Alternate eye suppression and reading ability: little or no effect

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe relationship between visual disorders and reading disability has been a source of controversy. Although much has been written, few clear relationships have been established. This study examined a particular visual disorder, alternating the use of the eyes. It has been generally assumed in the professional literature that eye alternation has a negative impact on a child's ability to read and perform visual‐motor tasks. To date, however, this assumption is without scientific validation.The purpose of this study was to determine whether alternating the use of the eyes does in fact have a negative effect on reading ability and on timed visual‐motor tasks. Forty school‐aged children, aged six to 14, were selected from the patient population of four ophthalmologists. Twenty alternators, whose ocular conditions were verified by ophthalmologic examination, were obtained. The control group was obtained by matching children with normal eye exams to the alternators. All subjects were given the WISC‐R (Wechsler, 1974) and the Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests, Form B (1973).Results of the study indicated that the reading achievement of eye alternators was no different than it was for visually normal children. Also, alternators are no more likely to have difficulty with the visual‐motor tasks. Although alternators may score poorly on vision screening tests, there is no indication that their visual problems will affect their school achievement.