Visual Perception Difficulties

Visual perception is your child’s ability to extract and organize visual information from the environment, to interpret it and then use this information in all of their daily skills. This includes the ability to recognize shapes, objects, colors, and size. Children with visual perception problems may also have related difficulties that include a poor sense of direction, problems judging speed and distance, and difficulties with planning and organizational skills. The problem is not with their eyesight, but with the way their brains process visual information. The subtleness of these issues makes it difficult to identify. These children have difficulty organizing, interpreting, recognizing and/or remembering visual images. As a result, they have trouble understanding the whole spectrum of written and pictorial symbols, not only letters and words, but also numbers and math symbols, charts, diagrams and maps. Visual perceptual difficulties may also include visual discrimination and visual motor integration issues.

Visual discrimination includes visual memory, visual spatial relationships, form consistency, figure ground, and visual end points. Impairments in these areas may impact the ability to match, categorize, complete puzzles, locate objects in a cluttered environment, to orient clothing and clothing fasteners, etc.

Visual motor integration is the ability to utilize perceptual skills in conjunction with a motor task. This may include copying, motor control or motor coordination to draw or write within a given space.

If you suspect your child may have a problem contact your pediatrician or family doctor to discuss your concerns. It would be appropriate for your doctor to refer your child for an Occupational Therapy evaluation. Once the evaluation is performed a treatment plan is created to address your child’s functional issues and to improve independence in those specific areas.

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