Treating Visual Dyslexia in Children

Dyslexia is a complex developmental complication that affects thousands of young children each year. While many children suffering from dyslexia do so in response to a biological complication, there are some children who develop dyslexia in response to a traumatic brain injury that leads to dyslexic complication in early childhood. Visual dyslexia is one of the most common types of dyslexia complications that arise in children who develop dyslexia after a head injury.

Commonly referred to as acquired dyslexia, a child who has difficulty with visual dyslexia will typically develop complications associated with reading, writing and especially in spelling. Because visual dyslexia results in a complication associated with the ability to read words as a full component, you can expect your child will require extensive tutoring in reading, writing, and spelling - the areas most commonly deficient.

While there are many medical supplies on the market today that tout success in resolving visual dyslexia, including dyslexia reading glasses, the fact is most pediatric therapists believe the true form of dyslexia improvement comes from aggressive therapy. With therapy that is focused on the dyslexic complication, coupled with academic tutoring in spelling, reading, and writing, your child will most likely experience far greater improvement overcoming dyslexia than simply using dyslexic reading glasses.

This is not to say that a child with visual dyslexia will never require reading glasses. If there are complications associated with astigmatism or other visual complications, then traditional corrective lenses should be used. But, when considering the specialized dyslexia glasses, be sure to consult with your child's physical therapist first to determine if these glasses are truly needed and, if so, what type should be purchased.

Visual dyslexia is a complex condition in young children and often leads to poor academic performance in reading, writing and spelling. If you find that your child is experiencing these complications, be sure to speak with a pediatrician about visual dyslexia and begin rehab and therapy, as needed, to improve your child's overall academic performance. When glasses are needed, purchase the right glasses for your child's visual needs from an ophthalmologist who specializes in pediatric visual dyslexia.

Sources: It's Called Dyslexia, by Jennifer Moore-Mallinos, pp. 3-5