OCR Text |
Show VISION (These articles are submitted weekly by your Optometrists of Southern Utah, in cooperation with your local newspaper, in order to better acquaint you with the function and problems of vision). QUESTION: What do we mean by the visually inadequate child? ANSWER: Any child who cannot handle the visual world in which he finds himself. QUESTION: How do these children differ from the so-called normal nor-mal child? ANSWER: In many ways, but for easier discussion we will divide di-vide them into two large groups: 1. Those children who actually have something wrong with their ocular equipment, such as lack of mai-development mai-development of the eye or brain affecting the eye, or damage to some part of the eye or brain owing to injury or disease. These children are classified in that big group we call the blind, or partially sighted and require training or special help in our schools. They are truly handicapped. 2. Those children who have intact ocular equipment, but somewhere along the line have not learned to use it to best advantage. These children often will pass the visual screening tests, used in the schools. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to observe them at their school tasks, at home and at play. Into this group we place cases such as nearsightedness, nearsight-edness, retarded readers, non-achievers, eyes that turn (squinters), farsightedness, those who cannot use two eyes together, and those who cannot make the adjustment for needed concentration at near. Dr. Arnold Gesell says, "To understand vision we must know the child; and to understand the child, we must know the nature of his vision." |