This NEPS Handout has been developed by educational
psychologists and is based on current knowledge in this area.
It is intended as a guide only. Not all the advice here may apply
to any one student or situation. Teachers and parents may wish
to identify the strategies that will work best for them.
Visual Perception
Visual perception is the ability of the brain to interpret what our eyes see. It
relies on our ability to focus our attention selectively and to screen out
irrelevant information, to match and distinguish between objects, to recognise
that despite changes in size, or orientation, objects are the same and the
ability to remember visually presented information including the order in which
it was presented.
Pupils with difficulties in this area may have:
A poor sense of direction
Difficulties with organisational skills
A tendency to reverse words in both reading and spelling (eg. saw for
was)
Difficulty understanding abstract maths concepts, particularly in the
areas of shape, space and measure
Problems with comparative language (eg. taller than, shorter than)
Difficulty completing jigsaw puzzles
Problems with copying from the board
Problems with interpreting and organising diagrams, charts, graphs,
maps and other visual methods of recording
Difficulties judging speed and distance
Difficulty with letter and number orientation
Difficulty with structuring and organising written work
They may also have:
Strengths in logic, verbal and non-verbal reasoning
Enjoyment in using multisensory strategies when learning
A preference for a phonic approach to learning to read
A preference to use audio methods of recording information.
Visual perception skills can be broken down into 4 subskills as follows:
Visual discrimination
Visual figure ground
Visual closure
Visual memory
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Visual discrimination
This is the ability to find similarities and differences between objects or written
symbols. Difficulties may arise in matching items, for example shapes, letters
for the younger child, or in discriminating between words/letters (b/d, p/q,
has/had).
Activity ideas to promote visual discrimination:
Picture matching
Play pairing games: snap, bingo, dominoes
Help out at home: matching socks, or plates by colours, size or shape
Spot the difference pictures
Spot the deliberate mistake
Picture and number lotto
Matching stickers to the pictures in sticker books
Organize puzzle races. As they improve increase the number of the
pieces
Find small objects or animals in pictures: spot the duck in the
Osbourne books, find Wally in Where’s Wally? etc.
Visual Figure Ground
This involves the ability to distinguish an object from its background.
Difficulties may arise at home/ school with:
Finding a place on a page, finding details of a picture
Finding a particular item
Following recipes
Checking for traffic when crossing the road
Reading timetables
Seeing relevant information from a board
Unable to find details from a text or picture (comprehension exercises)
Possible strategies include:
Keep the board tidy (free from irrelevant information/material). Clean
after lessons
Use colour to highlight groups of items or what the pupil is working on
Provide differentiated text (comprehension passage in point form) with
sufficient spacing for comprehension/reading exercises
Use different coloured chalk/marker for different lessons/points
Keep desktop tidy – assist child in doing so
Provide photocopies of information that would have to be copied down
from the board
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Activities for visual ground:
‘I Spy’ game which can be varied by using categories of things in the
room, i.e. round, red, wooden, small etc.
Word searches
Board games such as Snakes and Ladders, Scrabble etc.
Stickle bricks
Card games
Mazes
Dot to dot or tracing pictures
Finding letters on a keyboard
Colouring in increasingly complicated pictures or number colouring
Visual Closure
This is the ability to identify objects or forms when only partially visible, for
example when reading we can scan only part of each word, but we are able to
identify the whole word which makes reading fluent. A child with visual closure
difficulties will need to orientate to each letter rather than a word, making
reading stilted and slow. The child may then lose the meaning of what is read.
Indicators of problems:
Lack of ability to visualise
Child cannot understand word completion tasks
Child may not recognise parts of a whole/object/picture/word
Inability to complete jigsaw puzzles or block pictures
Slow at phonic skills
Reading speed very slow
Very poor at spelling names
Does not use cues in reading
Difficulty in recognising shapes or objects which are partially obscured
Unable to read writing which is done in dots or recognising dot-to-dot
pictures
May have difficulties with letter formation and problems filling in
missing letters e.g. a_r_pla_e
Management strategies in the classroom:
Ensure abbreviations are explained e.g. Dec. for December
The pupil may not be able to complete questions structured as follows:
The boy …………. the road
For reading: use a card with a cut away window to isolate two words.
Then gradually increase the size of the window as the child is capable
of orienting to more words
Activity ideas to promote visual closure:
Dot-to-dot pictures and puzzles
Jigsaw puzzles (get the child to guess what the picture will be)
Draw the left half of a picture and get the child to complete it. Also use
half a shape or letter
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Spot the difference
Construction games (Lego, Meccano, model airplanes and cars, etc).
Write a sentence and leave out a word so that the child has to write in
the correct one. Alternatively, use word games with letters: What’s
missing?
Hangman, Battleship, Noughts and Crosses
Tops or bottoms: cut some magazine pictures and paste them on
cardboard. Cut them in half vertically or horizontally and ask: Which
one matches with which? Cut into more than 2 pieces as skills improve
Visual memory
This is the ability to remember things seen visually.
Difficulties may include:
Learning to read quickly and efficiently
Copying off the board
Recalling a series of instructions
Remembering where items have been left
Organisational skills
Copying from dictation – particularly in the correct sequence
Management strategies in the classroom:
Reinforce verbal instruction with visuals including written diagrammatic
prompts (and vice versa)
Encourage rehearsal
Provide cue cards from the pupil’s table rather than expect the pupil to
copy from the board
Teach the older pupil to develop their own prompts when given
instructions e.g. pupil writes key words/pictures to recall instructions
given verbally or in written form
Activity ideas to promote visual closure:
Memory tray: have a number of items on a tray/table in front of the
child. Allow the child to remember them – then cover the items and ask
the child to name them
Kim’s game: show the child some items. Get the child to turn around.
Take one away and ask the child to name what’s missing.
The child arranges a picture cut into several parts after first seeing the
whole picture
Expose a picture with 6-8 familiar objects. Cover it and ask the child to
remember as many items as they can – alternatively they can select
identical items from a box
Line up 6-8 objects on a table in front of the child. Have the child
carefully look at them. Ask the child to close their eyes/turn around and
shift the position of one object. Ask the child to return the objects to the
correct position/order
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Activities to develop visual perception skills
The general activities listed here will help develop visual perception skills and
can be incorporated into lessons to benefit all pupils. They may also be
offered as activities for indoor play. They are broadly suited to primary aged
children.
1. Post-a-shape – matching shapes to the correct opening.
2. Feely bag – ask the pupils to describe a shape or object by feeling it
without looking, then describe it again when they can see it.
3. Copying 1 – a shape pattern or picture, using a magnetic board and
pieces.
4. What's missing? 1 – complete a 2D shape.
5. What's missing? 2 – complete a picture.
6. Guess what? – ask the pupils to guess the object when only part is
visible. A picture of an object could be cut into four pieces and only one
part given at a time until the children have guessed what it is.
7. Object/picture matching – using everyday objects.
8. Jigsaw puzzles – of varying degrees of difficulty to suit individual
pupils.
9. Matching shape to silhouette – using the correct orientation.
10. Matching picture to silhouette – using the correct orientation.
11. Draw a person – ask the pupils to copy the features of a real person,
then compare.
12. Copying 2 – 2D shape patterns and pictures of varying degrees of
difficulty.
13. Colouring 1 – symmetrical patterns of varying degrees of difficulty to
suit individual pupils.
14. Colouring 2 – symmetrical pictures of varying degrees of difficulty to
suit individual pupils.
15. Tessellation 1 – arranging magnetic 2D shapes on a board.
16. Tessellation 2 – drawing around 2D shapes.
17. Sensory maze activities – using a variety of material.
18. PE activities – involving directional and positional language. Use
symbols as a reminder.
19. Multi-link pattern cards – and similar activities.
20. Instructions – follow auditory instructions while using a diagram or
picture, to show how to build a model.
21. Noughts and crosses – using plastic or wooden pieces.
22. Computer-aided picture and design activities.
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