What can cause poor eye movement function?
Just as people often have one arm that's a bit stronger or more coordinated than the other, the same can happen with the muscles that control our eyes.
Daily Habits/ Environment
Some children naturally favor looking to one side due to habits, sleeping positions, or
environmental factors (e.g., desk layout).
Repetition
Repetitive eye movements (like screen use) can create muscle imbalances if one eye does more work or if posture favors one side.
Dominant Eye
Just as people have a dominant hand, most people have a dominant eye that does more of focusing. If significant, this can influence eye muscle development.
Eye Muscle Development
Eye muscles in children are still growing, so small differences in gaze or eye use can impact muscle strength or control over time.
Natural Muscle Difference
Eye muscles can vary in tone, strength, or coordination, so one eye might naturally have better control or range of motion.
Delayed Motor Milestones
When babies start to move and explore, they rely on reflexes that support early development. As they grow, these reflexes should fade. If not, movement development can delay milestones like eye coordination.
Why haven't I heard about this before?
It is a matter of focus...
Medical Diagnosis & Treatment
Research on the diagnosis and treatment of eye movement function has focused on severe cases such as amblyopia and strabismus, which are diagnosed by a physician. Treatment (in-office vision therapy and corrective lenses) can be costly and time-consuming.
Children with High Needs
In the majority of schools, only high-needs children paired with an Occupational Therapist (OT), who has been specially trained for oculomotor dysfunction, are tested and treated for EMF.
Treatment Focus
Educational and medical systems often focus on diagnosing more well-known conditions like ADHD, dyslexia, behavior problems, or learning disabilities.
Vision Skills & Eye Movement
Vision skills encompass how our eyes move and work together (oculomotor skills), how we perceive visual details (visual perception skills), and how we interpret what we see (visual processing skills). Oculomotor skills specifically relate to eye muscle control. Each eye has six tiny muscles that control movement. When these muscles are weak or don't coordinate well, the brain must work extra hard to combine images from both eyes for visual tasks like reading, tracking moving objects, and maintaining focus.
Research
Research has shown that eye movement control plays a vital role in reading efficiency and learning ability. Studies indicate that children with poor saccadic eye movements (rapid eye shifts between words) often experience slower reading rates and reduced comprehension (Kirkby et al., 2011). Similarly, strong visual tracking and fixation skills are linked to better performance in sports, as they improve reaction time, coordination, and accuracy (Laby et al., 2018).
Visual and Binocular Status in Elementary School Children: A 2017 study published in the Journal of Optometry by researchers at the School of Optometry and Vision Science, University of Waterloo, investigated the prevalence of visual and binocular vision anomalies in school children with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) for reading. The study concluded that children with reading IEPs frequently present with abnormal binocular and/or accommodative test results. The researchers recommended that tests of accommodation, binocular vision, and oculomotor function should be performed on all children, especially those with identified reading problems.
Academic Behavior Improvement After Treatment: A 2019 study published in Optometry and Vision Science examined 311 children aged 9 to 14 years with symptomatic convergence insufficiency. The children were randomly assigned to 16 weeks of office-based vergence/accommodative therapy or placebo therapy. The research concluded that successful or improved outcomes after convergence insufficiency treatment were associated with a reduction in the frequency of adverse academic behaviors and parental concern associated with reading and schoolwork as reported by parents.
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