Distribution of binocular and accommodative problems detected in the three groups of children evaluated. Credit: Drs Bilbao and Piñero

A Spanish study investigating the relationship between visual problems and neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs), such as dyslexia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and developmental coordination disorder (DCD), has concluded that oculomotor anomalies should not be regarded as diagnostic of NDDs. 

The study of 69 children aged six to 13 years old analysed the distribution of oculomotor and visual alterations, defined according to standard clinical tests in children with dyslexia, ADHD and DCD, and compared these with results from non-NDD children without ocular pathology but with and without oculomotor anomalies. 

Writing in Ophthalmology Times Europe, the study authors Dr Carmen Bilbao, from the Policlínica Alto Aragón, and Dr David Piñero, from the University of Alicante, said that children with dyslexia, ADHD and DCD show an altered oculomotor pattern and a more reduced amplitude of accommodation, but this is not always compatible with the diagnostic criteria of an accommodative insufficiency. Further, accommodative and binocular vision problems are not always present in these children and so cannot be considered an aetiological factor.  

Despite children with NDDs showing significantly impaired oculomotricity scores and a significantly higher number of hypometric saccades, compared with healthy children, the authors concluded that subsequent research should focus on the impact of oculomotor alterations associated with NDDs and how complementary binocular and accommodative anomalies impact the child’s development. 

For more about working with NDD children, see: https://eyeonoptics.co.nz/articles/archive/an-eye-on-autism/