Understanding How Our Visual System Impacts Learning and Development Vision

Our vision is one of the most important senses we use every day. It helps us move around safely, read, write, and complete daily tasks. For children, vision is crucial for learning and interacting with the world around them. Ocular motor skills involve the ability to move and coordinate the eye muscles, while visual perceptual skills help us understand and make sense of what we see. Both of these skills are essential for children to process visual information effectively. 

What Are Ocular Motor Skills? 

For children to see and interact with the world around them, their eyes need to work together and move efficiently. This is important for tasks like catching a ball, watching a bird fly by, or reading from left to right. Children with ocular motor difficulties may struggle with these eye movements or their visual acuity. There are three main types of ocular motor movement: 

1. Saccades: Rapid eye movements that help shift focus quickly from one point to another, like jumping from word to word while reading.  

2. Pursuits: Slower, smooth eye movements used to track moving objects, such as following a ball in motion. 

3. Convergence/Divergence: The ability to focus on an object as it moves closer and then adjust as it moves further away. 

Lack of ocular motor control can result in difficulties with eye-hand coordination skills, resulting in difficulties with tasks that require precise coordination between what a child sees and how they physically respond with their hands. This can include difficulties with catching a ball, cutting with scissors, or copying shapes and letters while writing.  

What Are Visual Perceptual Skills? 

Our visual perceptual skills help us make sense of what we see by analyzing and interpreting our environment. These skills are important for children as they navigate daily activities like playing, getting dressed, and recognizing familiar things. There are six key visual processing skills that work together: 

1. Visual Discrimination: The ability to recognize similarities and differences between objects. 

2. Visual Memory: The ability to remember how something looks after seeing it. 

3. Form Constancy: The ability to recognize an object even when viewed from a different environment or angle.  

4. Sequential Memory: The ability to remember the order of things. 

5. Figure Ground: The ability to distinguish, isolate, or find an object in a busy environment. 

6. Visual Closure: The ability to recognize a familiar item, word, or picture when only part of it is shown.  

For children with visual perception difficulties, these skills may need practice to support skills like navigating spaces, organization, and school-based tasks.  

Learn more about visual processing skills with this blog on our sponsor site: What Is Visual Processing and How Does It Impact Our Kids

The Impact of Poor Ocular Motor and Visual Perceptual Skills 

Vision deficits in children can have a significant impact on their ability to learn, play, and interact with their environment. You may see your child struggling with academic performance, social skills, and overall confidence. For example, your child may find it harder to read which can lead to delays in learning to read and write. They may have difficulty organizing their belongings or finding things they need on a day-to-day basis. If you feel your child may have vision difficulties, talk to your occupational therapist; they can determine if a referral for a functional vision assessment is recommended. 

Activities to Enhance Vision 

To work on and enhance your child’s vision skills, here are some activities to target each specific skill.  

Saccades 

• Reading 
• Spot It!
• Eye Jump: Hold up two preferred objects and have your child look between each object. This can be done vertically, horizontally, or diagonally.  

Pursuits 

• Bluey Keepy Uppy Game 
• Tic Tac Toe
• Connect Four
• Bubble-Bubble: Blow bubbles into the air and have your child try to pop as many as they can before they reach the ground
• Keepy Uppy: Blow up a balloon and try to keep it in the air by hitting it. 

Visual Discrimination 

• Puzzles 
• Object sorting 

Visual Memory 

• Memory card games
• Copying from a board  

Form Constancy 

• Shape making: Use masking tape to create a shape on the floor that your child can cover with blocks 

Sequential Memory 

• Beading: Make a necklace or bracelet with a color sequence of beads 
• Spelling Activities

Figure Ground 

• I-Spy 
• Where’s Waldo 
• Hidden pictures 

Visual Closure 

• Geoboards 
• Scavenger Hunts 

Vision is a complex sensory system that requires many different skills. Working with your child to improve their vision can increase their confidence, independence, and participation in tasks. Check out these handouts for more vision activities!

Visual Perceptual Activities  

Ocular Motor Activities  

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