Eye Responsivity During Literacy Activities in Children With Reading Disabilities

PURPOSE: This study evaluated eye movements (i.e., regressions, fixations, and saccades) in a variety of reading contexts in school-age children with and without reading disorders (RDs). METHOD: This study used an experimental design with two groups: peers with RDs and typically developing (TD) peers. A Tobii Pro Spectrum system was used to capture eye movement data for all participants during the reading tasks under the following conditions: (a) single words without cognitive demand, (b) single-word reading with cognitive demand, and (c) grade-level paragraph reading text. RESULTS: The results indicated significant differences between the groups in the duration of fixation and number of regressions. In addition, participants in the RD group exhibited significantly more saccades while reading than their TD counterparts. CONCLUSIONS: Although reading is a language-based skill involving five areas of language (morphology, phonology, syntax, pragmatics, and semantics), this study offers a unique perspective and objective measurement while highlighting the role of eye movements in reading. The results of this study showed distinctive eye responses in school-age children with RDs. These findings underscore the value of eye tracking as a diagnostic and research tool, offering an objective window into the complex interplay among visual, linguistic, and cognitive processes that underlie reading.