Visual Demands in Elementary School

Purpose: To evaluate the visual demands on elementary school students for both distance and near learning tasks. This information may be useful for prescribing glasses or amblyopia treatments such as occlusion therapy. Methods: Classrooms for kindergarten to 5th grade were visited with consent from the school principal. Measurements of the vertical size of distance and near letters and the distances from the board to student desks were taken. A near visual working distance of 16 inches was assumed. The Snellen equivalent size of these target letters was calculated. Results: Average visual acuity demands in these classrooms at distance ranged from 20/100 to 20/300 for children in grades kindergarten to 2 and from 20/60 to 20/100 for grades 3 to 5. The average near demand ranged from 20/100 to 20/500 for all grades at 16 inches. Conclusion: Children with moderate to severe amblyopia may be able to visually perform in some classroom settings while undergoing occlusion therapy. Children with mild to moderate distance refractive errors may be able to perform in classroom activities without correction. A larger multi-school study may be indicated to provide more statistically significant data because visual demands may vary among different schools and school districts throughout the country.