Visual Perception Therapy
Visual perception plays a crucial role in how we receive, interpret, and interact with the world around us. Visual perception therapy encompasses various dimensions of visual cognition, including the reception, organization, and understanding of visual stimuli. It aims to address difficulties in visual processing that can impact motor skills, visual-motor integration, reading, writing, handwriting, and critical thinking.
Identifying Visual Difficulties
Visual difficulties can manifest in different ways, affecting motor and performance skills, visual-motor integration, reading, writing, handwriting, and critical thinking. Children, for example, learn to differentiate objects like cups based on visual characteristics through repeated experiences. Identifying and addressing these difficulties is essential to support individuals in developing accurate perception and recognition skills.
The Process
At the TDCC, we follow a comprehensive process to evaluate, assess, and provide individualized therapy plans for visual perceptual disorders.
1. Occupational Therapy Vision Screening: We begin with a thorough screening of visual attention, memory, and discrimination skills using clinical observation and assessments.
2. Assessment and Evaluation: Standardized tests, tailored to the child’s age, such as Tea-ch, Rey figure, TVPS, DTVP-3, and Lexplore with eye tracking technology, help us evaluate visual perceptual abilities.
3. Individualized Therapy Plan: Based on the evaluation results and the individual’s needs, we design a personalized intervention plan targeting the four steps of information processing: sensory input, processing, output, and feedback.
4. Intervention and Follow-Up: Our therapy interventions focus on sensory visual processing, eye movement therapy, and visual perception activities, utilizing evidence-based methods and techniques.
Intervention Approaches
1. Sensory Visual Processing: We employ techniques such as Snoezelen therapy and virtual reality therapy to enhance sensory visual processing.
2. Eye Movement Therapy: Eye tracking and eye scanning methods, including tools like motion guidance, promote eye movement strategies and positional awareness.
3. Visual Perception Activities: We utilize both bottom-up and top-down approaches to address visual perception challenges and enhance overall visual processing.
Addressing CVI (Cerebral Visual Impairment)
At the TDCC, we also specialize in treating CVI, a disorder caused by damage to the parts of the brain responsible for vision processing. Our specialized attention and teaching techniques help reduce visual perceptual disorders and minimize their impact, catering to individuals from infancy through adulthood.
Areas of Intervention and Adaptation
We implement a range of interventions and adaptations to support children with visual difficulties at the TDCC. These include:
1. Concept Development: Enhancing awareness of objects, object identification, matching, and spatial awareness.
2. Adapting Print Materials: Modifying print types such as size, font, color, spacing, and incorporating alternative formats like auditory books, braille, object representation, optical devices, and symbols.
3. Organizational Skills: Teaching strategies for locating personal items, organizing belongings, and managing time.
4. Executive Functions: Addressing attention, planning, inhibition, and other executive functions related to visual perception.
At the TDCC, we incorporate specific choices of colors, textures, and a black background for tasks and activities to optimize visual perception outcomes.
Visual perception therapy at the TDCC aims to unlock the potential of visual processing, empowering individuals to overcome challenges and develop essential visual skills. Through personalized assessments, evidence-based interventions, and specialized attention, we strive to improve perceptual abilities and support individuals in achieving their full potential in various aspects of life.
