Vision Motor Problems

Vertical phoria will produce the following symptoms:

• Does not like to read in the car while the car is moving
• Does not like to sit in the back seat of a car
• Has an aversion to being spun around
• Loses their place while reading
• Forgets what they read

Vertical phoria is usually an inherited trait in which one parent will have similar complaints as the child.  Vertical phoria is usually worse in males than females.  It does not effect visual acuity (clarity of vision); therefore, it is not detected by school screenings.

Some other visual motor problems include:

• Convergence excess
• Convergence insufficiency
• Accommodative inflexibility

All of the above will cause the individual to tire easily while reading and decrease reading comprehension.

Patients with vertical phoria are treatable with vision training and corrective lenses.

The best correction for vertical phoria is a bifocal lens with a prism.  Most patients will respond quickly to the treatment and do not need the bifocal for long.

Both the patient and the parents easily note results from treatment.