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I Can See Clearly Now
Developmental Vision Therapy and Learning-Disabled Kids
By Jane Giles
In Chicago's city and suburban public school districts, students who have been evaluated and identified as learning disabled receive special education services. Support varies and is based on the child's Individual Education Plan, a comprehensive report developed by a team of designated school faculty. Contingent on the child's weaknesses and strengths, the plan may include reading support programs, speech/language therapy, counseling sessions with a school social worker and other services deemed appropriate to advance the child's academic and social/emotional development.
While the types of learning deficits and the causes are as varied as the children who experience them, the most common learning disabilities, according to a recent poll conducted by Roper Starch Worldwide, are difficulties with basic reading and language skills. As many as 80 percent of the students diagnosed with a learning disability have problems reading.
Although most schools offer excellent programs to assist "reading-challenged" kids, few parents are aware of an option that, with or without a school's special education services, can produce dramatic improvements in reading-related activities. This option is called developmental vision therapy.
This little-known "treatment" is an approach used by some optometrists, and it enables children – many of whom are diagnosed as learning disabled – to experience significant improvements with visual processing tasks. Across the Chicago area, only a handful of practices offer the service, but at Buffalo Grove-based Nierma
