What are Visual Perceptual Skills?!
Visual perceptual skills may not be something you are familiar with. Our visual system is complex and consists of more functions than just our ability to see. In order to understand what we see in our environment, we have to be able to process and understand it. That is where visual perceptual skills come into play. Visual perceptual skills help us make sense of the things we see. Our visual system sends visual information to our brain to be processed and interpreted. During this time, we use our visual perceptual skills to give meaning to what we see. This occurs in our brains as it processes the visual input. They allow us to see fine detail in objects, picture objects we have seen in the past, find hidden objects in a busy background, and so much more. Many of our everyday activities utilize these skills, such as reading, writing, dressing and finding items. Difficulty in one of the skills can hinder our daily functioning.
The eight visual perceptual skills are:
VISUAL ATTENTION:
The ability to focus on important visual information and filter out unimportant background information.
VISUAL DISCRIMINATION:
The ability to determine differences or similarities in objects based on size, color, shape, etc.
VISUAL MEMORY:
The ability to recall visual traits of a form or object.
VISUAL SPATIAL RELATIONS:
Understanding the relationships of objects within the environment.
VISUAL SEQUENTIAL MEMORY:
The ability to recall a sequence of objects in the correct order.
VISUAL FIGURE GROUND:
The ability to locate something in a busy background.
VISUAL FORM CONSTANCY:
The ability to know that a form or shape is the same, even if it has been made smaller/larger or has been turned around.
VISUAL CLOSURE:
The ability to recognize a form or object when part of the picture is missing.
You may be familiar with the terms “eyesight” and “visual acuity.” Eyesight is our ability to see; either we do or we don’t. Visual acuity is how clear we can see. An important thing to know about our visual system is you can have 20/20 vision, but still have visual challenges. These challenges may be due to visual perceptual skills or visual motor integration. Stay tuned for more information on visual motor integration in an upcoming blog.
Learning about visual perceptual skills is important as challenges in these skills can ripple into other areas of your child’s life. In the academic setting, 75-90% of learning depends on vision. If they are having challenges in reading, writing or learning content and there are no problems with their eyesight, it may be helpful to have their visual perceptual skills assessed which can be done by an occupational therapist. An occupational therapist can provide treatment through activities that target the visual perceptual skills with the ultimate goal of improving daily functioning that are hindered due to poor visual perceptual skills.
Activities that are great for improving visual perceptual skills include:
Hidden Picture Activity books
Cryptograms
Mosaic Puzzles
Jigsaw Puzzles
Seek and Find- Counting how many of each object is in the picture.
Visual perceptual skills can be hard to pinpoint, but have a great effect on our lives. We hope this information was informative and provided some ideas on how to assist your child if they have visual perceptual challenges. If you have questions or would like more information, feel free to contact us. We are here to support you!
Photos:
Top: https://playground.robogarden.ca/es/blog/activities-to-improve-visual-perception
Boy Writing: https://visualedgesb.com/child-visual-problems/