Effects of Training of Eye Fixation Skills on the Reading Fluency of Children with Oculomotor Dysfunction

Abstract

The study was carried out to determine the effect of training of eye
fixation skills on the reading fluency of Children with Oculomotor
Dysfunction. Pretest-Posttest Control Group Design was used in this
experimental study. All the school going children having Oculomotor
Dysfunction and poor reading skills between the ages5-14 years at
primary level were population of this study. King Devick Pro Reading
test was run on the children with poor reading abilities to diagnose the
Children with Oculomotor Dysfunction. Children having percentile rank
below 15 or below average accuracy on King Devick Pro Reading test
were diagnosed as Children with Oculomotor Dysfunction. 20 Children
with Oculomotor Dysfunction were selected from a pool of 50 Children
with Oculomotor Dysfunction using random sampling technique. Two
cohorts (experimental and control) having 10 Children with Oculomotor
Dysfunction each, were used in the study. The level of Visual Fixation
Skills of the children of both of the groups was analyzed sing Nova
Southeastern University College of Optometry Oculomotor Test. The
subjects of experimental group underwent training of manual and
computer animated visual fixation skills 50 minutes per day for 7 days a
week for 6 weeks. Words Correct Per Minute Method was used to
determine the reading fluency of both of the groups before and after the
intervention from selected paragraphs of Punjab Textbook Board.
Analysis of Covariance was employed to make comparison between the
level of reading fluency of Experimental Group and Control Group on the basis of attained scores after the intervention. The results indicated
that there was significant effect (p=0.003) of the training of visual
fixation skills on the reading fluency of Children with Oculomotor
Dysfunction. A highly significant improvement (p=0.001) in the eye
fixation skills of the Children with Oculomotor Dysfunction was found
through visual fixation exercises training.