Inserm French collective expert's report describes
sensory disorders screening. However, the causality link with
learning disorders remains questionable. In auditory disorders, there are high-level proof recommendations: early and intensive treatment improves language development, at least partially. For
visual disorders, consensus conferences recognize their high frequency in
learning disorders but there is no proof of a direct causality link. Currently, in
learning disorders,
orthoptic treatment is not recommended as a specific
therapy. In France, despite medical ignorance about
orthoptic assessment, absence of reference values and lack of
therapy benefits evaluation,
orthoptic treatment is usually prescribed, without any objective criteria. This article makes a literature review concerning the link between learning and
sensory disorders. It also describes a typical
orthoptic assessment with vision and optic musculature evaluation, and reports its results in a prospective comparative study in three populations (controls, dyslexic and
Developmental Coordination Disorders [
DCD] children).
Strabismus or binocular vision disorders are frequent in
DCD. Combined ocular motor function is almost constantly disturbed in
DCD (90 %), whereas 34 % of dyslexic children and only 13 % of controls are concerned.
Visual disorders are therefore present in
learning disorders but also in normal population.
Orthoptic assessment results must be interpreted in a multidisciplinary evaluation context.