Relationship between amblyopia and the reading process

Abstract

Amblyopia is the most common cause of visual loss in children and young adults. This condition limits the ability to perform activities of learning and development. Optical prescription for ametropias and a timely diagnosis can prevent this, while providing the visual conditions required for an adequate performance in school. <em><strong>Objective</strong><em> To review the relationship between refractive and strabismic amblyopia and visual-motor and visualperceptual conditions in the reading process. Similarly, to describe visual-motor conditions and alterations in amblyopia, as well as their relationship to reading. <em><strong>Methodology:</strong><em> A literature search was conducted in databases and in texts published until 2015, in English and in Spanish, with search words such as amblyopia, reading, learning, visual-motor conditions, and visual-perceptual conditions. <em><strong>Conclusions:</strong><em> Refractive and strabismic amblyopia affect the development of visual-motor and visual-perceptual skills such as fixation, oculomotor movements, tracking and saccades, accommodation, contrast sensitivity, and, in some cases, vergences, all of them indispensable in the reading process.