I attended the adults support group hosted by ADC (www.adc.org.uk) and the topic of visual perception was discussed.
I thought it would be helpful to write my personal reflections and give a brief overview on how visual perception shows up in dyslexia and how best to support this when doing your living activities.
What are Visual Perception Skills?
Visual perception skills are the brain’s ability to interpret and make sense of what our eyes are seeing. This encompasses a range of skills, including:
- Visual Discrimination: The ability to see differences and similarities between objects or images.
- Visual Memory: The capacity to remember visual details.
- Visual-Spatial Relationships: Understanding how objects are positioned in space relative to each other. This is right and left, on and under etc
- Form Constancy: Recognizing objects irrespective of changes in size, shape, or orientation.
- Visual Closure: Identifying a complete figure when only parts of it are visible.
These skills are crucial in everyday activities like reading, writing, and navigating our environment, including driving!
The Connection Between Dyslexia and Visual Perception
Dyslexia is a lifelong condition that affects reading, spelling, and writing due to difficulties in processing language and working memory. While dyslexia primarily involves challenges with phonological processing, visual perception skills can also play a significant role.
Here’s how visual perception might impact someone with dyslexia:
Reading and Letter Recognition:
Difficulty with visual discrimination can make distinguishing between similar letters (like ‘b’ and ‘d’) challenging.
When we look at the world around us, most objects (in fact all) do not change when they are upside down or on the side. For example my can of coke is still a can of coke when upside down.
However for letters, this is very different. The letter P turns into a D when upside down or the letter B turns into a 9. This can make it harder for us to processing and recognise letters and numbers.
Visual Sequencing:
Skipping lines, misreading words, or misplacing letters can stem from challenges with visual-spatial relationships.
We must also review oculomotor skills. This is something we do in our assessments.
Training the eyes motor movements can support reading skills.
This said, people who have dyslexia do have strengths in visual perception skills. Here are a few which I feel have part of my strengths
Enhanced Spatial Reasoning:
Many individuals with dyslexia have a strong ability to understand and manipulate three-dimensional spaces. This skill can be advantageous in fields such as architecture, engineering, and design. As well as occupational therapy as we can problem solve how best someone completes a daily living activity, come up with innovate ideas to enhance participation. In fact our professional has a very high percentage of people who have dyslexia.
Pattern Recognition:
Recognizing patterns and making connections between disparate pieces of information is often a strength. This can translate to innovative problem-solving and creative thinking. For me, I always seem to know what the latest fashion trends will be – although I do not always follow them myself!
Holistic Thinking:
Dyslexic individuals sometimes excel at viewing the bigger picture, rather than getting caught up in details. This top-down approach allows them to see connections and opportunities that others might miss.
Creativity and Innovation:
Dyslexia is often associated with strong creative abilities, partially due to distinctive visual thinking styles. Adults with dyslexia might excel in areas like art, design, and music, where visual and spatial skills offer a competitive edge. This is something which I will continue to advocate in school, because these are the lessons our kids get to shine and feel good!
Supporting Visual Perception in Dyslexia
Occupational therapy can offer valuable strategies to support visual perception skills, especially when at school but also in the workplace. Here are some practical tips to support someone with dyslexia:
Use Multisensory Techniques: When learning make sure we are using a range of senses to support. Gentle movement can really help someone to concentrate when learning. A rocking chair or a hammock. My favourite chair is the hammock camping chair:
Practice Puzzles and Games: Engage in puzzles, block-building, and matching games to boost visual-spatial intelligence and memory. My two favourite to play in therapy sessions are Dobble https://amzn.to/4i8T9QU and Grabblo: https://amzn.to/43nJz8e
Organisational Tools: Utilise checklists, colour-coded systems, and spatial organizers to simplify tasks and aid sequencing. We have whiteboards everywhere! The best one we have is on the fridge and use this for planning our meals and remember what we have brought to reduce our food waste!
Adaptive Strategies: Introduce tools like highlighting lines to aid with tracking during reading or use audiobooks to complement visual reading. I love the reader guide and my subscription to Audible
I hope this exploration of visual perception skills has provided new insights and practical ideas for supporting individuals with dyslexia. If you have any experiences or strategies you’d like to share, feel free to let me know —I’d love to hear from you!
Here to support you every step of the way, Hayley 🙂
