premise: Cancer survivors, who were a mean age of 4.6 years when first diagnosed, often had more physical, visual and hearing disability impairments as complications of treatment, but they did not have a higher rate of grade repetition. Indeed, the rates between the cancer and non-cancer groups were similar, at about 22 per cent. Another positive finding was that there were no significant differences in achievements on Grade 12 provincial exams between the study groups. Lead investigator Mary McBride and radiation oncologist Dr. Karen Goddard said in an interview that radiation treatment has helped improve childhood survival outcomes (to 80 per cent in the past decade) but it is also a leading culprit as far as educational difficulties go.
hypothesis: Cancer survivors often suffer from visual impairments after treatment.