Visual Perception
This resource discusses visual perceptual skills, the different components of this important skill, its importance, and how occupational therapy can help. In addition, make sure to check out the indicators of visual perception differences, as well as the 26 visual perception exercises that are provided at the end. Also, check the list of resources at the end of this article for fun and engaging visual perceptual games.
This content is not intended as a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the the advice of your physician, therapist, or other medical professional regarding a medical condition or treatment. This content is for informational purposes only. See full disclosure here.
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Visual Perception Overview
The visual system is complex and fascinating all at the same time.
Visual perception is the brain’s ability to take in, interpret, and make sense of visual information. Visual perception involves two components of vision: Visual-receptive components as well as visual-cognitive components. According to the South African Journal of Occupational Therapy, children use their visual perceptual skills to encourage optimal learning.
The visual receptive components include the anatomy of the eye and its ability to take in visual information from the environment. While on the other hand, visual cognition includes the ability to interpret, understand, and use what is seen. Both of these components are necessary for functional vision that encompass how we use and interact with the environment around us. Both of these components make up the foundation of visual perception.
Overall, visual perceptual skills allow us to recognize and identify shapes, objects, and colors as well as letters and numbers. This visual skill helps us to identify size, color, spatial relationships (how close or far apart objects are) to other objects, and respond to visual cues through movement such as moving your arm to the side in order to catch a ball.
Before we go into exercises and activities for visual perception, let’s first take a closer look at what makes up this important visual skill: The visual-receptive and visual-cognitive components.
The Visual Receptive Components of Visual Perception
The Importance Of The Anatomy Of The Eye
An important part of understanding visual perception is understanding eye anatomy, its function, and how the anatomy of the eye can affect visual perceptual skills.
Visual-receptive components of the eye which is made up of the oculomotor muscles and pathways, optic nerve, optic tract, and areas of the brain that interpret visual information including occipital cortex and certain areas of the cerebral cortex.
To learn more about the anatomy of the eye and all of its components, check out the American Academy of Ophthalmology for more details
The Oculomotor System
The oculomotor system is part of the central nervous system which controls visual stability and controls eye movements. This system is responsible for eyelid closure, controlling the amount of light that enters the eye, eye movements including coordinating the eye position during movement. Furthermore, the oculomotor system controls eye movements and helps to stabilize vision. Through this function, the eyes are able to scan efficiently, and locate items within the field of vision.
The Visual-Cognitive Components Of Visual Perception
According to the text Occupational Therapy For Children by Jane Case-Smith, there are 4 components of visual-cognition including visual attention, visual memory, visual discrimination, and visual imagery. Both visual attention and visual discrimination have subcomponents of each. Visual-cognition and its components are described below, and how it relates to occupational therapy.
#1: Visual Attention
Visual attention is the ability to select and maintain visual focus on a certain object and/or location. For example, visual attention is needed while working on a computer, reading a book, or while brushing teeth. There are 4 subcomponents that make up visual attention, each are described below.
The 4 Subcomponents Of Visual Attention
Alertness
Alertness is the transition from awake to an attentive mindset that is alert and ready for learning. In this active state, the individual is ready to learn and can change or adapt their behavior as needed based on visual input from the environment.
Selective Attention
Selective attention is the ability to pick and choose relevant visual information while ignoring information that is not visually important. This focused attention helps to tune out irrelevant visual information and only focus on what is important for active learning. For example, during the school day, a child is able to focus their attention on the teacher speaking rather than the lights flickering.
Visual Vigilance
Visual vigilance is the mental effort put towards visually focusing one’s attention towards a task such as when reading, writing a letter, or hitting a baseball.
Divided Attention
Divided attention is the ability to visually focus on and respond to two or more tasks happening at the same time. This simultaneous divided attention allows you to focus on one task while also visually monitoring another task.
#2: Visual Memory
According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, visual memory is the ability to immediately recall what the eye has seen. This allows a child or adult to remember what the shape, color, or form looked like from memory.
Both visual working memory (when information is stored for shorter periods of time) and long term visual memory are involved in storing these memories. Recalling a visual sequence of events is also a part of visual memory such as when recalling steps in text and images in a story recently read.
This skill is an important aspect required for most academic tasks including reading, writing, reading comprehension, math and copying from a board. Visual memory and sequencing is a big part of spelling as well.
#3: Visual Discrimination
Visual discrimination is the ability to identify details of an object and differentiate them based on shape, color, position, and orientation. This includes the ability to classify objects based on similarities and differences.
Examples of visual discrimination include sorting coins or buttons based on color and size, and also comparing two similar pictures finding the similarities and differences between the two images.
The 6 Subcomponents of Visual Discrimination
Form Constancy
Form constancy is the visual perceptual skill allows us to understand that a certain shape or form stays the same no matter if it changes size, position, orientation, or even if the environment changes (being at home rather than school). Furthermore, this allows the person to recognize a certain shape or form even if the position or sizing has changed. For example, when someone sees the letter “A” it is always the letter “A” whether reading it small in a text or large on the board, it is still the letter “A”. This also is the same whether the letter “A” is handwritten in print or cursive, it is still the letter “A”. The same applies whether at home or at school, the letter “A” is still recognized as letter “A”.
Visual Closure
Visual closure is the ability to visualize a complete whole shape when shown an incomplete shape. For example, if part of a sock is sticking out from under the couch, it is still recognized as a sock. This is also true in a drawing of a star if one line of a star is missing, the individual will still recognize it as a star. Visual memory, as mentioned above, is an important component in visual closure.
Figure-Ground
The ability to visually recognize the foreground from the background, as well as the ability to visually tune out unimportant information. It is the ability to visually focus on what is important. For example, figure ground allows a child to find a favorite toy in a toy box while ignoring the rest of the toys, or locate an item off the grocery store shelf while ignoring the other products.
Position In Space
Position in space is the ability to determine the spatial relationship (the relationships of objects in space) of an object to one’s self. This visual perceptual skill is important in understanding directional language such as in, out, up, down, under, on top, between, behind, left, right, over, under, and below and above. In addition, this skill is important for understanding and demonstrating correct spacing between letters and words in a sentence, and line adherence when writing on lined paper.
Depth Perception
Depth perception is the ability to see in three dimensions including length, width and depth to determine how far away objects are from you. It is the ability to see distance to objects from where the observer is. This skill is important for walking up and down stairs and stepping up on a curve.
Topographic Orientation
Topographic orientation is the ability to determine the location of an object and figure out the route to get there. This visual perceptual skill encompasses spatial information, as well as recognizing places and landmarks, knowing where one is in relation to the destination, and the ability to carry out and execute travel plans. For example, the visual perceptual skill of topographic orientation is needed when walking down a hallway in order to locate the restroom. This skill is also needed when navigating across a room while stepping to the side to avoid stepping on toys or running into furniture.
#4 Visual Imagery
Visual imagery is the ability to visualize or “picture” people, places, and objects in the mind even when the objects are not currently present. For example, a young child will be able to visualize an object that makes a certain sound such as the ability to visualize a dog when hearing a dog bark. This skill of matching a visual object with a verbal sound or word provides a foundation for reading comprehension.
Visual Motor Integration
Visual motor integration is the coordination of visual perception (the skills mentioned above) with the appropriate motor response. Visual motor integration consists of many different skills such as visual cognitive abilities (described above) including visual discrimination, fine motor control, and the ability to combine both visual-cognitive abilities with motor action.
This important skill allows us to use our eyes and hands in a coordinated way to carry out tasks such as copying words from a board and completing mazes. This skill is especially important for handwriting as it incorporates the ability to take in and process visual information followed by carrying out an appropriate motor action such as copying words from a board.
Occupational therapists assess visual motor integration and visual perceptual skills during occupational therapy evaluations.
Occupational Therapy And Visual Perceptual Skills
The Occupational Therapy Evaluation
If you have concerns regarding visual skills, it is important to have a full eye exam completed by an Optometrist or Ophthalmologist.
During an occupational therapy evaluation, the occupational therapist will use various visual motor integration and fine motor assessments to evaluate visual perceptual and fine motor skills. A visual screening along with oculomotor skills may be assessed.
Occupational therapists will evaluate the functional relationship between the visual system, behavior, attention to task, and how daily living skills, school-based and/or work skills may be impacted.
If a child is being evaluated, the occupational therapist may ask to interview the child’s classroom teacher. The therapist may also choose to observe the child during the school day to gain a better understanding of visual perceptual skills and how those may be impacting the school day.
Depending on the findings, a multidisciplinary team may be needed including a reading specialist and speech-language pathologist to help address visual perceptual and visual motor integration skills.
*If you have concerns regarding visual perception and fine motor skills, contact your physician and occupational therapist to discuss any concerns and schedule an evaluation.
Red Flags Of Visual Perception
Below are some of the indicators of visual perception differences often seen:
- Easily distracted by visual stimuli
- Difficulty maintaining visual attention
- Differences in the ability to match, recognize, and categorize items or pictures
- Difficulty recognizing forms or shapes in varying sizes and orientations
- Differences in following or tracking moving objects with the eyes
- Slower eye movements
- Headaches caused by eye strain or fatigue
- Difficulties with handwriting, letter formation, legibility, and/or line adherence
- Limited depth perception (the ability to see in three dimensions, including size and how far away an object is)
- Difficulties fixating or maintaining gaze on an object
- Demonstrates difficulties with planning motor actions in relation to objects around them
- Difficulties in handwriting with correct spelling, spacing, punctuation, and capitalization
- Trouble copying from a board
- Difficulty lining up math problems
How Occupational Therapy Can Help With Visual Perception
After the evaluation, occupational therapy providers address functional skills as it relates to visual processing and visual perception skills. Intervention strategies focus around educating both the patient and family regarding visual processing differences.
Depending on the evaluation results, and age and abilities of the individual, some intervention strategies may include compensatory strategies, sensory interventions, and object manipulation such as:
- Adapting classroom materials to include larger print along with less visually distracting materials
- Recommendations for reorganizing the environment whether home, classroom or workspace to include less visually distracting materials.
- Recommend proper postural positioning while seated including using a slant board and/or a block or stool under the feet
- Color coded worksheets or folders to help stay organized
- Incorporate sensory based intervention strategies to help improve visual attention skills
- Use of motivating therapeutic activities that focus on visual perception, fine motor, and gross motor skills
- Adapt and modification of tasks
- Tactile interventions
- Use of a multi-sensory approach to handwriting
Visual Perception and Visual Motor Integration Activities For Home
Here is a general list of at home visual perception and visual motor integration exercises:
- Playing hide and go seek with an object that is partially hidden
- Complete puzzles as age appropriate
- Using similar pictures, compare similarities and differences
- Use a vibrating pen or weighted pen/pencil
- At a desk top, position the homework under the light of a lamp to help draw (visual) attention to the homework. Alternatively, using a black piece of paper or black mat, place homework on it to help focus visual attention.
- Copy block designs such as with wooden building blocks, or wooden pattern blocks.
- Playdough and modeling clay activities to encourage visual attention and how the clay or dough is being manipulated
- Complete dot-to-dots and mazes
- Play catch with a friend or family member from a standing or sitting position
- Sit or lay down in a dark room. With flashlights, make letters, numbers, or pictures using the flashlight pointed at the wall or ceiling.
- Make paper airplanes, copy one another folding paper, or create origami using YouTube as a guide.
- Paint with paint by number or try these printable color by number for kids and adults
- Practice scissoring skills such as cutting along a line (curvy or straight), cut out shapes, and/or characters on a coloring page.
- Play with age appropriate toys such as shape sorters, cause and effect toys, rattles, board games such as Hungry Hungry Hippos, Spot It (one of my family favorite games for visual perception), Scrabble (always a goodie), or Lite Brite
- Participate in preparing meals and/or baking focusing on pouring ingredients, measuring with teaspoons and measuring cups.
- Practice copying various shapes and figures such as diagonal lines, triangles, houses, trees, stars, and even figure 8’s.
- Copy blocks designs using wooden blocks, Legos, Duplo Blocks, Knex (our family favorite), or anything other type of building blocks.
- Erase pictures, letters, or numbers on a dry erase board or chalkboard using the index finger to erase. If needed, place the index finger in a small cloth to erase.
- Using glue and glitter or colored glue, make a design on a large piece of paper. Once dry, use the index finger to follow along the design. Try not to let the finger come off the glue. Try taping paper (when dry) to the wall, this is a great upper body and hand strengthening activity as well.
- Using a marker or even glue, trace over a coloring book design.
- Copy shapes or figures such as a star, pentagon, house, etc., using Q-tips (see picture below)
- Or copy those same pictures and shapes using a Q-tip cut in half and paint making small dots to copy and create a picture (see picture below).
- Work through puzzle books such as hidden pictures, mazes, picture similarities and differences, word searches, what’s wrong in the picture, etc. Highlights Puzzle Fun activity book offers a fun puzzle book for kids which includes a variety of puzzle games and activities that work on visual perception.
- Copy lacing designs. Create your own lacing activity using a thin piece of cardboard, and yarn with a piece of tape wrapped around the end. Make two and copy each other’s designs.
- Visual memory games such as Eric Carle’s card matching game
- Spot the difference based on two similar images such as those here on Kids Puzzles and Game
Resources
- Occupational Therapy for Children by Jane Case Smith
- The South African Journal of Occupational Therapy’s research on A Developmental Approach: A Framework for the Development of an Integrated Visual Perception Programme
- Eye Anatomy at The American Academy Of Ophthalmology
- The research article, The Factors That Related To Good and Poor Handwriting
- The research article, The Relationship Between Visual Motor Integration, Eye-Hand Coordination, and Quality of Handwriting
Visual Perceptual Games
- Crayola’s color by number printable pages
- Vibrating pen
- Weighted pen or pencil
- Wooden pattern blocks
- Hungry Hungry Hippos
- Spot It, one of my favorite games for visual perception
- Classic Scrabble, always a great learning game
- Lite Brite
- Knex, one of our family favorites for building designs either by following written directions, copying someone else’s building design, or creating your own new structure. It’s a great fine motor strengthening activity as well.
- Melissa and Doug’s wooden blocks
- Legos
- Duplo Blocks
- Highlights Puzzle Fun activity book which includes mazes, brain teasers, find-the-differences, word searches, etc.
- Matching games such as Eric Carle’s
- Spot the difference printables on Kids Puzzles And Games website
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