Roll OUT of the Buggy! Help Children Develop Better Visual Perception

For those of you who were unable to attend this year’s NAEYC conference in Dallas, here’s an especially interesting piece of research discussed in a session reported to us by one of our longtime subscribers. Janet Galantay, Director of the Child Development Lab School at the Collins Community College District at the Spring Creek Campus told us about a fascinating session presented on Thursday afternoon titled: You don’t see with your eyes-you see with your brain! Visual perception disorders and what you can do to help these often mislabeled children.

In the session Kim Sutton, Diane Davis, and Connie Harmon, from the Ozarks Technical Community College, shared evidence and concerns that the lack of a visual variety in an infant’s daily visual field may be negatively impact the development of visual perception. Presenters mentioned that fact that many of today’s infants and toddlers spend much of their time strapped in infant seats, car seats, and stroller while parents and caregivers do adult tasks. This may have a very serious consequence that appears later on in the preschool child’s life as a visual motor integration or visual perception disorder (VPD).

According to Sutton, Davis and Harmon, “Children with a VPD have difficulty recognizing, organizing, interpreting and/or remembering visual images. As a result, these children can suffer from a poor sense of direction, problems judging speed and distance, difficulties with planning and organizational skills as well as understanding letters, numbers, and math symbols. The problem is not with their eyesight, but with the way their brain processes visual information.”

One point raised in the session was that all babies and toddlers need to spend time just rolling or lying on the ground, and looking at or moving in the world around them from different angles. This helps them to develop and improve their visual perception skills. It seems that these “tummy time,” rolling about experiences, and time spent “un-strapped” are essential to the healthy development of visual perception.

To learn more about the types of activities early childhood educators and caregivers can do to ensure great experiences are provided in their programs to help develop visual perception, we encourage you to contact:
Kim Sutton at suttonk@otc.edu, Diane Davis at davisd@otc.edu, Connie Harman at harmonc@otc.edu

Click to Download the terrific presentation handout by Sutton, Davis, and Harmon hosted on the NAEYC website.