Research

The Potential Impact of Undiagnosed Vision Impairment on Reading Development in the Early Years of School

  • This article presents a critical review of the literature surrounding the potential impact of undiagnosed and untreated vision impairment on reading development in the early years of primary school.

  • Despite pre-school screening programmes, it is still possible for children to enter school with undiagnosed, uncorrected vision impairments. This can be due to healthcare access issues for children.

  • Data reviewed indicated correlations between hyperopic vision impairment and poor reading development. However, the relationships reported remain complex, with myopic vision impairment being reported to correlate with high reading ability in some studies. In addition, correlation does not necessarily imply causation.

  • Recommendations for teaching practice and the nature of research that explores whether vision impairment is the cause of poor reading development for some children in school are suggested.

Publication date

April 25, 2019

Publication

International Journal of Disability, Development and Education

Authors

Allen Thurston
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