MODEL

Literacy 4-6

Systems Change

Vision

Factor Connections

Hover to see how factors connect to Vision. Then click connected factors to explore strategies related to multiple factors.

We use our Vision to perceive information about the world. Reading and writing require being able to see the detailed features of text clearly and being able to track text on paper and a website. Students with uncorrected Vision issues can have difficulty distinguishing letters and reading and writing at the same rate as peers with normal or corrected Vision.

Main Ideas

Several different Vision components and skills are important in learning to read and write:

  • Visual acuity is the ability to see objects clearly at a given distance.
  • Visual fixation is the ability to maintain gaze on one location.
  • Visual field is the entire area that a student can see, including peripheral and central vision.
  • Binocular fusion is the brain's ability to form one image from visual input received from two eyes.
  • Convergence is moving eyes toward each other to focus on a nearby object.
  • Accommodation is maintaining focus on an object as the distance to the object changes.
  • Eye tracking and teaming are the muscles of both of your eyes coordinating to move, point, and turn together.

Early identification of Vision problems is critical for preventing academic difficulties later. Some behaviors that can indicate a student has uncorrected Vision issues are covering or closing one eye, rubbing their eyes frequently, complaining of double vision, losing their place while reading or writing, or experiencing Attention difficulties.

Vision screenings at school typically only assess visual acuity, so it is possible for a student to have a Vision problem in other areas even though they pass the screening. So if a student is at risk for having Vision problems, they should receive an extensive eye examination regardless of screening results.

Major Learner Factor Interactions

  • Attention: The ability to focus on a specific task without being distracted, as well as the ability to select relevant information while ignoring irrelevant information
    • Vision skills are necessary for Visual Selective Attention (Desimone & Duncan, 1995). Visual Selective Attention is the ability to focus on relevant information in a cluttered visual scene.
  • Physical Well-being:
    • Children with impaired vision generally show reduced levels of physical fitness (Lieberman & McHugh, 2001).
  • Socioeconomic Status:
    • Vision problems have been shown to be more common among minority and low SES youth (Basch 2011).
  • Visual Processing: The process of interpreting visual stimuli as meaningful input
    • Vision allows visual information to enter the brain and be interpreted as meaningful input via Visual Processing (Bullier, 2001).

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