Smooth Pursuit allows the eyes to slowly follow a moving target, such as a bird flying by. It is common to find this function underdeveloped in children with Learning Disabilities, ADHD, ADD, SPD, and ASD.
It isn’t noticeable unless you know what to look for. These kids or adults usually get mis-diagnosed with reading disabilities. Although this is done with the eyes, Smooth Pursuit is actually a higher function of the brain. Most animals do not have the ability to Smooth Pursuit. Only humans and a few animals of higher intelligence are able to. If a child’s ability to Smotth Pursuit is deficient, it is indicative of a weakness in that function of the brain. Exercises can help strengthen and mature it, which will help other functions as well.
You can see the slight difference on these YouTube videos. Normal follows smoothly. Abnormal has slight eye skips as they try to follow the object.
Smooth Pursuit Tests
“Watch the Kitty” (For all ages)
What you are looking for in this test is the child’s eyes to skip slightly back and forth while watching a slowly moving target. The skips are so slight that it looks more like tiny shake of the pupil as it follows the target.
Get a sticker of a kitty or something that your child likes and put it at the top of a pencil. Hold it out a couple of feet from the eyes. Start at one side and slowly move it to the other side while you observe the eyes. If they skip or appear to jiggle as they follow the target, the exercises are needed.
You should move it so that it takes about 8 seconds to move about 18 inches from right to left; then again from left to right. To make it easier, you can start at one side and count about 4 seconds to pass the nose and 4 more seconds to get past the other eye.
Smooth Pursuit Exercises
“Follow the Kitty”
The exercises are much like the tests.
- Have them follow as you move a stickered pencil slowly.
- Go to the right, and back to the center 10 times.
- Then to the left and back to center 10 times.
It should take about 8 seconds to go from the center, to one side and back to center. If you notice their eyes skipping more in one direction, it indicates a weaker hemisphere of the brain on the same side. Exercise that direction the most.
