Why Summer Is the Best Time to Help Your Child Catch Up in School: The Hidden Cause of Reading Problems Many Parents Miss
- Dr. Kalie McCartin
- Jul 15
- 5 min read
Updated: Jul 29
Is Your Child Falling Behind in School? Summer May Be the Best Opportunity to Change Their Future and find the cause of reading problems.
As a parent, watching your child struggle in school is heartbreaking.
Maybe homework turns into nightly battles.
Maybe reading takes twice as long as it should.
Maybe you've paid for tutoring, tried flashcards, hired educational specialists, or wondered if your child has ADHD or dyslexia.
You aren't alone.
Every summer, thousands of parents begin searching for ways to help their child catch up before the next school year begins. Unfortunately, many families focus only on academic interventions while overlooking one of the most common—and treatable—causes of learning difficulties:
Binocular Vision Dysfunction (BVD).
If your child's eyes aren't working together properly, no amount of studying, tutoring, or trying harder will fully solve the problem.
Is It ADHD or Dyslexia?
Parents often search online for:
ADHD symptoms
Dyslexia testing
Reading tutors
Learning disabilities
Executive functioning
Summer tutoring
These are all reasonable concerns when trying to find the cause of reading problems.
But what many families don't realize is that binocular vision problems can create behaviors that closely resemble ADHD or dyslexia and is the NUMBER 1 cause of reading problems.
A child may:
Constantly lose focus while reading
Fidget during homework
Avoid books
Read below grade level
Skip words
Reverse lines
Become mentally exhausted
Perform inconsistently on tests
The underlying issue may not be attention.
It may not even be language.
It may be that reading is physically difficult because the eyes aren't working together.
This is why a comprehensive binocular vision evaluation can be an important part of understanding why your child is struggling.
Why Tutoring Doesn't Always Solve the Problem
Tutoring is valuable.
Great tutors teach concepts, reinforce learning, and build confidence.
But tutoring assumes the child's visual system is capable of efficiently gathering information from the page it doesn't address the actual Cause of Reading Problems.
If reading itself is exhausting because of a binocular vision problem, tutoring alone cannot fix that underlying issue.
It's similar to hiring a math tutor for a child who can't clearly see the whiteboard.
The tutoring isn't the problem.
The visual system is.
Many of our families tell us:
"We spent years paying for tutoring before realizing the real issue was their vision."
Perfect 20/20 Vision Doesn't Mean Your Child's Vision Is Normal
One of the biggest misconceptions in eye care is that passing a school vision screening means your child's eyes are healthy.
School screenings primarily measure one thing:
Can your child see letters clearly from far away?
They typically do not evaluate:
Eye teaming
Binocular Vision Dysfunction
Eye tracking
Focusing ability
Visual processing
Convergence
Visual endurance
These are the skills children rely on for reading, writing, homework, sports, and classroom learning.
A child can have perfect 20/20 eyesight while still experiencing significant visual difficulties that interfere with learning.
Binocular Vision Dysfunction: The Hidden Cause of Reading Problems
Binocular Vision Dysfunction occurs when the two eyes do not work together efficiently.
Instead of forming one stable image effortlessly, the brain has to constantly compensate to keep words single and clear.
That compensation requires tremendous mental energy.
Imagine trying to solve math problems while carrying a heavy backpack all day.
Eventually you become exhausted.
That's what reading often feels like for children with binocular vision problems.
BVD is 50% MORE COMMON than Dyslexia
Common symptoms include:
Losing their place while reading
Using a finger to keep track
Reading slowly
Poor reading comprehension
Skipping words or lines
Headaches after school
Eye strain
Double vision
Avoiding reading
Difficulty paying attention
Poor balance
Motion sickness
Becoming overwhelmed in busy environments
Many parents never connect these symptoms to vision because their child can still read the eye chart.
Why Summer Is the Best Time to Start Vision Therapy
One of the busiest times of year in our clinics isn't actually summer.
It's the fall.
Every September, parents begin calling because their child is already falling behind.
Homework has become overwhelming.
Teachers are expressing concerns.
Reading is taking hours.
Children are frustrated.
Parents often tell us:
"I wish we had started during the summer."
Summer provides something incredibly valuable:
Time.
Without the daily stress of homework, tests, projects, and classroom demands, children can focus on improving the visual skills that support learning.
Instead of trying to catch up while simultaneously keeping up with schoolwork, they can begin strengthening those skills before the school year starts.
Vision Therapy Helps Build the Skills Reading Depends On
Vision therapy is designed to improve how the eyes and brain work together.
Depending on the child's needs, treatment may focus on improving:
Eye teaming
Eye tracking
Focusing flexibility
Depth perception
Visual processing
Eye movement control
Visual endurance
Coordination between the eyes and brain
As these visual skills improve, many children experience reading becoming more comfortable and less mentally demanding.
The goal is not simply to help children work harder.
It's to help their visual system work more efficiently.
What are the benefits of vision therapy for children with reading difficulties?
improved reading speed
improved reading comprehension
less rereading
reduction of blurred vision
reduction of double vision
improvement of visual memory
increase in problem solving time
increase in accuracy in solving math word problems
The Emotional Cost of Waiting
Academic struggles rarely stay inside the classroom.
Children begin comparing themselves to classmates.
They start believing they are "bad at reading."
Some lose confidence.
Others become anxious before homework.
Many stop enjoying learning altogether.
Parents often focus on report cards.
Children feel something much deeper.
They begin questioning themselves.
The earlier the underlying problem is identified, the sooner children can begin rebuilding confidence alongside academic skills.
Could Your Child Benefit from a Binocular Vision Evaluation?
If your child experiences any of the following, it may be worth having their binocular vision evaluated to find the cause of reading problems:
Reading below grade level
Homework taking much longer than expected
Difficulty concentrating while reading
Headaches after school
Eye strain
Losing their place while reading
Avoiding books
Frequent use of a finger while reading
Poor reading comprehension
Difficulty with sports requiring hand-eye coordination
Motion sickness
Poor balance
Difficulty learning despite tutoring
These symptoms are not always caused by binocular vision dysfunction—but they can be, and identifying the cause is the first step toward choosing the right intervention.
Give Your Child a Head Start Before the School Year Begins
Every school year matters.
Every month spent struggling can affect confidence, academic performance, and a child's attitude toward learning.
Summer offers a unique opportunity to identify problems before they become classroom struggles.
Rather than waiting until report cards arrive or homework becomes a nightly battle, consider finding out whether your child's visual system is helping—or hindering—their ability to learn.
If binocular vision dysfunction is contributing to their challenges, addressing it before school begins may help them start the year with greater comfort, confidence, and readiness to learn.
Schedule a Comprehensive Binocular Vision Evaluation
At Visual Processing Institute, we specialize in diagnosing and treating binocular vision dysfunction, visual processing disorders, and other functional vision problems that can interfere with reading and learning—even in children with perfect 20/20 eyesight.
Our comprehensive evaluations assess the visual skills traditional school screenings and routine eye exams often miss, including eye teaming, tracking, focusing, and visual processing.
If your child struggled last school year, don't wait until they're already behind again.
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