Saccadic movement, more commonly known as saccades, is the ability of the eyes to move in synchrony from point A to point B rapidly without deviating from the path. Impaired saccadic movement is when the eyes do not move together in a designated pattern such as left/right and top/bottom. They may jump randomly or move in uncoordinated patterns that can lead to a variety of issues when completing reading and written work.
Issues with Saccades may affect a child’s reading in the following ways:
– Skipping words or lines
– Slow reading
– Poor comprehension
– Using a finger to track while reading
– Words appearing to move on a page
– Words coming in and out of focus
– Eye strain and fatigue
What causes saccadic impairment?
While many consider saccadic impairment a vision issue, research suggests that visual processing problems originating in the brain can also cause a disruption in normal saccadic movement that results in reading and learning challenges.1 The brain controls eye movement, and when the visual cortex in the brain isn’t functioning properly, it can affect the eyes’ ability to work together successfully.
Recent research on children with visual processing problems has shown that not only is ocular movement impaired during the act of reading, but it can be improved with colored filters.2 Colored filters have been shown to normalize the brain’s hyper-reactive response to visual input for children suffering from light-based visual processing problems such as Irlen Syndrome, also known as Visual Stress, Meares-Irlen Syndrome, and Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome.
Signs that a child may have a saccadic impairment:
– Difficulty copying work from the board to a paper or between two papers without errors or omission of words
– Frequently losing one’s place when reading
– Utilizing a finger to track along lines of text
– Frequent spelling errors
– Poor spacing when writing, or difficulty staying on the line
Treating Saccadic Deficiencies
If issues with saccadic movement are related to a light-based visual processing problem such as Irlen Syndrome, addressing the underlying visual processing problem with spectral filters can resolve the issues with saccadic movement. Improvement in saccadic movements will be immediate and will not require any additional training, remediation, or instruction. Testing and remediation for Irlen Syndrome can be completed in 1-2 testing sessions. Other causes of saccadic impairment may require an optical intervention instead. The standard recommended optical intervention for saccadic impairment is vision therapy.
For more information on interventions for Irlen Syndrome, visit www.irlen.com.
References
- Lopes, V. P., de Araújo Vilhena, D., Guimarães, R. Q., & Guimarães, M. R. (2022). Análise dos movimentos oculares de adultos com estresse visual na leitura. Research, Society and Development, 11(4), e50511427658-e50511427658.
- Guimarães, M. R., Vilhena, D. D. A., Loew, S. J., & Guimarães, R. Q. (2020). Spectral overlays for reading difficulties: oculomotor function and reading efficiency among children and adolescents with visual stress. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 127(2), 490-509.