If your little one is struggling with focus, reading, writing or even just sitting still, it’s natural to wonder why. There’s often no single cause, but there is a smart order to work through when something feels off.
Even if your child’s challenges don’t seem directly related to their eyes, vision could still be a key part of the puzzle. Checking vision adds an important layer of understanding that might explain some of what you’re seeing. It’s worth a visit to a behavioural optometrist to make sure vision isn’t quietly impacting your child’s learning and everyday life.
Checking vision is part of a set of foundations that we encourage at Busy Bees. These foundations include:
Primitive reflexes – involuntary movements that help build early brain-body connections
Hearing - the gateway to language and connection
Vision - supporting coordination, focus and learning
Next steps – occupational therapy and/or speech therapy, once the above have been checked
Once you’ve checked primitive reflexes and hearing, vision is your next important step. Each stage helps you better understand what your child needs, making any support you explore more targeted and effective. Today’s focus is vision and why a visit to a behavioural optometrist might be your next best step in your foundations.
A behavioural (or developmental) optometrist looks at more than whether a child can see clearly. They check how the eyes work together, how they track across a page and how the brain processes what’s being seen, all of which impacts learning, attention and behaviour. It’s a deeper look at how vision supports everyday function.
Just like we check hearing when speech is delayed, or primitive reflexes when motor skills feel off, vision is another important part of the puzzle.
Screens, fast-paced visuals, and modern indoor lifestyles place extra demands on young children’s developing visual systems. These environmental pressures can affect how well nature rolls out its developmental plan. Behavioural optometrists are uniquely trained to assess these skills, even in babies, toddlers, and non-verbal children, long before issues show up in the classroom.
Most classroom learning and even play relies on visual processing.
Kids need to:
Track words across a page
Switch focus between their desk and the board
Keep their place while copying
Coordinate hand and eye movement for writing
Sit still and focus for longer tasks
If these visual skills aren’t working well, learning becomes tiring, frustrating, or confusing, even for a capable child. Sometimes what looks like inattention or poor behaviour is actually a child doing their best in a world that’s visually overwhelming.
Skipping lines or losing their place while reading
Headaches or sore eyes
Rubbing eyes or blinking a lot
Tilting their head or covering one eye
Avoiding books or fine motor tasks
Short attention span when using their eyes
Clumsiness or poor hand-eye coordination
Reversing letters, messy handwriting
Behaviour concerns that don’t match their ability
These signs don’t always mean there’s a problem, but they’re a good reason to investigate further. And even if you don’t notice any signs, getting a check can give you confidence that everything is on track.
A regular optometrist may not pick up on these kinds of vision problems especially if your child’s eyesight seems fine. So if you've already:
Checked for retained primitive reflexes
Ruled out hearing loss
Then vision is the next step before diving into targeted with an occupational therapist or speech therapist.
For families in Sydney’s southwest, Dina Chungue at Mount Annan Eyecare is a fantastic choice. She’s thorough, warm, has a great way with children, and her philosophy aligns perfectly with the whole-child approach we follow here at Busy Bees.
Mount Annan Eyecare
https://www.mountannaneyecare.com.au
If you haven’t already, begin with the foundations. From there, vision gives you another level of clarity. And once that's ruled out too, you'll be in a strong position to eplore occupational therapy and speech terapy with confidence.
Sometimes just working through things in the right order is what makes everything start to click and give you clarity, giving you direction and confidence in your next steps.
If you want to learn more or need some guidance, just get in touch. I’m here to help.
Miss Tania 💛 🐝 🎶
