A story recently broke in Time.com that The Lancet journal reported that up to 90% of young adults in major Eastern countries, which include China, Taiwan, Singapore and South Korea are myopic. The main culprits are believed to be an overload of near work and a lack of sunlight, which poses the big question:  Are US children far behind?

We recently launched a Facebook contest as part of our mission to help children overcome vision problems.  The goal is to give away a free slant board every month.  People can use a slant board for writing, for reading, and in a number of other ways - all of which make close work easier on the eyes.

Summertime is almost here, and kids are chomping at the bit to get outdoors (we hope) or at least get out of the classroom.  If you have a child who is experiencing some vision problems, you’ll be happy to know there are some fun ways to strengthen the visual system.

Every year, spring heralds in a new round of standardized tests for college-bound high schoolers.  While it’s a time of great promise, it can also yield surprising disappointment, as a bright student may perform poorly on a test.  These students may not realize that a low score may be due to a vision problem.

We’ve blogged about how important visualization is in the process of spelling and reading.  The ability to create a mental image in one’s mind is essential, as visualizing makes things easier to remember or memorize, and ultimately easier to comprehend.  It’s especially critical when it comes to composition, and helps teachers overcome writing problems in children.

 
If you’ve never heard of syntonic phototherapy, chances are very good that you will in the near future.  Syntonics is a form of light therapy used for vision problems.  We initially started using this non-invasive procedure on a trial basis, but we now routinely use it with nearly every vision therapy patient.

For parents who have just received a diagnosis that their child has lazy eye, there’s generally a sense of panic.  Most parents rush to the computer to search for answers about lazy eye in children.  As you begin to research the condition, here are 15 things to keep in mind:

It’s extremely difficult for any parent to think about his or her child going through life with crossed eyes (strabismus).  But in a family’s haste to correct the physical appearance of a child, they might neglect to truly understand the cause of strabismus – a fact which can affect the decision on how to treat it and the child’s long-term vision.

Once again, The Vision Therapy Center has been lending a helping hand to the Special Olympics.  On April 14th, we were part of a large volunteer effort to provide vision screening during the Special Olympics Wisconsin State Indoor Sports Tournament. 

A child who is a poor speller may have problems “seeing” a word written correctly in their mind, which is why any analysis of spelling difficulties in children should begin with a child’s vision.