Orthoptics – Visual Processing Difficulties Clinic

Last updated: Monday 02 December 2024

General introduction

The Orthoptic Visual Processing Difficulties (VPD) Clinic helps children with eye problems related to or contributing to a reading difficulty.

Visual processing is the way the brain makes sense of visual information.

In the clinic orthoptists (eye specialists trained to diagnose and to treat eye movement disorders) will assess and correct visual difficulties that will in some way contribute to a child having a reading / learning difficulty. This could be due to problems with eye movements during reading and other vision related problems such as visual perception difficulties.

We help children with specific learning issues related to visual processing rather than general learning issues.

We do not assess for learning difficulties such as dyslexia as we are not education specialists.

Following each assessment a detailed report is sent to parents / carers and all the professionals involved in the patient’s care including the school / college (or the referrer) and any other healthcare professionals such as occupational therapist or community paediatrician.

How to access this service

We accept referrals from teachers / staff in schools and colleges in Warrington and Halton boroughs using the screening questionnaire (referral tool)

Referrals from other areas are accepted but parents must ask the school / college to complete the referral form and ask their GP to refer them to the service by submitting screening questionnaire (referral tool).

Please note that because of the nature of the testing and difficulties that we are assessing for, we do not normally accept referrals for children below the age of eight.

Complete the screening questionnaire (referral form)

About the team

The team consists of fully qualified orthoptists who are specialists in assessing children with visual processing difficulties. Each orthoptist has completed relevant post graduate training and has extensive experience in this area. 

Useful information

Orthoptists, are trained to assess patients of all ages and abilities, which enables us to be flexible with our approach and allows us to adapt our testing to suit individual needs. We are trained to communicate with children with specific learning difficulties such as, dyspraxia and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We work closely with school special educational needs coordinators (SENCO) and teachers to provide the holistic care for each child.


Contact Us

Telephone

Appointment enquiries - 01925 662772

Email

whh.orthopticvpd@nhs.net 

Address

Orthoptic Department
Daresbury Wing
Warrington Hospital

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