SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- California law requires public schools to perform vision screenings on students when they first enter school and every three years after that.

Many vision problems are found early, but not always.

Gina Weddle’s daughter Amanda passed several basic eye exams.

"There was no indication from the nurse at school or the pediatrician, and there was not even a concern to go to an actual eye doctor," Weddle said.

So when Amanda started having problems reading, writing and studying, her mother said she thought it was an attention issue.

“I was seeing sloppiness in her writing, assignments would come back and wouldn't necessarily be complete. She didn't have the attention span to practice reading," Weddle said.

The misconception that Amanda's problems were attention based is a common misconception by parents, said Dr. Leanne Liddicoat, an optometrist with the California Optometric Association.

Liddicoat discovered Amanda didn't really have a problem learning. She had a problem seeing.

"I have seen children placed into special learning groups or special education programs, because they were intelligent, but performing below their potential, because they weren't seeing properly," Liddicoat said.

Liddicoat says 60 percent of children diagnosed with a learning disorder have an undiagnosed vision problem.

Once the connection was made with Amanda, her mother said she noticed a major improvement.

"She went from reading at a first-grade level to a fourth-grade level within a couple of months," Weddle said.

Amanda said the words in books and on papers looked much better and didn’t float around anymore once she got glasses and did some basic eye muscle therapy exercises at home.

These days Amanda is making the grade, thanks to her new self-confidence and a purple pair of glasses.