| Summary Objective: To consider if poor (immature) visual fixation in children aged 4—15 years could contribute to aspects of attention deficit disorder within a triad of symptoms — dyslexia, dyspraxia and attention deficit — of developmental delay. Background: Although visual fixation and developmental delay have been widely researched the link between a possible retained visual reflex and attention deficit has not been established. Methods: A prospective epidemiological study of 100 children. Discussion: Within a group of children that constituted Group 1 of a case series of children with a primary diagnosis of dyslexia, dyspraxia, attention deficit disorder (ADD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and Tourette’s syndrome of childhood a significant number of children (57%)
demonstrated, on testing, aspects of convergence insufficiency/failure. On revisiting the original data it was found that a significant number of children demonstrated poor visual fixation as measured by an inability to maintain gaze on a fixed target during standard confrontational testing for the peripheral visual fields. This new data was then related to patterns of comorbidity and the presence of convergence insufficiency. Conclusion: It is suggested that a retained primitive visual reflex may contribute to aspects of inattention in children which, as a consequence,may be wrongly considered as a behavioural issue and may also impact upon the child’s ability to learn. Design: A prospective epidemiological study. This abstract is reproduced with the permission of the publisher; full text by subscription.
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