NEW YORK — It may be common, but the stats are still staggering. Last year, 4.5 million U.S. kids were diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or ADHD. That?s more than seven percent of all children in the U.S. But a new study shows more than one million of those kids may be misdiagnosed.Once she starts reading, Katy Kluck can’t stop, so mom was puzzled when Katy started struggling with schoolwork.”I couldn’t really focus because there were so many questions on the page,” Katy Kluck said.”Once they heard that Katy could not focus, immediately they said well, she has an ADD problem,? Ann Kluck, Katy’s mother, said.Afraid of using meds, Ann did some research, which led her to an optometrist.”One of the questions we ask parents is to decide whether it’s an organic attention problem or maybe more related to a vision problem,” Daniel Press, O.D., a developmental optometrist at Family Eyecare Associates, explained.Exams found Katy’s eyes didn’t work well together, the words moved and turned blurry. She decided to kick-off eight months of vision therapy. Vision Therapy consists of a workout using computer gaming, training the brain to use both eyes together.”One of the eyes sees the red target, the other one only sees the blue target, so if you’re going to do this well you have to use both eyes well together,” Dr. Press said.Vision experts say 60 percent of kids labeled as problem learners actually suffer from undetected vision problems, but some have doubts. the American Academy of Pediatrics says vision therapy may give parents and teachers a false sense of security that a child?s problems are being addressed.”I was always the kid who was falling behind in class,” vision therapy patient, Caroline Moore, said.Caroline Moore says vision therapy worked for her.”My grades skyrocketed back up!” Moore said.So did katy?s.”It makes me feel good because I’m getting good grades,” Katy Kluck said.Lack of proof or legit solution? One mom found the answer in her child?s eyes.Vision therapy is not typically covered by vision insurance, but many major medical plans do cover this therapy. Six months to one year of therapy sessions can range from 25 hundred to five thousand dollars.Vision Revision For ADHD Diagnosis — Research SummaryADHD — THE BASICS: ADD and ADHD are psychiatric disorders characterized by inattentiveness or hyperactivity and compulsiveness which hinder a childs’ academic or social performance. because there is no objective clinical test to confirm ADD or ADHD, the diagnosis is based on a set of subjective symptoms. if children exhibit any six of nine characteristics in either category, they are labeled ADD or ADHD. In an effort to help children who are struggling at school because of their short attention spans, many parents, teachers, and doctors make the assumption that these children have ADD and start them on medications. unfortunately, they are often treating the symptoms and not the real cause. High distractibility and difficulty remaining on task are not the sole domain of ADD. (SOURCE: childrenvision.com)THE PROBLEM : Children with undetected vision problems can exhibit symptoms similar to ADD. Studies show that approximately 20% of school-aged children suffer from eye teaming or focusing deficits which make remaining on task for long periods of time difficult. like those with ADD, children with vision-based learning problems are highly distractible, have short attention spans, make careless errors, fail to complete assignments, and are often fidgety and off task. however, their inability to remain on task is caused by the discomfort of using their eyes for long periods of time at close ranges, not true deficits in attention. unfortunately, parents and teachers are not trained to recognize the difference and these children are often misdiagnosed. (SOURCE: childrenvision.com)THE CONNECTION: the connection between eye teaming problems and attention deficit disorders was recently documented in medical journals. the latest research study found children diagnosed with ADHD were three times as likely to have a ?convergence insufficiency? than children in the rest of the population.Dr. David B. Granet, director of the Ratner Children’s Eye Center of the University of California in San Diego and a nationally known pediatric ophthalmologist, explains that because this kind of eye teaming problem causes children to have difficulty keeping both eyes focused on a close target, it becomes more difficult for them to concentrate on reading, one of the ways doctors diagnose ADHD. As a result of his research, Dr. Granet says no child should be diagnosed with ADD or ADHD until their visual system has been checked. the reason, the chance of a misdiagnosis is simply too great. (SOURCE: childrenvision.com)