Eye Focusing Problem

Bernstein Center Comments:
​​​​​​​Headaches are one of the most common complaints reported by patients with undiagnosed vision problems.

This is because headaches are something that children understand are "not normal" and it is a symptom that a child understands how to communicate to their parent.

When asked to determine when the headaches occur, if the child is able, they will usually trace the origin to a near-task such as reading or writing.

Nicole is a perfect example of this. She is a second grader who was experiencing fairly regular headaches and was not reading at grade level. At the time of our initial evaluation her mother was concerned because Nicole read very slowly, comprehended little and as a result became easily frustrated.

Nicole never read unless she had to.

A developmental vision evaluation was conducted by Dr. Bernstein. The results showed that when Nicole tried to read her eyes were over focusing. This caused them to work much harder than they were supposed to which is extremely fatiguing and caused a plodding pace when working up close, difficulty sustaining attention and poor reading comprehension.

Dr. Bernstein prescribed an individualized program of vision therapy; the goal of which would be to provide Nicole with the visual underpinnings necessary for improved academic performance and the ability to quickly adapt to a changing academic environment.