Sensorimotor Exam (Visual Efficiency Testing)

Learn if a Sensorimotor Exam is right for you.

Visual Acuity

The Snellen fractions, 20/20, 20/30, etc. are measures of sharpness of sight. They relate to the ability to identify a letter of a certain size at a specified distance.

They give no information as to whether or not meaning is obtained from visual input, how much effort is needed to see clearly or singly, and whether or not vision is less efficient when using both eyes as opposed to each eye individually.

Eye Tracking (Saccades)

Eye tracking is the ability to track a moving target or switch fixation from one target to another. This skill permits easy shifting of the eyes along the line of print, a rapid and accurate return to the next line, and quick and accurate shifts between desk and board/screen, or from one distance to another.

Tracking ability is evaluated using the Developmental Eye Movement Test (DEM), which stimulates reading on a written page. Inadequate eye movement control may cause an individual to lose their place when reading, have difficulty copying from the board/screen, and skip or omit small words when reading.

Accommodation

Another skill that is important for school or work performance and when reading is focusing ability. This skill allows rapid and accurate shifts with instantaneous clarity from one distance to another, such as from desk to chalkboard or screen. It also permits the individual to maintain clear focus at the normal reading distance.

Symptoms of a focusing problem may include blurred vision while reading, and fatigue or headaches while reading (accommodative insufficiency/paresis), and/or inability to clear vision at a distance after reading (accommodative infacility/spam).

Binocular Vision

In order for an individual to have comfortable vision, the two eyes must work together in a very precise and coordinated fashion. If this does not occur, it may result in double vision, frequent loss of place when reading, words moving on the page, headaches or eye strain, and an inability to sustain a visual task for any prolonged period of time (poor attention or concentration). There are several different types of eye-teaming problems that can occur.

In one common form known as strabismus, one eye may actually turn in (esotropia) or out (exotropia) intermittently or even all of the time. This problem is rather easy for an observer to notice. A more common form of eye teaming problem occurs when the eyes have a tendency to turn out (convergence insufficiency), in (convergence excess), up or down (hyperphoria) and the ability to compensate for this tendency is inadequate.