My Diagnosis

Understanding My Diagnosis

Firstly, it's important to understand that the ability to see clearly is just one of seventeen different visual skills that are required to accurately interact with our world. The other skills broadly involve

  1. Focusing accuracy

  2. Accurate eye movements, in which both eyes need to be working together as a team and have accurate aiming skills

  3. Visual information processing, which is the process by which the brain makes sense of what is seen

These skills are critical to the reading and learning process. These skills also work in conjunction with other sensory systems, such as the auditory (i.e. reading out loud) and tactile systems (i.e. handwriting, drawing).

When working well together, the combination of these skills provides clear, comfortable, stable and accurate vision. The efficiency of these skills varies greatly from person to person, and so does the impact of any problems with the system. For any particular condition, where one person can manage the symptoms easily, for another, it can be debilitating. Discrepancies in these skills can be caused by a multitude of factors, including (but not limited to) genetics, medical conditions, specific learning difficulties or disabilities (i.e. dyslexia), visual environment/demand and pre-existing visual conditions.

Overuse or inability to use the visual system efficiently can lead to fatigue and visual discomfort (blurred vision, sore eyes). The strain on the system causes inaccuracies with visual aiming/ tracking skills (skipping words and lines) and can cause delays with visual information processing (poor visual memory, poor reading comprehension, slow reading rate). As a result, reading and learning can become difficult and exhausting.

Often, it's not clear what is causing these problems, and all that is realised is the behaviours that these struggles can trigger; avoidance, frustration, lack of concentration, acting up.