The rehabilitation of hemianopic dyslexia

Abstract

Hemianopic dyslexia is a frequent and disabling functional impairment following brain injury. This form of dyslexia is an acquired reading disorder whereby patients with homonymous visual field defects have persistent and severe reading difficulties, despite having intact language functions. Hemianopic dyslexia has received little attention from researchers and clinicians, and this article is the first to review the rehabilitation of patients with the condition. In light of advances in our knowledge about the nature and causes of hemianopic dyslexia, I critically examine the available treatment methods for visual field disorders and evaluate their efficiency in alleviating hemianopic dyslexia. On the basis of the reviewed evidence, I suggest that compensatory therapies, which attempt to reorganize eye-movement control, are superior to restorative therapies, which aim at visual field restitution. For the rehabilitation of hemianopic dyslexia, I recommend a treatment protocol that involves the systematic and repetitive practice of specific eye movements for reading. Despite increasing evidence for the effectiveness of this treatment protocol, which has clinically relevant long-term benefits, the underlying mechanism of the therapeutic effect is still unclear. Indeed, more research is required to further improve the efficiency of rehabilitation in patients with hemianopic dyslexia.

Symptoms of stroke-related visual impairment

“…2,6 Furthermore, patients may complain of visual hallucinations, 6 and reading difficulty is a frequent issue in complete hemianopia. 7 There may be a considerable negative impact to activities of daily living and quality of life with persistent homonymous hemianopia. 6,7 Blurred vision following stroke was reported by 31% of our patients.…”

“…7 There may be a considerable negative impact to activities of daily living and quality of life with persistent homonymous hemianopia. 6,7 Blurred vision following stroke was reported by 31% of our patients. Freeman and Rudge 8 reported 50% of their patients to have blurred vision due to the stroke.…”

The treatment methods for post‐stroke visual impairment: A systematic review

“…Vertical reading was initially mentioned in the literature as an anecdotal report by a patient describing this as helpful with their hemianopia (Wang, 2003). It has since been stated as a rehabilitation option in review articles but no empirical evidence has been published (Sabel & Trauzettel‐Klosinski, 2005; Schuett, 2009; Trauzettel‐Klosinski, 2010). …”

Participatory Design of Therapeutic Video Games for Young People with Neurological Vision Impairment

“…Vision therapy is inherently challenging for people with vision impairment. Games must also present game challenges for players in order to achieve their motivational qualities [30]. Both of these types of challenge have the potential to frustrate participants and players, and could lead to disengagement with the design process, or with the resultant game.…”

“…Fortunately, effective rehabilitation strategies are available that can help improve functional vision, and lead to improvements in independent living skills [19,25,30]. However, successful outcomes typically require months of adherence to daily routines that involve tedious repetitive tasks (e.g., repeatedly scanning images in a systematic manner to find a single geometric shape that differs from other similar distracting shapes) [25].…”