Nystagmus and ocular fixation difficulties in learning-disabled children.

The visual fixation ability of learning-disabled children was evaluated after sensory integrative therapy had been administered for short or long periods of time. Children with hyporesponsive postrotary nystagmus displayed reduced oculomotor control skills, but the deficit was apparent only in those who had been in therapy for a shorter interval. These results present further support for the hypothesis that the learning disabled can be differentiated according to their nystagmus characteristics. In addition, very tentative evidence suggested that sensory integrative therapy may have been successful in ameliorating the fixation deficiency; however, further research into this possibility is needed. The data also indicate that oculomotor control dysfunction may be a mediating mechanism for at least part of the learning disabilities experienced by some learning-disabled children.