A visual processing disorder is the inability for an individual to make proper sense of information taken in through the eyes. This disorder has nothing to do with one’s vision or the sharpness of it, but is the difficulties experienced with how visual information is processed by the person’s brain. The individual may have 20/20 vision, but may have problems in figuring out background from foreground, size, forms, and positions in space.
Classroom Accommodations and Modifications
Use books, worksheets and other materials with enlarged print.
Read written directions aloud. Varying teaching methods can help promote understanding.
Be aware of the weakness but don't overemphasize it. While helping a child work on the weakness is important; it is just as important to build other skills and function in any setting.
Break assignments and chores into clear, concise steps. Often multiple steps can be difficult to visualize and complete.
Give examples and point out the important details of visual information (the part of a picture that contains information for a particular question).
Provide information about a task before starting to focus attention on the activity.
Allow student to write answers on the same sheet of paper as the questions or offer opportunities for student to explain answers orally.
Provide paper for writing and math work that has darker or raised lines to make the boundaries more distinct.
Organize assignments to be completed in smaller steps instead of one large finished product.
Five main regions affected by Visual Processing Disorder.
Object Recognition - Here the individual finds it difficult to recognize familiar objects. One reason is because they are unable to put the whole image into place. They see it in parts and not as a whole object. For some others it could be a visual memory problem, where, even if the object is recognized as a familiar object, they may not be able to recollect from memory an object which is similar or are unable to make a connection between the object before them and the remembered object.
Spatial Relations - This has reference to objects in space and their position and also the ability to perceive objects in space in relation to other objects. Mathematics and reading are two subjects that deal with numbers, letter, symbols and where the understanding of spatial relationships and accurate perception are rather important.
Visual Closure - The individual finds it difficult to figure out an object only if part of it is visible. For example he/she will find it difficult to figure out a word if a letter is missing from that word, or perhaps will be unable to recognize a car if the wheels are missing or difficulty in recognizing a face if the nose or mouth or eye does not complete the picture.
Visual discrimination - Here the individual, by sense of sight is unable to tell the difference between two similar objects, or two similar shapes or even two similar letters. He/she is also unable to tell or notice the differences and similarities between a particular color, patterns and shapes.
Whole/part relationships- Here the individual finds it difficult to recognize an object, for example, either he/she sees the whole object or he/she sees only parts of the object. A typical example would be an individual may see the tree but not the forest or may see the forest and not the tree.