Visual Function and Academic Performance

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Evaluation of 1,910 first-, second-, and third-grade students indicated that visual function and academic performance as measured by reading were not positively related. Visual function tests included visual acuity, muscle balance, preferred eye and hand, color vision, refraction, sensory and motor function, and a writing and drawing task. Academic tests included the Metropolitan Readiness Test, the Cognitive Abilities Test, the Iowa Test of Basic Skills, and the teacher's assessment of reading level. A simple test which can be completed during the office visit and interpreted by the ophthalmologist in the office included drawing, copying, and writing. A segment of this test, the “draw a bicycle test,” can be used by an ophthalmologist to demonstrate the difference between vision and performance when examining a child up to third-grade level who is referred because of school failure.

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This study was supported in part by grant 1 RO1 EY03708-03 from the National Institutes of Health and in part by a grant from Research to Prevent Blindness, Inc., New York, New York.

Reprint requests to Eugene M. Helveston, M.D., Department of Ophthalmology, Indiana University School of Medicine, 702 Rotary Circle, Indianapolis, IN 46223.

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