November 19, 2008
Scripps Howard News Reports
Sometimes stumbling blocks to reading development can’t be attributed to a learning disability or concentration issues. A recent government report found that one in 20 students may suffer from a childhood eye-muscle coordination problem called convergence insufficiency, or CI.
This disorder may be the reason reading activities are problematic for some children. Children with CI find it difficult to make their eyes focus inward or converge — which is necessary for reading and other close-up activities.
The results of a 12-week study released last month by the National Eye Institute concluded that a combination of office-based vision-therapy treatment coupled with at-home reinforcement is more effective than home-based methods most commonly used.
“CI is what we call a reading-related vision disorder,” said Dr. Benjamin Kohn, of Vision Enhancement Center in Riverside, Calif. “One of the things we think causes it is visual stress such as reading, writing and working on computers.
“Because most vision-screening tests done by schools or pediatricians test distance acuity, disorders such as CI often aren’t noticed.”