Dyslexia: Not a vision problem

 image source http://www.texasfamilyeyecare.com/
Sometimes people are confused between optometrists and ophthalmologists.

Optometrists are specialized health care professionals.  After earning an undergraduate degree, future optometrists enroll in a four-year specialized doctoral program.  The degree is typically abbreviated as OD.  Some optometrists have further post-graduate education, and are required to take ongoing professional continuing education courses. 

Ophthamologists are medical doctors (MDs) who, after medical school and internship, train for at least three more  years in the medical specialty of ophthamology.

William O. Young is a pediatric ophthalmologist with a special interest in the neurolinguistic basis of dyslexia.  He is on the advisory board for an evidence-based treatment for dyslexia, Lexercise.  

 image source: http://dyslexia.yale.edu/Policy_ADA.html
In 2011, Young wrote a series for the Lexercise blog, Five Ways Not to Treat Dyslexia Part 1 and Five Ways Not to Treat Dyslexia Part 2 .

The list opens with:

The remediation that we know works for dyslexia -- multisensory phonics-based structured language instruction with daily practice -— takes a lot of work and a lot of time. Parents of struggling readers are willing to do the work and the spend the time (and the money) because they’ll do anything to help their child learn to read. Wouldn’t it be great, though, if there were an easier way? Like if your child could just put on a pair of special glasses, or do eye exercises, or take a pill that would treat her dyslexia?

Based on this hope for a quicker, easier, or better way, a whole industry of quick fixes and other alternative therapies for dyslexia has arisen. Many are based on the false belief that dyslexia is the result of a problem with the visual system, and that’s where I as a practicing pediatric ophthalmologist may be of some help in guiding you.

Wilson's list of "five ways not to treat dyslexia":

1. Eye exercises/”vision therapy”
2. Irlen lenses/filters 
3. ChromaGen lenses 
4. Low-plus reading glasses 
5. Omega 3 fatty acids

I found the discussion of the low-plus reading glasses really helpful -- I didn't know why they were unlikely to help in remediating reading disorders.

If you want more on vision and reading, Lexercise has a 38-minute video of Dr. Young on The Role of the Eyes in Reading Disorders, with handouts available.