Posts Tagged ‘Dr Margaret Penny’

Today I am grateful for developmental optometrists–such as Dr Margaret Penny of Calgary, Alberta, Canada–who have helped many students overcome reading difficulties. – Doc Meek

Image from: 123rf.com

Visual training may be required

to overcome reading difficulties

Sharon (not her real name) was bright and vivacious, and still struggling with reading in Grade 5. She strained and strained when trying to read and often got headaches. Her school marks suffered despite her strong intelligence.

Her Mom was mystified.

“We had her eyes tested and she has perfect vision. The school nurse told us her vision is 20/20 and she doesn’t need glasses.”

“Good vision involves more than 20/20 eyesight,” I said.

Sharon and her Mom were even more mystified when I said:

“The eyes don’t see–the brain sees.”

“What do you mean?” they both chimed, almost with one voice.

“Reading involves more than 20/20 eyesight,” I said. “The eyes and brain are required to perform an array of complex and coordinated tasks to read well, and to comprehend what is being read.”

See a developmental optometrist

I asked Mom and Sharon to make an appointment with an eye doctor–an ophthalmologist–to check for general eye health and possible astigmatism (imperfections in the shape of the lens of the eye). Sharon returned with a glowing report.

“OK, good,” I said. “I’ve watched you read, Sharon, and I would now like you to find a good developmental optometrist–not a regular optometrist–a developmental optometrist who can give you an assessment of what exactly your eyes and  brain are doing when you try to read.”

I told Sharon and her Mom that visual training supervised by a developmental optometrist may be required.

“But,” said Mom, “the eye doctor told us that Sharon had no problems with her eyes.”

“He also told us that there is no evidence that visual training helps a student read better.”

I said that is what they taught the doctors in medical school and the doctors did not pursue it further when they got into private practice.

“As a neurological learning specialist,” I said, “I have found that visual training can make the difference between school failure and school success.”

Sure enough, Sharon’s eyes and brain

were not performing well for reading tasks

After the initial visit with the developmental optometrist, and meeting with several other students who were taking visual training to help with reading competence, Sharon spent many weeks training her eyes and brain to work together to perform the complicated and coordinated tasks required for easy reading.

Sharon’s marks at school soared as she practiced her visual training skills at the developmental optometrist’s clinic and at home and at school.

The outstanding developmental optometrist Sharon and her Mom went to was Dr Margaret Penny.

Here is a brief description of her work, from Sundre Vision Care near Calgary, Alberta, Canada:

“Dr Margaret Penny also has a Masters Degree in Educational psychology. She has a special interest and passion in working with children and adults who have visually related learning difficulties, tracking, focusing and binocular dysfunctions, and perceptual delays. Vision therapy and rehabilitation of these problems has been an integral part of her practice.”

Thank you, Dr  Penny, for saving many a student from school despair!

Doc Meek, South Jordan, Utah, Wed, Sept 24, 2014