Learning is very directly related to VISION, since 80% of what a child learns comes through the visual pathway. The dide platform has an indicator that helps to identify children who may be susceptible to learning problems related to vision and hearing.
We must not confuse SIGHT and VISION
When we think of vision, we usually think of visual acuity. But vision is much more than that. It is not the eyes, but the brain that processes the visual world, including symbols, images, and distances. It is estimated that 25% of school failure is due to visual problems that may not only be related to graduation, but may also affect visual abilities that alter coordination between the eyes as well as the ability to accommodate.
Therefore, vision and learning are closely related. When there is a difficulty in learning, a behavioral problem, or even poor posture at the desk, the first thing to do would be to check if the quality of vision may be the origin of these situations. How many times is ADD, ADHD or Dyslexia diagnosed in the face of a difficulty in reading when perhaps the origin is a visual health problem?
According to specialist Amparo Alcocer, optician and optometrist at the Alcocer optical center, it is important to evaluate not only vision but THE EFFECTIVENESS OF VISION, since having 100% visual acuity does not mean that our visual system is working well, there is much more to assess.
In my day-to-day work, I find children who are very upset because they believe they are not able to study. Sometimes what happens is that they do not see or hear well. Normally in the check-ups what is usually done is to see the quantity of vision or hearing, but the quality is not looked at and this produces many learning problems. díde is an application that helps us to detect both the quantity and the quality. Amparo Alcocer
The solutions do not always involve wearing glasses; by performing visual therapy, all areas related to vision are improved and enhanced. The duration of the therapy will depend on the visual dysfunction to be treated, and is always based on performing exercises guided by a visual therapist. Generally, they attend a consultation one day a week, and the rest of the days they work at home.
The main visual skills related to learning:
- Visual acuity: fine discrimination of images in far and near vision.
- Ocular motility: eye movements to follow a moving object or jump from one point to another in space.
- Accommodation: focusing at different distances.
- Fusion: coordinating and aligning the eyes to obtain a single image.
- Stereopsis: perceiving images in three dimensions.
- Visuomotor integration: coordinating eye movement with hand movement.
- Spatial vision: visual recognition of space and space-time relationships.
- Visuoauditory integration: coordinating auditory information with visual information.
- Visual perception: interpretation of visual information, image recognition, visual memory, visualization…
A problem that affects any of these visual skills can have a significant impact on a child’s learning.
Learning problems related to vision
- Difficulty in reading and writing: The difficulty that some children present in achieving fluent reading alerts us to the possibility of a vision problem. Sometimes, people with learning problems related to vision can “see the words” but cannot “see what they mean”. Some children with this type of problems relate them to dyslexia.
- Attention deficit with and without hyperactivity: Some visual problems that have not been detected or treated can produce symptoms similar to those that are commonly attributed to an Attention Deficit with or without Hyperactivity (ADD or ADHD). Due to these similarities, some children with visual problems are classified as ADD or ADHD.
Due to the similarity of the symptoms commonly attributed to dyslexia, ADD and ADHD, some children with visual problems are misdiagnosed.
How to detect if there are learning difficulties due to a vision problem
From dide we want to collaborate in that early detection and help teachers and families to be able to see in time the signs that indicate a possible learning problem related to vision and not confuse it with dyslexia.
Through the dide.app platform, children who are likely to have learning problems related to vision and hearing can be identified, so, if it is activated, it is very convenient to go to a behavioral optometrist who will confirm the diagnosis by performing a complete evaluation in which he will determine if all the functional areas of vision are working properly.
These are some of the vision-related signs contemplated in the dide application questionnaire:
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- Complains of blurred vision
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- Rubs eyes frequently
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- Squints
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- Closes or covers one eye
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- Headaches when reading
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- Moves head when reading
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- Accompanies reading with finger
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- Does not understand what they read
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- Errors when copying
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- Short attention spans
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- Makes mistakes in words with similar beginnings
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- Difficulty recognizing letters, words, or simple shapes
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- Cannot distinguish the main idea from insignificant details
- Problems in mathematical concepts
Among others.
“We must differentiate between the child who DOES NOT WANT TO and the child who in reality CANNOT and says they do not want to” Amparo Alcocer.
Recommendations for parents and professionals:
Detecting means perceiving something that remains invisible or concealed. And this is the basis of the díde methodology.
dide activates the observation of parents and teachers, helps to perceive and know factors that are hidden or concealed in the child and interfere with their learning and well-being. Why wait until it is too late?
dide has three areas of action:
dide familia for fathers and mothers, who will be able to detect or rule out possible learning and emotional needs of their children, and if they wish they can also ask for the collaboration of the teacher.
dide Educación created especially for use in schools and for collective use. It promotes equity in the classroom and improves the quality of education. It also fosters effective communication between teachers, families and counselors. The guidance department manages the application.
dide Salud for psychological, psycho-pedagogical, speech therapy offices, health centers… Saves time for professionals who can use the application to get to know their patients better.
What can we observe in the child with dide’s structured interviews? On what aspects is the information collected?
With the dide method, the child DOES NOT COMPLETE ANY QUESTIONNAIRE OR TEST, for this reason an early detection is possible from 2-4 years.
Advice and source: Amparo Alcocer Alfonso, optician/optometrist, director of the ALCOCER
