Eye-Tracking-Based Interventions for School-Age Specific Learning Disorders: A Narrative Review of Functional...

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Educational Psychology
• Ophthalmology

Background:

• Specific learning disorders (SLDs) impact reading, writing, and arithmetic skills in school-age children.
• Traditional assessments may not fully capture the underlying cognitive processes affected by SLDs.
• Eye tracking (ET) offers a novel method to analyze oculomotor patterns during academic tasks.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review and synthesize existing eye-tracking research on specific learning disorders (SLDs) in school-age learners.
• To translate eye-tracking findings into a practical framework for educational settings.
• To propose future research directions and potential interventions based on eye-movement data.

Main Methods:

• A narrative review of studies utilizing eye tracking in individuals with dyslexia, dysgraphia, and dyscalculia.
• Analysis of key eye-tracking metrics and Area of Interest (AOI) based analyses.
• Summary of technical requirements and functional assessment protocols for educational applications.

Main Results:

• Eye-tracking reveals distinct oculomotor patterns associated with decoding, handwriting, and arithmetic in students with SLDs.
• Findings highlight the heterogeneity of eye-movement data in SLDs, influenced by age, task, and comorbidities.
• Proposed gaze-contingent paradigms offer preliminary models for future intervention research.

Conclusions:

• Eye tracking serves as a valuable complementary tool to behavioral assessments for understanding SLDs.
• Further research is needed to validate gaze-contingent interventions and ensure transferability of skills.
• Eye tracking provides a platform for developing mechanism-based interventions for school-age SLDs.