Do You See What I See? - Visual Perceptual Problems

Visual Perceptual difficulties vary widely, although the tools clinicians have to evaluate them are often too simple. Often it's hard to understand what another's visual experience is like, but figuring out pieces of the puzzle can help you troubleshoot when problems arise.

Many kids visual perceptual problems - including, but not limited to some with dyslexia, premature birth, or one of the autism spectrum disorders. Because the eyes are at the front of the head and the visual cortex is at the back of the head, visual information travels a long distance, so there are many spots to goof up the signals.

Here's a recent paper which seems to have figured out the site in the left frontal lobe that becomes activated when the brain decides it's really seeing something.



If you have a child with visual perceptual difficulties, remember that the brain matures a great deal from early childhood into adulthood, and visual perception can improve. The first thing one needs to do is become a visual detective - studying under what conditions visual confusion or overload occurs. Are there environments or handouts that are troublesome? Look for situations where there may be too much movement, visual crowding of details, or problems with lighting, glare, or color. In future posts, we'll talk about strategies to improve visual orientation and discrimination.

Visual Discrimination - "I See It"
Visual Perceptual Changes in Children Abstract
Visual Problems in Young Children
Visual Perception Autism Research
More Visual Perception and Autism
Visual Perception and Dyslexia Research

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