A TEN-year-old girl says that a vision clinic helped her to ‘feel normal’ again after tackling sight problems.

Megan Alcock, from Great Sankey, suffered from persistent headaches and could only read for short amounts of time.

Visits to her opticians and GP found no issues, but Megan was then referred to the visual processing difficulties clinic at Warrington Hospital by her school, where she was treated by lead orthoptist Kath Whitfield.

The 10-year-old said: “When I came to the clinic, I told Kath everything and she really understood.

“We did lots of different tests, so she could see all the different things that I struggled with.

“She gave me games to practice at home to help strengthen my eyes.

“I have noticed a huge difference and the overlay really helps at school as well - I also like reading now too.

“Kath made me feel normal.”

Recently renamed, having previously been known at the orthoptic specific learning difficulties clinic, the service aids children who have problems processing visual information.

Youngsters can be referred to the visual processing difficulties clinic if they are struggling to read and write or falling behind their expected levels at school.

Around 80 per cent of children who have problems learning have issues that can be treated by an orthoptist.

Ms Whitfield said: “We assess children who are struggling to read because of visual disturbances which may need exercises rather than glasses.

“We see children who struggle to keep their place when reading, skip, add or reverse words, struggle to remember information or the sequence of information and other aspects of vision related learning.

“Some children may need a coloured overlay to help them to see the words more clearly and we can advise the schools and parents about this - some children may have difficulties with their visual perception skills and we will diagnose, treat and provide advice for parents and teachers.

“If your child is over the age of seven and you are concerned about their reading skills then please contact the department for advice - we are always happy to help.

“The satisfaction from schools and parents is outstanding.”