Oculomotor Patterns in Children with Poor Reading Abilities Measured Using the Development Eye Movement Test

Abstract

Objectives: The main purpose of this work was to clinically assess the oculomotricity of one hundred Mexican children with poor reading skills but without any specific learning disorder. Methods: The D.E.M. psychometric test was used. Sex and age analyses of the ratio, type, horizontal and vertical performance, and errors were carried out. Results: Our data suggest that 84% of poor readers exhibit oculomotor difficulties. Sex did not significantly influence the results (p > 0.05), whereas age was associated with the horizontal (p = 0.04) and vertical (p = 0.29) performance, as well as the number of errors (p = 0.001). Omissions were the most prevalent error type. Conclusions: This research gives insights into the role of oculomotricity in children with poor reading skills. Our results suggest that oculomotor performance should be included in the evaluation protocol to assess poor readers to identify any influence of the visual system.