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Portrait of a Learner 4-8

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Portrait of a Learner 4-8 > Factors > Visual Processing

Visual Processing

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Visual Processing is what happens when we take the input that comes through our Vision and use cognitive processes to understand what we see. Visual Processing skills help students recognize and order visual information, allowing them to read, to correctly copy and solve problems, and represent and work with diagrams, drawings, and shapes. Learners with dyslexia or dyscalculia may demonstrate differences with their Visual Processing of words and numbers, which may stem from difficulties with Phonological Awareness, and can disrupt the process of visual Attention.

Main Ideas

Difficulties with Visual Processing can occur even when a student has good Vision. Visual Processing affects learning and development in multiple ways:

  • Visual Discrimination is the ability to identify different visual stimuli. This allows students to distinguish different letters, numbers and symbols and to differentiate objects from their background.
  • Visual Sequencing is the ability to determine the order of images, words, letters, numbers, or symbols.
  • Visual Motor Integration is the ability of the eyes and body to work together in a coordinated manner, which relies on both visual spatial discrimination and motor skills. Visual Motor Integration skills are associated with increased academic performance, likely because Visual Motor Integration underlies skills like reading and writing that are crucial for acquiring Core Academic Literacies.
  • Visual Spatial Processing, is the ability to recognize the relation of objects in space to one another and to oneself. These Spatial Skills are important for determining the arrangement of letters, numbers, and symbols on a page and for mentally manipulating and making inferences about shapes and objects. These skills support executive functioning, and are key to developing Core Academic Literacies including science, technology, engineering, math, and the arts.

Notably, research has shown that some students may be thought to have developmental dyscalculia (DD) in early childhood, but do not meet the criteria by third grade. It is thought that this specific deficit at an early learning stage may disrupt the acquisition of later skills, which can account for mathematical learning difficulties (MLD) at this stage and the associated Visual Processing challenges are instead related to delayed executive function skill development, as seen in ADHD, rather than differences in development of mechanisms for processing numerical information often present in true DD.

Educators can play a key role in supporting students who struggle with Visual Processing. For example, educators can present lessons in multiple modalities, provide feedback both visually and verbally, and can encourage students to take breaks if they feel overwhelmed by the need to process visual input.

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Research-Based Strategies For This Factor

Drawing

Encouraging children to draw and to explain their drawings in the classroom, can support the development of Core Academic Literacies, especially when solving complex problems across content areas.

Explaining Their Thinking

Students explaining their thinking during learning is a metacognitive process that involves actively self-questioning or being questioned while exploring new concepts, and explaining thoughts and reasoning in response.

Read-Alouds

Read-alouds are an instructional practice in which teachers read aloud from a text to students, modeling fluent reading, asking questions, and actively engaging with students to enhance their understanding.

Guided Inquiry

In guided inquiry, teachers scaffold student learning and help students use their own language for constructing knowledge by active listening and questioning.

Audiobooks & E-Books

Audiobooks, digital text-to-speech books, and e-books are digital formats of literature that allow for portable and accessible reading experiences through audible narration and/or a written electronic version of a text.

Communication Boards

Communication boards are displays of graphics (e.g., pictures, symbols, illustrations) and/or words where learners can gesture or point to the displays to extend their expressive language potential.

Retrieval Practice

Retrieval practice requires students to access information, or get information “out” from Long-term memory in order to support better retention and understanding.

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