Month: April 2019

The Impact of Poor Visual Memory Skills on Reading

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Visual Memory 2

Good visual memory skills enable us to recall information that has been previously visually presented.

Visual memory difficulties can hinder a child’s ability to read fluently and with ease due to the fact that they cannot always remember what the word looks like, even though it may be a very common sight word which has been taught to them many times before.

Typical problems due to poor visual memory skills:

  • Difficulty in recognising some letters and numbers, especially those they may not use very often, for example some of the capital letters.
  • Have problems learning sight words, or remembering what a word is, from one page to another.
  • Reading is slow and stilted, making comprehension difficult.

For more information on how to identify visual memory difficulties see our Other Physical Skills Assessment from our Teach Handwriting website: http://bit.ly/2P5jS44

For games and activities to help support and develop visual memory skills use this links: http://bit.ly/2M350S1

 

Why Poor Eye Tracking and Spatial Awareness Skills Affect Reading

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Eyes

Eye tracking is the ability to control and coordinate the fine eye movements that allows us to:

  • Read a line of print by moving our eyes from left to right, without moving the head.
  • To focus and move the eyes to follow an object, without moving the head, in all directions.
  • To track/follow objects near and far.
  • To focus on one object without moving the eyes.

Eye tracking difficulties can have a dramatic effect on a child’s ability to read fluently and with ease due to the fact that they do not see the print in the same way as people with good eye tracking skills.

Typical problems due to poor eye tracking skills:

  • They lose their place, skip words or transposes them.
  • They use a finger to help keep their place.
  • Some will turn their head sideways to read or write.
  • Others may cover one eye to read.
  • They hold their head close to the table when looking at things, reading, writing and drawing.

Good spatial awareness enables us to be aware of the space around us and our position in that space, as well the relationship between ourselves and objects. This also includes our ability to see and understand the spacing of text and pictures on a page, to distinguish between paragraphs, sentences, words and individual letters.

Spatial awareness difficulties can have a dramatic effect on a child’s ability to read fluently and with ease due to the fact that they do not see the print in the same way as people with good spatial awareness skills.

Typical problems due to poor spatial awareness skills:

  • They lose their place, skip lines and words or transpose them.
  • They use a finger to help keep their place.
  • Comprehension can be difficult as text is mis-read.

For more information on how to identify eye tracking and spatial awareness difficulties as well as activities to help support and develop these skills use these links (they will take you to the relevant pages on our Teach Handwriting website):

Eyesight Difficulties

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Eye test 1

Children will often be unaware that what they see and experience may be different to what we or their friends are seeing. As parents it can be a real shock when your child says “isn’t that what you see?”, as unless the difference is extreme and has an obvious impact on them we can think everything is ok.

Visual difficulties not only affect a child’s ability to read but also their handwriting skills.

If you are not sure about your child’s vision then book an eyesight test, it could be your child is struggling because they need glasses, and they are now cool and don’t carry the stigma they used to.

Some children may not have a problem with their eyesight but find reading print difficult because it seems to move around on the page as they try to read.

When reading a book with your child it is worth talking to them about what they see. Try to be matter of fact, so that they do not feel you are looking for a particular answer. Using a book with a good print size and not too crammed with words (so a school reading book is a good idea) you are looking to find out:

  • Can they identify each row of text (try asking them to count how many lines on the page or to point to each line of print) or do they jump or miss out lines.
  • Can they identify words in the line of text or do they sometimes blur together.
  • Can they see each letter in words or do they sometimes swap them around so “was” becomes “saw” for instance (this does happen occasionally when a child is first learning to read but is more of a concern if it becomes a regular reading error for a number of words).
  • Does the print do funny things, such as move or wiggle about?

Book an eye test for your child if they are having some, or all, of these difficulties. Also try placing different coloured overlays (coloured plastic wallets are good) over the text to see if your child finds it easier to read or see the print. For many children, struggling with the issues above, coloured overlays or specially tinted glasses can make an amazing difference. We found the impact for our two dyslexic daughters quite dramatic, improving their skills, confidence and self-esteem. It does not work for all children but it is really worth trying.

Some opticians, who have an Optometrist or Orthoptist, can perform a coloured overlay test (http://www.eyecaretrust.org.uk/view.php?item_id=125) for your child to assess whether coloured lenses would be beneficial. The test can be difficult for children under the age of 8 as they may choose their preferred fashion colour rather than the one best suited for them.