Visual Learning Problems

Parents want their children to be normal functioning individuals, and adults want to be equal to their peers, but sometimes nature dictates other circumstances. Children and adults can develop certain physical or mental problems that impair the ability to learn and physically function. Among motor and auditory difficulties, there are visual learning problems, which affect a person or child's sight and perception of images. This visual impairment becomes a problem when reading, recognizing shapes and performing hand-eye functions.

Symptoms

• The first warning sign is the inability to visually recognize words, shapes or images. When reading, words appear to be reversed, jumbled or they may be skipped over entirely. Another visual problem is the perception of shapes, which may appear distorted or contorted.

Dyslexia

• If a person has trouble reading, writing, spelling or speaking, he may have dyslexia. Dyslexia is characterized by difficulties in language processing, which can cause words and sentences to be reversed or jumbled. The reversing or jumbling of words can also occur during writing or spelling.

Visual Processing Disorder

• Someone who has difficulty in interpreting charts, graphs, maps, symbols, pictures or any type of visual information may have a visual processing disorder. Motor coordination can also be an issue, in scenarios where similar shapes are matched or organized. When these problems are compounded, the person may lose interest in organizing notes or paying attention to conversations or lectures.

Testing and Treatment

• Professional testing can be done by a psychologist. If the problem is affecting a child, an educational, developmental or school psychologist can be sought. If the diagnosis is positive, help can come from a special education group or speech-language therapy.

Considerations

• A gifted person or child, who has an IQ over 135, can be diagnosed as having a learning disorder. In most cases, a second or third professional opinion will correctly diagnose a patient. For the parents of children with visual learning problems, help and guidance can come from parents in similar situations.