Poor Reading: A Deep Dive
The symptoms of an eye tracking problem
What is eye tracking?
Eye tracking issues – often termed oculomotor dysfunction – are difficulties in controlling and coordinating the eyes’ movements. In essence, the eyes do not work together in a well-coordinated way.
Understanding the symptoms of eye tracking issues
This typically stems from anomalies in the visual motor system: developmental delays, neurological injury, or other conditions can disrupt the brain’s ability to coordinate the eye muscles. As a result, individuals with eye tracking disorders struggle to keep their place while reading or have trouble smoothly following a line of print, despite normal eyesight clarity.
Oculomotor tracking deficits often manifest in noticeable reading and writing problems. Here are explanations of the common symptoms of an eye tracking problem:
Frequent loss of place or skipping words when reading
The person’s eyes jump erratically. They may lose their spot on the page, skip over words or entire lines, or re-read the same line unintentionally. Often they need a finger or marker as a guide to keep their place.
Slow, laborious reading with poor comprehension
Because the eyes don’t move efficiently, reading becomes slow and effortful, harming understanding. The reader might hesitantly read word-by-word or repeatedly backtrack to catch missed words. This laborious process uses so much mental energy that little is left for comprehension. Headaches or fatigue after reading are common do to the strain.
Excessive head movement
Instead of moving just their eyes, individuals may move their head along the line of text to compensate for poor eye control. This abnormal posture (head tilting or turning when reading) is a sign the eyes aren’t tracking properly on their own.
Inaccurate copying and writing
Eye tracking problems affect writing as well. A student might misalign numbers in math or transpose letters when copying from the board, because their eyes can’t reliably guide their hand from the source to their paper. Written work may be messy or have irregular spacing and letter sizing. Poor eye-hand coordination due to tracking issues leads to inconsistent, error-prone handwriting.
Difficulty sustaining attention on visual tasks
Tracking is closely tied to visual attention. Children with tracking deficits often cannot maintain focus on reading or close work. They become easily distracted or avoid reading altogether, since the act of tracking text is so taxing. This can be misinterpreted as ADHD or lack of effort when the root issue is visual.
Visual strain and confusion
Because their eyes don’t move in unison, the person may experience eye strain, fatigue, or even double vision during reading. Some report that lines of text blur together or words “move” on the page due to unstable fixation. They might rub their eyes, squint, or get motion-sickness-like symptoms from intense reading.
Next up: How Eye Tracking Challenges Impact Writing Skills
Struggling to follow words on a page can lead to more than poor reading—it can also affect how a child writes, spaces, and organizes their thoughts.
Eye tracking isn’t just about reading. Kids who can’t smoothly follow lines of text often have trouble with writing, too. In our next post, we explore the link between eye tracking and dysgraphia—and why improving one can help the other.