PEDIATRICS Vol. 74 No. 1 July 1984, pp. 150-151
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Learning Disabilities, Dyslexia, and Vision

Committee on Children with Disabilities of the AAP, and Ad Hoc Working Group of the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus and American Academy of Ophthalmology

POLICY

The American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Ophthalmology, and the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus upport the position that a child or adult with dyslexia or a related learning disability should receive: (1) early medical, educational, and/or psychological evaluation and diagnosis; and (2) remediation with educational procedures of proven value, demonstrated by valid research.

BACKGROUND

Dyslexia and related learning diabilities have become matters of increasing public attention. A child's or adult's inability to read with understanding is a major obstacle to school learning and may have far-reaching social and economic implications. The normal and appropriate concern of parents for the welfare of their children and of society for its disadvantaged children and young adults has fostered a proliferation of purportedly diagnostic and remedial procedures, many of which are controversial. Research has shown that deficient visual perception of letters or words accounts for inability to read in only a small minority of children; the majority suffer from a variety of linguisting defects.1,2 Therefore, the diagnosis and treatment of dyslexia and associated learning disabilities have recently been reviewed with the following conclusions endorsed by the three societies named above.

EVALUATION AND CONCLUSIONS

1. Learning disabilities, including the dyslexias, as well as other forms of learning underachievement, often may require a multidisciplinary approach from medicine, education, and psychology in evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment. Certain problems may be detected during early childhood through the use of screening techniques by educational specialists. Children with potential problems include those with language defects, emotional problems, or a family history of learning disability.