Unlocking the Potential: How Vision Therapy Can Transform Students with a High IQ But Struggling in School
Dr. Kalie McCartin
Developmental and Neuro-Optometrist
Owner, Visual Processing Institute
Introduction
Have you ever encountered a student who seemed incredibly bright yet struggled to achieve their academic potential? It's a frustrating situation for both the student and their parents. Sometimes, the reason for these struggles lies not in a lack of intelligence, but in underlying visual processing issues.
Case Study: A Struggling Genius
Consider the case of a 16-year-old boy who, despite his high IQ, was falling behind in school. Despite his intelligence, he was struggling to focus, read, and comprehend information. His parents were at a loss, trying to understand why such a bright child was having so much difficulty.
When he performed the eye tracking assessment, I'll be honest, I gave him an 8th grade reading passage as he was a bit grumpy that day and I tried to appease him a bit. His results are below and you can see that his eye movements were at an expected range of a 3rd grader.
No wonder he was so grumpy!! He hadn't fully mastered how to move and coordinate his eye movements so it was as if he was trying to read braille with a tremor. He struggled so much maintaining his eye alignment that he couldn't remember what he said read and had to reread part of the passage but still couldn't remember what he read is such a short passage.
As you can see further down, he still struggled in reading comprehension even though he reread part of the paragraph.
Here you can see his numbers compared to 8th-grade eye movements.
His comprehension was 20% and he even slowed down and read 116 words per minute instead of at least 204 words a minute that is expected in 8th grade.
His fixation # is how many times he had to actually stop and to take in data. Each time we stop and fixate, we have to do a "reverse google image" of what we're looking at and decode it. So for every 100 words that his classmates have to read, he has to stop 150 times to try to collect data! That's literally 50% MORE WORK THAN HIS CLASSMATES! And he's so exhausted, that he can't even remember what he read.
NO WONDER he's so grumpy. I do NOT blame him.
His fixation duration is expected. Each time he stopped to take in information he only required 223 ms when
The Hidden Barrier: Visual Processing Issues
After a thorough evaluation, it was discovered that the student had convergence and sufficiency problems. These visual processing issues were hindering his ability to collect and process visual information effectively.
The Impact of Visual Processing Deficiencies When there is a High IQ But Struggling in School
Convergence and sufficiency are essential for tasks like reading, writing, and even understanding visual cues in the classroom. When these skills are impaired, it's like trying to navigate a maze with a blindfold on. No matter how intelligent a student is, it's challenging to learn and understand information when the raw data is difficult to process.
The Solution: Vision Therapy
The student underwent vision therapy, a specialized program designed to improve visual skills. Through a series of exercises and activities, he learned to better control his eye movements and coordinate his binocular vision.
The Remarkable Results
After completing vision therapy, the student's academic performance improved dramatically. His reading speed and comprehension increased significantly, and he was able to focus better on his studies. The once-frustrated student became more engaged and motivated in school.
His Reading Results When He Graduated
Quick personal note about this patient, NO, he was not in therapy for over 8 months. If you look at the date of his first evaluation, he actually had his exam 8 days before my water broke with my second child on ... soooooooooo, he started therapy in Mid-January after I returned to work 3 weeks and 1 day after giving birth.
Having said that, his results were remarkable, and more important to me... he was such a happy teen!!! In his last exam he was sitting sideways in the exam chair pointing at the computer screen at his amazing results. Truth be told, he was really happy long before that though. It's wasn't long after he started therapy that he noticed his results. It didn't take more than just a couple of months for him to realize that he was reading faster, taking less time to study, testing higher, and seeing his grades improve while he literally had to do LESS WORK because the work was now so much more efficient.
The Power of Vision Therapy
This case highlights the importance of addressing visual processing issues in students who are struggling academically. Vision therapy can be a valuable tool for helping these students reach their full potential. If you suspect your child might have a visual processing deficiency, consider consulting with an eye care professional.
Key Takeaways if You have a High IQ But Struggling in School:
Visual processing issues can significantly impact academic performance.
Students with high IQs can still struggle in school due to visual difficulties.
Vision therapy can be an effective treatment for visual processing deficiencies.
Early intervention can help students overcome these challenges and achieve their full potential.
And most importantly, there's NO time to wait as struggling in school can often result in children and teens developing a negative relationship with school.
Vision Therapy for Reading
If you or your child or teen are struggling in reading, vision therapy can treat and often cure the Binocular Vision Dysfunction that is the most common cause of slowing them down and hurting reading comprehension.
Our practice has a vision therapy clinic in Newport Beach, San Juan Capistrano, West Los Angeles, and Torrance.
Are you concerned about your child's academic performance? If your child is struggling despite their intelligence, consider exploring the possibility of visual processing issues. Deficiencies in visual processing skills are more common than ADHD and Dyslexia. Vision therapy is the gold standard of treatment and is the key to unlocking their full potential and curing their deficiency.
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