Developing Visual Perceptual Skills in Fitzroy North

Visual perception is about how the brain makes sense of what we see. At Fitzroy North Eye Centre, we conduct a Visual Perceptual Assessment to check various aspects of visual perception. The aim? To detect certain traits and offer practical tips for parents and teachers. These suggestions can be a game-changer for a child's learning journey. As children transition from kindergarten to school, their visual focus shifts from 3D to 2D (books, reading, writing). So, having solid visual perceptual skills is a must to make reading an easy adventure.

Types of Visual Perceptual Skills And How They Impact Your Child's Learning and Development

Visual Discrimination
To notice similarities and differences among objects or forms. In reading, this is the ability to recognise the same word repeated on a page or see the difference between words, e.g. run/ ran.

Visual Figure Ground
The ability to recognise an object despite other objects or background confusion. In reading, it is the ability to not become confused with too many words on a page.

Visual Memory
The ability to remember the characteristics of an object or form. It is the ability to ‘picture’ something in one’s mind. In reading, it is recognising the same word that has been previously read.

Visual Sequential Memory
The ability to form characters in a sequence or order. This skill is essential for spelling.

Visual Spatial Relations
The ability to observe similarities and differences among forms or objects. In learning, it is related to problem-solving and mathematical concepts.

Visual Form Constancy
The ability to manipulate and visualise forms or pictures. Problems in this area can cause reversals of letters and numbers.

Visual Closure
The ability to visualise a complete given part of a picture. This skill is important in reading so that not every letter has to be read. It assists with faster reading and comprehension. A child with visual closure difficulty may confuse words with similar beginnings or endings.

Visual-Motor Integration
The ability to use and interpret visual space with one’s body.

Whole Body-Vision Coordination
The ability to know and interpret where we are in space. This enables the two sides of the body to work together in harmony, utilising space efficiently and being balanced and coordinated. Children with difficulties in this area show general “clumsiness” and difficulty with balance and bike riding. Laterality (knowledge of right/left) and directionality (knowledge of right/left in space).

Fine Motor Eye-Hand Coordination
The efficient use of the body’s fine motor system. Children with poor eye-hand coordination may have poor handwriting and take longer to complete written assignments.

Meares-Irlen Syndrome
Some children report perceptual distortions when reading, like glare, flickering, moving of text, etc. This syndrome has caused some controversy and is perhaps better understood as a type of visual distress rather than a form of language disorder. Some children report benefits with coloured filters, which allow text to be read more fluently and with less discomfort. It is important that this condition not be confused with common focussing problems correctable with conventional reading glasses and eye exercises.