# Ocular and General Proprioception in Dyslexic Children: A Review of Their Diurnal and Nocturnal Dysfunctions and Their Repercussions

## TL;DR

This paper reviews how dyslexic children have issues with body and eye position sensing, which affects reading and brain development.

## Contribution

The paper introduces a novel perspective on dyslexia by linking it to ocular and general proprioceptive dysfunctions.

## Key findings

- Dyslexic children show spatial disturbances due to vertical microheterophoria and oblique muscle tone.
- Modifying ocular proprioception can lead to visual losses when processing sounds.
- Nocturnal proprioceptive issues may affect brain development in dyslexic children.

## Abstract

We provide a summary of the research conducted in our laboratory on the relationship between ocular proprioception, general proprioception, and dyslexia. Dyslexic children show a marked proprioceptive deficit which affects motor control, attention and spatial perception. The spatial disturbances are expressed by the presence of a vertical microheterophoria which has very specific characteristics. It is associated with abnormal tone of the oblique muscles and can be modified by means of very low powered prisms and/or remote sensory stimulation. When ocular proprioception is modified, sounds cause stochastic visual losses. This may interfere with the association between phonemes and graphemes, which is necessary for learning to read. The effects of a generalized nocturnal proprioceptive disorder may play a role in the abnormal brain development that has been observed in dyslexic children.