M-cell deficit and reading disability: a preliminary study of the effects of temporal vision-processing therapy

This study examines the following questions: In moderately disabled readers, will temporal vision-processing therapy procedures that benefit reading comprehension, visual attention, and oculomotor skills ameliorate M-cell processing deficits as measured with coherent motion threshold testing? And will the results show a corresponding improvement in oral reading and verbal skills?

A sample of 16 moderately disabled readers, evaluated in a study completed 6 months earlier, were retested with another form of the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test. Each participant was additionally tested for coherent motion, oral reading, and word attack skills. During the succeeding 6 months, fifteen 45-minute therapy sessions were administered once a week (as the school schedule permitted). After completing 15 therapy sessions, the initial testing procedures were repeated.

All four variables--namely, Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test, Coherent Motion Threshold Test, Gray Oral Reading Test, and Woodcock-Johnson Word Attack Test--revealed significant improvements after temporal vision therapy. Half of the 16 participants improved 2 or more years in reading comprehension, compared to no significant mean difference following the 6-month "control period" before the onset of therapy.

This research supports the value of rendering temporal vision therapy to children identified as moderately reading disabled (RD). The diagnostic procedures and the dynamic therapeutic techniques discussed in this article have not been previously used for the specific purpose of ameliorating an M-cell deficit. Improved temporal visual-processing skills and enhanced visual motion discrimination appear to have a salutary effect on magnocellular processing and reading comprehension in RD children with M-cell deficits.