Visual System’s Influence on Reading Process Acquisition

Abstract

It is becoming increasingly common to send children with reading acquisition problems, as evidencedby teachers or even occasionally parents, for an eye examination. However, optometristsoften lack the necessary tools to handle these cases, though perhaps the difficulty can be explainedby following questions: how can the visual system influence reading processes? And how canoptometry contribute to diagnosing and handling reading acquisition problems? In this review wewill attempt to answer these questions, based on the premise that optometrists are primary careprofessionals and, therefore, their actions are aimed at achieving visual efficiency by preventingand intervening invisual system alterations in a timely fashion, so as to allow children to receivethe proper visual information from their surroundings.