Visual, DEVELOPMENTAL & EDUCATIONAL Services for your entire family

 

​The Center for Visual Management

FOSTERING Clinical EXPERTISE, RESEARCH & EDUCATION​

​                       Attention Deficit Disorders (ADD)

Behaviors influencing attention, or the lack thereof are often classified as Attention Deficit Disorders (ADD), with or without the presence of hyperactivity, impulsivity, disorganization, forgetfulness or other cortical constructs, such as planning, that have become known as “executive function skills.” Often unnoticed until a child enters the school-aged years, attention deficit disorders can last into adulthood, if untreated.

In a 2007 publication in Eye, researchers investigated ocular and visual functions in 42 ADD children with the following results:

  • 24% abnormal convergence patterns
  • 24% showed  astigmatism
  •  21% demonstrated signs of visual perceptual problems.
  • 29% of the participants demonstrated heterophoria
  • 26% subnormal stereovision


Further, this study found no significant difference in findings when comparing participants receiving stimulant medication versus those who were not, indicating true biological components affecting vision, are unaffected and unresolved by medicinal side effects².

Prevalence of Attention Deficit Disorders
Finding statistical information on ADHD can be a challenge, as the number of children being diagnosed in the United States continues to climb. In a 2013 survey of parents, the CDC reports that of the 6.4 million children between the ages of 4 and 17, 11% have received an ADHD diagnosis. This is a 42% increase when compared to an evaluation conducted in 2003¹.

Treatment of Attention Deficit Disorders
More information on our methods of treating binocular vision disorders that can surface as attention deficit disorder can be found here

References
Centers for Disease Control & Prevention(CDC). Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
1- http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/adhd/data.html

2- Gronlund MA, Aring E, Hellstrom A. Visual function and ocular features in children and adolescents with attention deficit disorder, with and without treatment with stimulants. Eye (Lond). 2007; 21 (4): 494-502.