Keeping eyes on the right track
By Michelle Knight knight@theacorn.com

FOLLOWING THE LINES- Becca Workman, a seventhgrader at Hardy Academy in Camarillo, reads text while wearing Visagraph high-tech goggles that help track eye movement as students read. School officials say some children have problems reading because their eyes don't move over the words from left to right, but jump around the page, causing confusion. The academy is offering 20 Camarillo children a free Visagraph assessment test.

Marci Peterson said she's known for some time that her 11year-old daughter Megan has problems reading but was never able to figure out why.

The mystery of that question was unlocked recently when the fifth-grader took a vision test at the Hardy Learning Center and Academy using a Visagraph, a pair of high-tech goggles that track how well the eyes work together while reading.

A product of New York-based Taylor Associates/Communications, a Visagraph works with a computer-based reading program, offering a report showing how well students' eyes "flow" over text. Some children have reading problems because their eyes don't move left to right sequentially over printed words but may jump around the page, confusing the child.

The Visagraph showed that Megan's eyes had difficulty following the text, which, in turn, made reading comprehension nearly impossible.

Based on the results, Hardy teachers recommended Megan perform certain eye exercises, such as write or print on certain colored paper instead of white and use an online program designed to train eye movement.

Now that Peterson knows why her daughter reads below grade level, the Camarillo mom said she feels "pointed in a better direction to help her."

The Visagraph was purchased by the Hardy Academy with money from a $2,500 grant given to the afterschool learning center and private school by the Camarillo Health Care District.

The academy will provide a free eye coordination evaluation to 20 children with reading problems.

The service is available to students age 7 to 18, who are Camarillo residents and not enrolled in any of Hardy's programs.

Although the Visagraph shows how well the eyes track over text, Camarillo Optometrist Richard Anderson said parents should consider the Visagraph test one of many screening tools available and not a substitute for an optometrist-performed eye exam.

He said that without a complete evaluation by an optometrist or doctor, problems diagnosed as tracking errors may actually be something else.

"It does not catch all the people with eye problems," Anderson said.

A spokesman for Taylor, makers of the Visagraph, agreed that the goal of their system is to improve a child's reading ability and not identify eye problems.

If the Visagraph system detects an eye disorder, however, school officials said they will give families a referral to a local optometrist for further testing.

For more information or to sign up for the free Visagraph test, call the Hardy Learning Center and Academy, located at 697 Mobil Ave., at (805) 389-8144.