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How do we learn? Well, the majority of schooling takes place in an environment that leans heavily on our visual abilities. As a child particularly, we identify signs and symbols by sight, read books and begin to build dreams and our imagination by viewing the world and what is around us. So it makes sense to say that to lead a fully sensed and successful life, free from disabilities, sight plays an incredibly important part in our day to day lives and thus our learning and understanding. The loss of this sense is quite obviously a major disability to a human, be they young or old. However, slight impairment of your eye sight is something that must also be taken very seriously, especially when we consider the impact it may have on someone, such as a child, who is going through their early learning phase.
An optician from Morpeth has put forward the suggestion that what was once been diagnosed as a learning difficulty, may in fact be down to a child's sight simply not operating as perfectly as it could or should. It is estimated that as much as 80% of a child's learning is via their sense of vision, so even small or seemingly insignificant optical issues can cause much more serious problems in their learning and development. This kind of situation is thought to affect many youths for years, simply through not visiting their local opticians for regular check ups, which would flag up concerns and how to treat them. As many as 50% of UK children are thought to have not seen an optician, even a single time, by age eight. This thought process may indicate it can account for a large number of youngsters being left behind in school classes and lessons, simply due to a visual impairment that in many cases can be treated by a visit to the opticians.
It is recommended that children begin eye testing as early as three years of age to diagnose any eye sight problems and then begin a regular check up routine to check for any forthcoming issues or the improvement of existing conditions. The simple rule is, the quicker it's diagnosed, the higher chance of corrective measures being available.
Textbook by Peter Griffin (Image)