Which is an important visual skill to assess?

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Visual control, meaning how the eyes work together, forms the foundation for many visual tasks. When binocular coordination and ocular motor control function well, a child can smoothly move and align both eyes, track moving objects, and shift gaze efficiently. This supports staying on a line while reading, copying from the board, and avoiding fatigue or headaches from eyestrain. If eye teaming or eye movement control is weak, a child may experience double vision, blurred vision, or difficulty maintaining focus, which can interfere with learning even before higher-level skills like discrimination or figure-ground processing are engaged. Visual discrimination, visual closure, and figure-ground are all important, but they depend on having stable, coordinated eye movements first. So assessing how the eyes work together/visual control targets a foundational skill that underpins the effective use of all other visual processing abilities.