Hello everyone, Dr. Quaid here from VUE Cubed Vision Therapy.
If you have a child with an Individualized Education Plan or IEP, is struggling with reading, spelling, or sustaining attention in the classroom, or is stuck at a “ceiling” academically that seems way below their potential, this message is for you!
If you are confused as your child seems smart, but struggles with reading, this message is for you!
If you are frustrated and looking for answers – this message is for you!
Visual skills that go way beyond a routine eye examination are critical for reading success. “Sight words” are called just that for a reason! Your child must ultimately be able to “picture the word” in their head to enable fluent reading to occur. Have you ever wondered how that skill is attained and why in some kids it just develops seemingly effortlessly yet stalls out on others?
Rapid sight word recognition ultimately emerges from a visual skill called visual memory, which is basically being able to visually retain symbols we have seen in a certain sequence. It is essentially rapid visual pattern recognition. For this skill to develop, we must have proper dynamic visual skills, which put simply are fully developed eye teaming and eye focusing skills. A topic that goes WAY beyond “just glasses”. Knowing just how sounds and letters go together, whilst important, is not enough by itself. After all, think about the word “yacht, hardly spelled how it sounds right? Yes, we do not read phonetically at the end of the day. Ultimately, all words must become sight words for effortless and rapid reading to occur!
Hearing issues and phonetic awareness often get checked, but visual memory and visual skills are often overlooked and rarely checked or worked on in children with persistent reading or spelling barriers. We have data and published research showing that this issue can not only be detected and treated, but when appropriately diagnosed and addressed, can have a significant positive impact on academic ability. There is currently an article from the Ontario Principals Council (OPC, who provide resources to all Principals and Vice-Principals in Ontario) on our website that you can also download for free and read, which was circulated to over 24,000 educators in Ontario in Spring 2022. This information gives you just a small taste of what will be discussed in the parent education evening.
If you are interested in finding out more, we will be hosting a limited number of complimentary, no obligation, parent education sessions beginning in May 2023 at our Guelph office. Spaces are limited and spots reserved strictly on a “first come, first serve” basis. You will also be provided a complimentary copy of Dr. Quaid’s book which is also available on Amazon (“Learning to See, Seeing to Learn”), one copy per family, which has lots of good information for parents from both Dr. Quaid and from educators who contributed to the book. Our goal for the evening is to provide practical, hands-on advice on how to navigate the often complex waters of helping a child with an IEP in place or reading / spelling-based learning difficulties. Importantly, also keep in mind that over 75% of the symptoms of ADD/ADHD overlap with the symptoms of dynamic visual skills disorders – something that will also be discussed in detail with supporting research during the education session.
The first step as the guardian of a child with learning difficulties is to educate yourself on how literacy develops in the first place. Knowing this will empower you to make educated steps your journey of helping your child!
We are here to help and look forward to hearing from you! Simply fill in the form on the website, and we will add you to the wait list and advise on estimated date for attendance.
Spots are limited so act now!