The Educator (Volume 45) - IAMPETH

20
Relation of Eye Health and Efficiency
to Reading and Writing
Once upon a time a principal introduced
into her school a system of
writing founded upon what were
known as elements and principles. A
letter might be formed of first element,
third principles, loop, etc. A
small child laboring most uncomprehendingly
with the intricacies involved,
received such a very poor report
in writing, that the parents tried
to discover the reason for some of the
difficulties. The child explained, "I
did try to make the letters like elephants
but the principal was so ugly
that I didn't even want to try to make
any like her." That the child of long
ago is still an exceedingly poor writer
may be due in some respects, at least,
to the confusion arising from an
absolute lack of understanding of
what the hieroglyphics were all about.
It will be recalled that Emmy Lou
experienced similar bewilderment
when, on her first venture into this
unknown world of written expression,
the teacher said, "This is A and this
is a, and this is A and this is a" and
then the music teacher came in and
said "'do' is A," and what is A!!
Present day methods have done
much to do away with most of these
early difficulties but there remains
considerable confusion which it may
be possible, with a little forethought,
to obviate.
At the present time, more attention
is given to remedial reading than at
any other time in this history of education,
with the result that there have
been unearthed more possible causes
for reading disabilities than were ever
thought of in earlier philosophies.
Nor have those whose primary function
it is to instill into youth principles
of good writing been idle; they,
too, have sought for causes of failure
or partial failure and have, in many
instances, found the same or similar
causes underlying these closely akin
subjects.
Life often makes human beings
learn through failure rather than
through success. Thus causes of disease
are usually not sought until the
results of such causes have become
apparent. Likewise in reading and
writing it has been necessary, to some
extent, to work backwards, starting
with the reading failures and trying
to trace the cause. Reading and
writing clinics have been set up with
numerous mechanical devices as aids
to correcting errors and making good
readers and writers out of those who
have failed to measure up. This procedure
has been essential. But it
Winifred Hathaway, Associate Director,
National Society for the Prevention of Blindness
section of the
would be poor economy to keep up
this process indefinitely. When causes
ai-e found, should they not be used
to predict and if possible to prevent
similar failures ?
Some time ago, Garry Myers wrote
a little book, "'The Prevention and
Correction of Errors in Arithmetic,"*
presenting the theory that once an
impression is made on the brain, it is
there forever, whether it be right or
wi'ong. Now comes Margaret A.
Stanger and Ellen K. Donohue with
a most readable and understandable
little volume on "Prediction and Prevention
of Reading Difficulties,"**
which presents the same underlying
theory. It has a very definite message
for those interested in these
subjects.
But how is it possible to predict
difficulties in order that prevention
may do away with the agonies of
discouragement and the emotional
upset that so often accompany the
failure to read or to write ? Because
of the complexities of human beings
and the interrelationship of body and
mind through the senses, it is not
always possible to predict, or predicting,
to find adequate preventive measures.
It would seem wise, therefore,
to begin with some predictions that
it is fairly safe to make.
Much has been written about reading
and writing readiness and various
classifications have been presented.
For general discussion it might be
well to make the following simple
grouping: biological (vision, hearing,
general health, etc.), emotional, intellectual,
social. Naturally, there
can be no hard or fast line drawn;
emotional difficulties, for instance,
may result from any one of the other
underlying causes. Since the subject
for discussion is the relation of eye
health and efficiency to reading and
writing, and since reading and writing
are so closely bound up with the
sense of sight, it seems logical to
consider possibilities of prediction
from this viewpoint. As a first prediction,
there may be a general assumption
that if the eyes are so
aft'ected as to be incapable of producing
a clear image on the retina,
the brain will receive an indistinct
picture for interpretation, in all prob-
^"The Prevention and Correction of Errors
in Arithmetic,'* Garry Cleveland Myers,
Chicago: Plymouth Press. 1925, 75 pp.
^"Prediction and Prevention of Reading
Difficulties," Margaret A. Stanger and
Ellen K. Donohue. New York: 0.\ford
University Press, 1937, 191 pp.
Cleveland, Ohic
ability resulting in difficulties in reading
and writing for which some preventive
measures may be possible.
To be more specific, it is an established
fact that the eyes of the young
child are normally farsighted; he is
able to see objects at a distance much
better than those close at hand.
Reading and writing difficulties may
be expected if beginning procedures
are heedless of this fact. Hence, in
initiating writing, the reproduction
of a woi'd or a letter or a figure
should be suflSciently large and clear
that the child may see it readily and
comfortably. If such preventive
measures are not carried out the
chances are that the inability to obtain
a clear image without strain may
result in an emotional reaction toward
writing.
If, however, instead of the normal
growth and development of the eye
mentioned above, the child's eyes are
myopic or nearsighted, it may readily
be foreseen that he will desire to
write as small as possible and to
keep the distance between him and
the material on which he is writing
as short as possible. In fact, he may
be found almost touching his nose to
the blackboard, paper or other medium
in order to see the symbols.
The initial steps in this case, will,
naturally, be to make every effort to
have the eye difficulty corrected before
reading or writing is initiated.
The next step would be to demonstrate
the material in a size that the
child may be able to see at a safe
distance.
What is the prediction in cases of
astigmatism ? Letters and figures will
probably blur or will get out of alignment.
In some types of astigmatism
m and n may look alike, a and o,
8 and 3; in other types, the upright
letters may be confused: h and n;
b and d may be confused with g and
q. Here again, correction of the eye
difficulty is the first step, then distinct
diff'erentiation must be fully and
carefully emphasized and demonstrated
in the letters or figures used.
Muscle imbalance is also an eye
defect for which, if uncorrected, writing
and reading difficulties may be
predicted. A slight imbalance may
cause double vision so that there will
result difficulty in distinguishing between
the real and the imaginary letter.
Whole letters or parts of letters
may appear to run together or to become
indistinct. Here, too, prevention
lies in the correction of the difficulty
not only for the purpose of