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TRANSITIONS TO COMPLETE EDUCATION
New Hope Charitable Foundation
Thought drives belief. Belief drives behavior.
What people believe about themselves they become.
We all learn through the integration of our five senses. But much research points to vision as the
the sense being most critical to learning. Most people think of vision as being related to eyesight, or acuity.
If a student doesn’t need glasses, it’s assumed they “see” fine. The reality is they may not. Much
research indicates that the brain “learns” best visually. So, if parents or educators observe
a student struggling in any way, they might first want to look at that student's vision – both eyesight
and visual “processing,” the latter being how the brain “processes” visual information
in order to learn and comprehend. After years of research, the National PTA
declared in 1999 that 25% of our nation's general education population has a visual processing problem. How much higher might that percentage be now, almost eight years later, when during these years young children
have been pressed to do more close work and less outside, long-distance focusing?
Visual processing problems affect the speed of reading,
reading comprehension, writing and much more. The symptoms of visual processing problems are very similar to the symptoms
of ADHD, dyslexia, and general disinterest in a subject. Students with visual processing problems don’t know they have
them, and unless an adult discovers them, they often remain hidden.
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Anyone Can Learn to Recognize a Processing Problem
"With millions estimated to have one or more visual processing
problems, it's important for every parent and teacher to be able to knowledgeably discuss vision skills and available solutions
in relation to a student's performance or behavior. "
Excerpted from the Catalyst! Vision & Learning website.
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What this Means for Education
The Reality
This is how all brains learn. Biologically speaking, visual “processing” uses more of the brain than every other sense combined. Yet few of us know how to increase visual processing skills among young
people. Visual processing issues such as tracking along a line of print or distinguishing between similar looking letters
and numbers have a tremendous amount to do with poor literacy skills and reading comprehension among young people today. Because
the brain employes sensory integration, when one sense is lacking, all senses are impacted, and the child disengages. It is
this disengagement which results in the most negative consequences.
The Difficulty
Unfortunately, because most people predominantly associate vision with medical issues like corrective lenses and diseases,
few parents and teachers learn about visual “processing” and schools might be concerned about teachers working
with “vision” information. Once schools understand how basic these processing skills are to everyday activities
in the classroom, they can begin to incorporate more teacher training and development.
With the increased push to elevate test scores, we have pushed for more reading and near-point work at a younger and
younger age. As students get older, nearpoint work only increases, as does the volume of homework. Combined with a lifestyle
of computers and gaming systems, our young people have the most visual stress of any generation.
Best Practices
Despite some lingering confusion over the separation of a visual "medical" issue and a visual "learning" issue,
a move has begun to address visual processing in the classroom and at home. This has in part been due to the Catalyst!
Vision & Learning educator program, which we highly recommend. With this program, "anyone can learn to recognize
a problem, screen students, and take action with simple activities." One to two day Professional Development courses
are available as companion to this award-winning educational program.
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Awareness * Responsibility * Honesty
NewHopeCharitableFoundation.org
for EVERY child a life of meaning and hope Copyright 2005, 2006, 2007, New Hope Charitable Foundation
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