When a person views the world, the brain will interpret what is seen through visual processing. This allows us to identify what we see and derive meaning. Ideally the brain will correctly interpret size, perception, and distance, and be able to discriminate between differences and similarities among shapes. When the brain misinterpets, problems may occur.
If a person has a Visual Processing Deficit...
When a person has a deficit in visual processing, it can interfere with learning or interpreting information. Sometimes, even a very intelligent person will have great difficulty correctly perceiving visual information or symbols. A person might be identified as having a visual processing deficit, if his or her visual perceptual skills were significantly weaker than other areas of cognitive ability. Visual processing problems tend to make reading extremely difficult. Reading requires a person to derive meaning from symbols. Visual processing deficits can interfere, making it difficult to discriminate between letters or words automatically.
**Do not confuse visual processing deficits with poor vision or a vision impairment. It is not how clearly a person sees, but how well the brain interprets what has been seen.
Aspects of Visual Processing
A person with visual processing deficits may struggle with one or more aspects of visual processing. The Test of Visual Perceptual Skills, Third Edition (Nancy A. Martin, Ph.D) identifies areas of visual perceptual abilities, orinially categorized by Chalfant and Scheffelin (1969).
- Visual discrimination: the ability to discriminate dominatnt features of an object. This may include position of an object, shape, or color.
- Spatial relationships: the ability to perceive positions of objects in relation to other objects, such as figure reversals or rotations.
- Visual memory: the ability to recognize an item shortly after it has been removed.
- Figure-ground: the abilty to identify and object when there is a complex background or with surrounding objects.
- Visual closure: the ability to identify a whole figure when pieces are missing.
This article "Visual Processing Disorders: In Detail" from LD OnLine, provides great descriptions of the subtypes of Visual Processing Disorders, as well as strategies for each. Additionally, they have created Visual Processing Disorders by Age Group, which is full of strategies and what to look for in each age.
1 comments:
Thank you so much for posting this. Our family has come from a year long journey of discovery in the Visual Processing realm. What is your take on the effectiveness of visual therapy in the long term? What are some accommodations for visual processing deficits that can be made for a student in middle school. My child attends a private school and I orchestrate Occupational and Physical Therapy for him. Thanks
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