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Visual Processing Disorders
in Children
Vision & Math
Vision & Reading
Vision & Writing
Vision & Social Problems
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Visual Processing Issues Affect
Social Skills
Visual processing
problems have profound effects on social skills, so much
so, that we have seen students misdiagnosed with
inattentive ADD, Aspergers, or on the autism spectrum
because their visual problems caused them to miss social
cues and struggle making friends.
Eye Contact
Children may have
reduced eye contact for a variety of reasons, including
a limitation in memory span (if I look, I can't
think...), brain or eye-based visual problem (partial
field defect, perceptual problem), shyness, or anxiety.
Normally a child's ability to sustain eye contact will
improve with age, but sometimes it can be very difficult
to other demanding cognitive tasks (talking, keeping
verbal information in mind, etc.) at the same time.
Poor eye contact usually influences the social opinions
of others a great deal; an inability to make good eye
contact at appropriate times during a conversation may
convey impressions of disinterest, dislike, and
rejection. Not surprisingly, children with poor eye
contact are bullied or excluded from social groups.
Eye contact can improve with time and practice, but an
understanding of the reasons for poor eye contact can
target a child's practice more efficiently
Inattentive Behaviors
Children with
visual processing
problems often are mislabeled as inattentive. When
inattentiveness occurs in social interactions, children
may miss glances, gestures, or other signs of social
interest or communication. Not noticing jokes, missing
comments, poor timing of back-and-forth conversation may
result in lost friendships because students seem like
they don't care.
Clumsy, Not Athletic
Children with vision
problems often seem clumsy or "like a bull in a china
shop." They may trip, bump into people or things, and
struggle in team or ball sports. Sometimes this can be a
particular social stigma for boys.
Visual
Perception Problems
Visual perceptual problems
almost always strain social interactions because they
affect many aspects of social communication - perception
of facial expressions, gestures, movement, and the
environment in general.
Children normally aren't as good as adults at reading
the emotional content of faces (and boys are worse than
girls). If a child has visual perceptual problems, the
task is even harder. Some children may overestimate
negative expressions (resulting in fear, distrust, or
anger), while others may have trouble discerning
emotional expressions in general.
Sometimes children with impaired facial recognition cope
by acting as if every one were a friend (even
strangers). This affects friendships though, as frequent
playmates may become hurt or offended that they are
treated the same as all other children.
Others may cope with
impaired facial recognition by becoming anxious or
socially-avoidant in groups.
Missing Visual Emotional Cues
Missing Visual Conversational Cues
Problems with Making Best Friends
Spacey or Quirky
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