DYSLEXIA NOT CAUSED BY VISUAL FUNCTION PROBLEMS

The visual problems suffered by people with dyslexia are not caused by visual dysfunction according to a new study.  The study used functional MRIs (magnetic resonance imaging) to compare brain function in children with dyslexia to those who do not have the disorder. Both groups were found to have the same level of level of visual processing. In practical terms this means the research indicates visual problems are the result of dyslexia and not its cause.

The findings of this study are important as they demonstrate that "visual system function shouldn't have a role in diagnosis or treatment" of dyslexia. The researchers also found that reading problems in children with dyslexia were ability based as children with dyslexia who received intensive tutoring improved their reading abilities.

"Our results do not discount the presence of this specific type of visual deficit," says senior author Guinevere Eden, PhD, director for the Center for the Study of Learning at Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) and past-president of the International Dyslexia Association. "In fact our results confirm that differences do exist in the visual system of children with dyslexia, but these differences are the end-product of less reading, when compared with typical readers, and are not the cause of their struggles with reading."  Based on these finding, treatment of children with dyslexia should focus on improving reading skills and not trying to fix visual deficits.

The study is published in the journal Neuron.

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http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-06-brain-imaging-differences-visual-function.html#jCp

©Mary M Conneely T/A Advocacy in Action