Sunday, December 1, 2013

A Frame of Reference for Visual Perception

It appears that Susan treats many of her clients using this frame of reference because many of her clients (who happen to have learning disabilities) test low on assessments of visual perceptual skills.  

A Frame of Reference for Visual Perception is generally used to help children who have trouble in areas of occupation because their systems are unable to effectively translate and use visual sensory information (Schneck, 2010).  Susan sees many children who have trouble with scanning, form constancy, figure ground, visual discrimination, visual memory, depth perception, position in space, and visual motor integration. 

Modalities & Treatment Techniques
 
 
Battleship:  This is an "old" board game that requires children to visually scan the columns and rows in order to try to "sink" their opponent's ships.  It also uses visual motor integration skills when children have to place pegs into small spaces.  There are other great board games in Susan's clinic that she uses for visual perceptual improvement.  Susan's shelf of games are in the photos below.
 
 
 
Stippling:  This craft activity resembles sewing.  Stippling is a term often heard by quilters, but Susan has some clients sew with needle and thread in a special way around a card stock photo.  The client whose work is shown on the bulletin board with the football player (photo below) had difficulty with figure-ground, and Susan said that stippling would help him work on that skill.
 
 
 
 
Cutting & Handwriting: Susan has children color and cut out pictures, and she created a handwriting program called Write Incredibly Now (WIN) that she uses with many of her clients.  This works on several visual perceptual skills, including visual-motor integration. WIN uses colors and basic shapes to teach children how to write legibly in cursive in 12 hour-long sessions.  There is currently no literature on the WIN program.
 
I have seen Susan use several tests of visual perception during evaluations, including:
The Beery VMI
Motor-Free Visual Perception Test
 
 
References
 
Schneck, C. M. (2010). A frame of reference for visual perception. In P. Kramer, & J. Hinojosa (Eds.), Frames of Reference for Pediatric Occupational Therapy. Baltimore, MD:  Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
 


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