Ask an Expert: Monocular Vision and Learning Difficulties

Eye and Vision Care

Monocular Vision and Learning Difficulties
03/04/2010

Question:

My daughter has been blind in her right eye since birth. She is very bright but now at 12 years old is having a lot of difficulty with math and spelling although doing well in other subjects. I`m wondering if monocular vision could affect learning subjects such as math or if I should look for other learning issues.

Answer:

First, if it has been some time since your daughter has had an eye exam it would probably be appropriate to schedule an appointment. I would recommend an optometrist who has experience with binocular vision problems, (as they tend to do the appropriate testing, as well as visual perceptual type testing).

With a monocular patient, I would suspect reading might be more of a problem than math or spelling, however she may certainly have visual perceptual deficiencies which may be making it hard to visualize the words she is trying to spell, or visualizing the math problem in her head.

Since you are concerned, I would recommend an eye exam by an optometrist who specializes in pediatrics or binocular vision disorders.

I hope this helps.

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Response by:

Aaron Zimmerman, OD, MS
Clinical Associate Professor of Optometry
College of Optometry
The Ohio State University