I had a patient yesterday who was in the eighth grade. The mom's complaint was that his studies were faltering. The patient was 20/20 at both reading and distance. The eyes also appeared healthy. I did note that there was a problem with the patient coordinating his eyes together. I prescribed a weak power reading prescription which seemed to make a significant difference in his reading comfort.

There are a couple of things I look for during the examination when evaluating kids for learning problems which are visually related. One questions I ask if the patient gets motion sickness, particularly in the back seat of the car as compared to the front seat. Also, I note if the patient has to bring the reading material either very close or far away to read. These findings usually indicate a visual problem that could cause a learning problem.