A critique of behavioural vision therapy techniques for children with reading difficulties including dyslexia

Abstract

ABSTRACT Specific learning disabilities affect the brain’s ability to process verbal and non-verbal information efficiently and accurately. The most common learning disability is reading disability which includes dyslexia. Evidence supports that dyslexia is a language-based disorder. The core deficit of dyslexia is the phonological component of language that interferes with reading development. Therefore early, intense and specific remedial therapy should address the underlying cause of the difficulty. Behavioural optometry is controversial and purports to make children more responsive to education by improving visual conditions conducive for learning with eye exercises, tinted/coloured lenses and movment-based exercises. However, the theoretical basis for behavioural therapies have not been well established. Literature which favours behavioural approaches suffers from serious methodological and interpretive flaws. There is currently insufficient evidence to support behavioural approaches which therefore should not be recommended.