The Power of Visual Perceptual Assessments
Visual information processing is the ability to interpret what you see. It is a vision that directs action. Good visual information processing means quickly and accurately processing and analysing what we see and storing it in visual memory for later recall. This is important in deciding what action is required to interact with the environment and circumstances to which an individual is exposed. For example, in the classroom, when reading and writing, it is important to quickly and accurately decode, comprehend and remember written material while still being able to listen to the teacher.
A visual perceptual assessment takes 1 hour, and we schedule it after the initial assessment.
We can divide visual information processing skills into several areas:
1. Visual Spatial Skills
Spatial awareness is the ability to judge the world about 'me'. It is learned from infancy and depends on past experience. Children develop an understanding of themselves as a point of reference for developing spatial concepts and making judgments of direction. From a sense of "where I am", the position of objects, and their sequences, their "where is it" takes on meaning.
Directional responses should be completely accurate and automatic for optimal visual information processing. This ability gradually comes as children relate to the "sidedness" of their bodies (right/left awareness) and project this understanding of direction onto the processing of direction–coded information such as "b, d; on, no; was, saw; 31, 13; etc."
Children with poor visual-spatial skills will have poor knowledge of right and left, show reversals of letters, numbers and words, have difficulty setting out a page of writing, and have difficulty organising themselves in space and time. Many also have poor eye movement skills.
2. Visual Analysis Skills
Visual analysis skills are a group of abilities used to recognise, recall, and manipulate visual information. The ability to make accurate visual discriminations gradually emerges. What is the child’s ability to make judgments of size, shape, position, and distance? Can they remember what they saw and visualise objects in different spatial orientations? The ability to visually inspect detail and then reproduce (copy) the form involves using visual analysis skills to plan the copy movements.
Visual analysis skills include:
- Form perception: Ability to differentiate and recognise forms
- Visual attention: The ability to focus consciousness on the requirements of a task
- Perception speed: The ability to perform visual processing tasks rapidly with minimal cognitive effort
- Visual memory: The ability to recall visually presented material
We use visual analysis skills to remember and recognise letters, numbers, and words. Poor visual analysis skills lead to difficulty learning the alphabet, trouble with math concepts, confusion of similar words, difficulty spelling, and forgetting words seen from one page to the next.
3. Visual Motor Skills
Visual-motor integration, often called eye-hand coordination, is the general ability to coordinate visual information processing skills with motor skills. Early visually directed motor skills develop into the fine eye-hand coordination skills required to catch a ball, tie shoelaces, build with blocks, and hold a pencil to colour and write.
Visual motor dysfunction can cause children to have difficulty copying written work accurately and efficiently, cutting, and drawing.
Can Visual Information Processing Skills Be Improved?
Vision therapy can improve visual perceptual skills, i.e., the ability to rapidly and accurately process visual information received with each eye movement and store this information in the correct sequence for later accurate recall.