Appearance of Eyes:

• One eye turns in or out at any time
• Reddened eyes or lids
• Eyes tear excessively
• Encrusted eyelids
• Frequent styes on lids

Complaints When Using Eyes at Desk:

• Headaches in forehead or temples
• Burning or itching after reading or desk work
• Nausea or dizziness

Behavioral Signs of Visual Problems:

A. Eye movement abilities (ocular motility)

• Turns head while reading across page
• Loses place often during reading
• Needs finger or marker to keep place
• Displays short attention span in reading or copying
• Too frequently omits words
• Repeatedly omits "small" words
• Writes up or down hill on paper
• Rereads or skips lines unknowingly
• Orients drawings poorly on page

B. Eye teaming abilities (binocularity)

• Complains of seeing double
• Repeats letters within words
• Omits letters, numbers or phrases
• Misaligns digits in number columns
• Squints, closes or covers one eye
• Tilts head extremely while working at desk
• Consistently shows gross postural deviations at all desk activities

C. Eye-hand coordination abilities

• Must feel things to understand them
• Does not use eyes to guide hand movements
• Writes crookedly, poorly spaced: cannot stay on lines
• Misaligns both horizontal and vertical series of numbers
• Uses hand or fingers to keep place on the page
• Uses other hand as "spacer" to control spacing and alignment on page
• Repeatedly confuses left-right directions

D. Visual form perception (visual comparison, visual imagery, visualization)

• Mistakes words with same or similar beginnings
• Fails to recognize same word in next sentence
• Reverses letters and/or words in writing and copying
• Confuses likenesses and minor differences
• Confuses same word in same sentence
• Repeatedly confuses similar beginnings and endings of words
•  Fails to visualize what is read either silently or orally
• Whispers to self for reinforcement while reading silently
•  Returns to "drawing with fingers" to decide likes and differences

E. Refractive status (nearsightedness, farsightedness, focus problems, etc.)

• Comprehension reduces as reading continued; loses interest too quickly
• Mispronounces similar words as continues reading
• Blinks excessively at desk tasks and/or reading; not elsewhere
• Holds book too closely; face too close to desk surface
• Avoids all possible near-centered tasks
• Complains of discomfort in tasks that demand visual interpretation
• Closes or covers one eye when reading or doing desk work
• Makes errors in copying from chalkboard to paper on desk
• Makes errors in copying from reference book to notebook
• Squints to see chalkboard or requests to move nearer
• Rubs eyes during or after short periods of visual activity
• Fatigues easily; blinks to make chalkboard clear  after desk task