AURORA, Ohio—The College of Optometrists in Vision Development (COVD) is marking August as National Children's Vision & Learning Month, the 15th year of the initiative which helps educate parents and educators about the critical link between vision and learning.

Larry Fitzgerald, Arizona Cardinals 2008 NFC West Champions’ wide-receiver and Pro Bowl MVP, is helping to highlight the issue. “The public doesn’t realize that you need 17 visual skills to succeed in reading, learning, sports, and in life. Seeing ‘20/20’ is just one of those visual skills,” said Fitzgerald who credits the optometric vision therapy he received as a child as one of the keys to his success. He had a vision problem that was making it difficult to pay attention in school and his grandfather, Robert Johnson, OD, a developmental optometrist in Chicago, Illinois, diagnosed the vision problem and prescribed the appropriate treatment. Fitzgerald went through optometric vision therapy under his aunt's guidance, Stephanie Johnson-Brown, OD, who is currently the executive director of the Plano Child Development Center, a not-for-profit vision care service corporation which was co-founded by her father, Dr. Johnson, in 1959. The center specializes in vision education and the identification and remediation of vision development problems in children and adults.

In addition, optometrist, vision therapy pioneer and past COVD president, Lynn Hellerstein, OD, FCOVD, FAAO is the author of "See It. Say It. Do It!," an easy to read, illustrated book that shows parents, educators and therapists how visualization improves children’s lives. It provides easy, practical, step-by-step strategies and activities to enhance children’s visualization skills. A See It. Say It. Do It! Webinar originally presented by Hellerstein in March 2010 is now available on the book's web site. Hellerstein is the founder of a private optometric practice in Centennial, CO (in Metro-Denver). She is a frequent lecturer and consultant to educational groups, sports teams, rehabilitation and other medical professionals.

Optometric vision therapy treats vision problems that make reading and learning difficult. While vision therapy does not treat dyslexia, vision problems can often be misdiagnosed as learning disabilities such as dyslexia or even ADHD. According to the American Optometric Association, studies indicate that 60 percent of children identified as "problem learners" actually suffer from undetected vision problems, and in some cases have been inaccurately diagnosed with attention deficit disorder (ADD) or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).Optometric vision therapy treats vision problems that make reading and learning difficult. More info is at COVD.org.