The “Tracking” Problem

Does a doctor or other qualified healthcare professional have a concern about “tracking problems” impacting your child’s reading? What does this mean, and what can be done about it?

Visual Skills and Reading

Reading is a complex process which requires many visual skills to master, far more than just having 20/20 vision and good eye movement skills. Experts say that there are in fact 17 visual skills required to read. These 17 visual skills are:

1. Central Visual Acuity (“20/20 Vision“)

2. Peripheral Vision

3. Eye Movement Control

4. Simultaneous Focus At Far

5. Sustaining Focus At Far

6. Simultaneous Focus At Near

7. Sustaining Focus At Near

8. Simultaneous Alignment at Far

9. Sustaining Alignment at Far

10. Simultaneous Alignment at Near

11. Sustaining Alignment at Near

12. Depth Perception

13. Color Perception

14. Gross Visual-Motor

15. Fine Visual-Motor

16. Visual Perception

17. Visual Integration

What is Tracking?

Tracking is the visual ability to read words on a page. A “tracking problem”, however, can be caused by a problem with any of the above mentioned 17 visual skills needed to read, and is usually associated with problems in multiple skills. Children may complain of losing place when reading, needing to read things multiple times, reading slower than their peers, or losing focus. They may get blurry vision, double vision, headaches, or dry/irritated eyes.

Eye Movement Disorders

There are many different ways our eyes move, including saccades (jumping eye movements), pursuits (smooth following eye movements), converging (moving together), and diverging (moving apart). These movements are all very important parts of reading, as reading requires constant eye movement. Problems with any type of movement can impede reading.

Focusing Disorders

Accommodation is the eye’s natural ability to focus from far to near. Accommodation happens inside the eye, where a muscle called the ciliary body squeezes a lens right behind the iris (the colored part of the eye) to adjust the eye’s focus, just like a camera. Both excessive and insufficient focusing can lead to problems with sustained near work and reading.

Visual Processing Disorders

All of the information gathered by the eyes is passed on to the brain, first to the visual cortex, where light information is turned into what we “see”, and then on to higher cortical processing, where we make sense of and understand what we see. Problems with binocular (two-eyed) depth perception, visual memory, spatial perception, and letter reversals can all impact a child’s ability to read and learn.

Is this the same as Dyslexia?

Vision-related learning problems are not the same as dyslexia, but they may happen concurrently. A functional vision exam can determine if vision problems are a contributing factor, and children can be referred for additional dyslexia testing with a neuropsychologist as needed. Read more in our article about Vision Problems & Dyslexia.

Diagnosing Vision Problems

A comprehensive eye examination is the first step in determining what sorts of vision problems are causing tracking problems in children. Behavioral and developmental optometrists like to call this the Functional Vision Examination, because it gives useful information on how vision is being used, in addition to the clarity of the vision. The eye doctor will measure clarity of vision, efficiency of eye movements, depth perception, color vision, and focusing abilities. The eye examination is also very important to ensure there are no eye health problems impacting vision and to prescribe glasses when they are beneficial.

Additional vision testing or vision processing testing may be done on a different day as the function eye examination to test for letter reversals, visual motor skills, visual processing skills, eye hand coordination, or to gather any other useful information about the child’s reading ability.

Treatment of Tracking Issues in Children

Depending on the visual problems, there are many possible treatments.

Glasses specifically measured and tested for the visual needs of your child may be beneficial in improving reading ability. These are often a very helpful first step in treatment.

A course of Optometric Vision Therapy (VT) may also be prescribed. This is a specially programmed course of in-office and at-home exercises and activities which can improve, strengthen, and coordinate important visual skills needed for reading and learning.

Does your child have a tracking problem in the Kent, Auburn, Renton, Covington, Maple Valley, Enumclaw, or Black Diamond area?

Schedule an eye exam today!