Abstract
Purpose :
To examine factors contributing to maximum reading rate in children with low vision.
Methods :
Thirty-one children with vision impairment of ocular origin aged 7 to 16 performed a variety of tasks including best-corrected visual acuity (VA), WISC verbal comprehension and working memory testing, Woodcock Johnson IV Broad Reading Cluster (WJ-BRC) which is derived from Letter-Word Identification, Passage Comprehension and Sentence Reading Fluency subtests, RAN/RAS rapid automatized naming tasks and MNREAD testing using the iPad based test and scoring algorithm. Additionally, visual span profiles (range of letters that can be recognized reliably without moving the eyes) were determined using a trigram task. Data was analyzed first looking at univariate associations. A model predicting reading speed was developed using backward stepwise regression. Significance was set at p=.05, 2-tailed.
Results :
Mean participant age was 11.5 ± 2.7 years and mean VA was 0.67 ± 0.2 logMAR (range 0.2-1.02). More girls (55%) than boys (45%) participated. Most participants had nystagmus (81%). The mean maximum reading rate (MRR) was 117 ± 38 words per minute. Visual span size averaged 24.7 ± 9.8 bits (range 7.0 to 39.7). Mean standard score was 93.5 ± 12.1 on the WJ-BRC and 105 ± 9 on the RAN/RAS. Visual span size was significantly correlated with MRR (p=.03; R2=0.16) and age (p=.002; R2=0.28) but not with VA (p=.5), automaticity (p=.7) or WJ-BRC (p=.7). MRR was not significantly correlated with any demographic or visual factors; it was also not correlated with the WISC verbal comprehension or working memory indices or the WJ-BRC. In addition to visual span size, MRR is significantly correlated with age (p=.003; R2=0.27), and automaticity (p=.01; R2=0.2). The final regression model included VA, automaticity, WJ- BRC, age and visual span size as well interactions between visual span and the other variables. The model explained 80% of the variance in reading speed. (R2 = 0.80, F (10,20) = 7.97, p = < .0001).
Conclusions :
Consistent with the literature, reading speeds vary from child to child, and increase over time as they mature. Although visual acuity alone is not significantly associated with reading speed, it does contribute. The visual span contributes to and interacts with other factors associated with reading speed suggesting a significant role for early visual processing in the development of reading speed.
This abstract was presented at the 2022 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Denver, CO, May 1-4, 2022, and virtually.