Many people equate “good vision” with the ability to obtain a 20/20 reading on an eye chart. But effective vision is so much more than just clarity. There are actually 17 distinct visual skills that all work together to allow us to learn, work, play, and easily navigate the world around us.
Essential Visual Skills
When one or more of these crucial skills isn’t functioning properly, it can create significant challenges in daily life.
- Eye Movement Control – the ability to move your eyes together in order to focus on a person, picture, or object.
- Binocular Coordination – the ability of the two eyes to accurately work together, at the same time, as a team.
- Convergence – the eyes’ ability to work as a team, whether they are looking inward or focusing ahead.
- Saccades – quick, simultaneous movements of the two eyes between two or more focus points.
- Pursuits – the ability of the eyes to maintain a smooth transition between two different points.
- Accommodation Flexibility – the ability to continuously change focus between objects that are up close and in the distance.
- Spatial/Visual Learning – the ability to think about and evaluate what you have seen.
- Accommodation Endurance – the ability to maintain focus on up-close tasks for extended periods of time.
- Visual Memory – the ability to remember images and words we have seen in the past.
- Central Visual Acuity – the ability to see clearly and accurately. This skill is most commonly used to determine if your vision is 20/20 or a variation.
- Depth Perception – the ability to tell whether objects are closer or further away, in relation to one another.
- Peripheral Vision (side vision) – Being able to see what’s on either side of you while your eyes are pointed forward and without turning your head.
- Gross Visual-Motor – the ability to move through the environment by using visual cues that prevent us from bumping into things.
- Color Perception – being able to tell different colors apart.
- Fine Visual-Motor – the ability to focus on activities that require small movements and attention to detail.
- Visual Integration – the ability to bring together your vision and your other senses to accomplish complex tasks.
- Visual Perception – Being aware of your environment and what is going on around you in your visual field (the area you can see).
When One or More Visual Skills Need Attention
When visual skills are underdeveloped or inefficient, it results in a functional visual problem that can lead to a wide range of symptoms, including:
- Academic struggles – Difficulty reading, poor comprehension, slow reading speed, skipping words/lines, headaches during reading, avoiding homework.
- Physical symptoms – Eye strain, fatigue, headaches, double vision, light sensitivity, dizziness, motion sickness.
- Behavior problems – Short attention span during visual tasks, fidgeting, poor posture, easily frustrated, avoiding close work.
- Impacted motor skills – Clumsiness, poor balance, difficulty with sports, struggles with driving.
Vision Therapy at Family Vision Development Center
Vision therapy is a customized program of activities and exercises that are designed to retrain how the eyes and brain work together, which is essential for developing the above-mentioned visual skills. Dr. Martin and his team have extensive knowledge and experience creating personalized programs that:
- Improve eye teaming – Teaching both eyes to work together smoothly and efficiently.
- Enhance focusing – Strengthening the ability to focus and change focus with ease.
- Develop tracking – Improving the eyes’ ability to follow moving objects and guide reading.
- Boost visual processing – Training the brain to better interpret and understand visual information.
- Strengthen visual-motor integration – Improving coordination between what the eyes see and what the body does.
Our vision therapy programs can help develop or restore proper visual function, leading to improved classroom or job performance, reduced eye strain and headaches, better athletic performance, increased confidence, and better overall quality of life! Contact our office at 630-862-2020 to learn more or to schedule an appointment.
Family Vision Development Center is a full-service vision center offering innovative vision therapy services, sports vision therapy services, post-concussive vision rehabilitation, comprehensive vision exams for eyeglasses and contact lenses, management of ocular diseases including glaucoma, diabetes, macular degeneration and cataracts, and a state-of-the-art optical center offering the latest designs in eyewear.