Eye Exercises for Tracking Problems

Eye tracking problems have little to do with eyesight. Tracking means following incoming information and processing it in your brain to get the correct meaning. Inability to focus on letters and numbers and follow them on the page can impair your ability to learn. Seventy percent of all learning comes through the ability to track with our eyes. Eye tracking is broken down into three main abilities: fixation, saccades, and pursuit. The good news is eye-tracking problems can be improved by some simple eye exercises.

Fixation Tracking

• One of the main tracking problems that people may have is fixation, or an inability to keep eyes fixated on an object. This problem usually goes along with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)--difficulty concentrating or focusing on one thing at a time. A good way to test for this problem and also to treat it is to do this exercise: Hold two very different looking pencils (for example; one red and one blue), 16 inches apart in front of the child's face. Have the child look at the red pencil and after one second have the child look at the blue one. Keep switching back and forth between pencils, but change the amount of time in between in each switch.

Saccade Tracking

• Improving your child's saccade tracking ability, or the ability of the eyes to jump from one object to the next, is done by flashlight games or flashlight tag. In a dark room, either lie on the floor or sit on the bed with your child next to you. The parent and child each have a flashlight. You take turns in which one of you shines the light on an object and the other shines their light on the same object as fast as they can. You can also play follow the leader with the flashlights, which improves the pursuit function of eye tracking. In this game, one person shines the light, slowly dragging it along the wall and ceiling, and the other follows (or pursues) it with their light.

Pursuit Tracking

• Another fun eye-tracking exercise that incorporates all three eye-tracking skills involves hanging a whiffle ball or small plastic ball from the ceiling. Allow your child to hit the ball with a plastic bat repeatedly. As your child gets better at this game, switch to a small paper towel roll for a bat. Your child needs to focus on the ball, track it as it moves and pursue it with the bat on each subsequent hit.

Focus

• This exercise will help a person focus on an object far away and shift focus quickly to a nearby object, improving clarity. Hold your index finger near the tip of your nose and fix your gaze upon it. Straighten your arm, moving the fingertip far away; continue focusing on your finger. Bring your finger back to your nose without losing focus on it. Repeat the exercise 20 times.

More Games

• Other exercises for tracking are reading "I Spy" books or papers where the child has to search for hidden objects. You can also play "I Spy" at home. Look around the room and tell your child, for example, "I spy something green, blue and round." Your child has to look around the room and find an object that fits that description. EyeCanLearn.com has other online eye-tracking games which are useful.