Reading struggles and lack of classroom attention are often blamed on a student’s inability to see the blackboard or need for reading glasses. While annual vision exams are important in childhood to measure visual acuity and ensure that students can see with clarity, there is more than meets the eye when it comes to learning and visual processing.
Visual Processing Disorder is a common cause of learning differences, and understanding the fundamentals of visual perception can help to address the cause. Visual processing can be broken down into several components, all of which play an important role in a student’s visual perception and ability to learn.
What is Visual Processing?
Visual processing refers to the way the mind uses visual patterns to see and analyze. Visual processing in the brain also allows you to store information through visual imagery and memory and recall visual representations of that info. You use visual processing skills every day to understand the world around you.
Visual Processing Disorders
Various aspects of visual learning exist to help you recognize and process visual information. However, when certain aspects of visual processing fail to work correctly, it can result in disorders. These disorders can hamper learning and make reading, writing, and other skills more challenging. Visual processing disorder symptoms usually manifest in learning difficulties and the inability to understand concepts and instructions. Those with a disorder may struggle with some of the following:
Visual Discrimination
Defined as the ability to detect differences in visual images, visual discrimination is an important skill for reading, writing, mathematics, and social interactions. If a child has trouble recognizing subtle differences visually, it can lead to confusion between letters and words like “was” and “saw.” Matching games and “Spot the Difference” games are great ways to strengthen this visual skill.
Visual Memory
Children who struggle with comprehension often have issues related to visual memory. Visual memory allows for the immediate recall of the characteristics of a form. If a child can’t recall a sight word from one page to the next or has difficulty copying information from the board to his or her paper, it’s often a sign that visual memory is impaired. Concentration or memory games can strengthen visual memory skills.
Visual Form Constancy
Learning activities like tanagrams test a student’s ability to perceive form constancy. It refers to the ability to mentally turn or rotate objects or resize a form in the mind in order to match a picture.
Visual Sequential Memory
Remembering listed items in the correct sequence is essential for both spelling and reading. If a child struggles to remember the order of letters, numbers, or shapes in a series, activities like reassembling comic strips in order or connecting the dots using letters or numbers may help.
Visual Figure-Ground
Anyone who excels at the “Where’s Waldo” books has strong visual figure-ground perception skills. The ability to distinguish an object from its background helps with reading skills. If a child struggles in this area, they are likely to get overwhelmed by a page with a lot of words. Seek and find or iSpy games like “Spot It” or jigsaw puzzles will help to strengthen this skill.
Visual Closure
Being able to visualize the complete whole when given incomplete information refers to visual closure. This skill is important for reading fluency as it prevents having to process every letter in every word and instead recognizes a word by sight. Visual closure activities include word sliders, jigsaw puzzles, and paint by numbers.
Visual Processing Disorder Strategies
If your child has visual processing challenges, you can help them by observing your child as they work on tasks. This can help you better recognize how they learn and the difficulties they face.
Certain activities can help to strengthen a specific visual skill. For instance, games that have you find the differences can help a child learn to recognize an object from the background, developing their visual figure ground skill.
The Brain Balance Program uses activities to help build new pathways in the brain and strengthen current ones to speed up the processing ability. We create a customized program based on each child’s individual needs, involving physical, cognitive, and sensory activities to create change in the various symptoms associated with the processing disorder.
Contact us today to schedule an assessment of your child. You can also view the research and results of the program on the website to help you feel confident about our The Brain Balance Program.
