Most parents know that children develop at their own pace. While some children might develop with no problems, others might experience difficulties that require parental intervention. Determining what's normal when it comes to your child's vision can be especially difficult, since many of the outward signs of poor vision (like a reduced ability to focus or frustration with schoolwork) could be attributed to personality.

In order to better determine when vision therapy is needed to help your child develop properly, here are three signs you can watch for in the future.

1. Your child often reverses letters like "b" and "d" when reading or writing.

If you notice that your child is having difficulty differentiating between certain letters when reading or writing, this could be an indication that visual problems are developing. While many early readers have trouble recognizing certain letters, the brain eventually learns to differentiate each letter as a separate entry.

Continued difficulty in recognizing certain letters could indicate a problem with your child's ability to visually interpret these letters. Vision therapy activities, like a letter tube, will give your child the practice that he or she needs to improve visual interpretation in the future.

2. Your child exhibits poor spatial reasoning.

While children are notoriously clumsy, certain repetitive tasks should become easier for your child over time. If you notice your child struggling to ride a bicycle or having difficulty catching a ball, then vision therapy could be of benefit.

Incorporating activities like the cup shuffle, where a prize is placed under one of three cups overturned on a table and the cups are shuffled, into your child's day can help retrain the brain to improve spatial reasoning skills. This type of vision therapy improves balance, coordination, and can give your child's self-esteem a boost as well.

3. Your child tends to skip over lines of text while reading.

Occasionally skipping a line of text while reading is nothing to be concerned about, but if you notice your child has difficulty with reading on a regular basis, then vision therapy might be required to correct the problem.

Your child's ability to scan properly could be the root of his or her reading problem, so vision therapy activities like a sight word (or letter, depending on your child's reading level) scanning game could be helpful in strengthening the muscles that aid in visual scanning.

Vision therapy is a great way to improve your child's ability to process visual stimuli. Be sure to watch for signs (like inverting letters, poor spatial reasoning, or skipped text while reading) that your child is struggling, and seek out a quality vision therapy program like the one at Absolute Vision Care to correct any issues as soon as possible.