This week we have discussed the visual processing skills of visual discrimination, visual figure-ground discrimination, visual sequencing, visual motor functioning, and visual memory.

Today, we are looking at a 5^th visual processing skill… Visual Closure.

What is that?

If you’ve ever had to guess at a complete picture when shown just a small piece of the whole picture, you used your visual closure ability to do that task.

This skill allows you to quickly process information in your environment through your visual system without having to analyze every detail to recognize what you are seeing.

It is the ability to ­–

• Find the missing part of a whole
• Fill in the blanks to identify a word with a letter missing
• Recognize a face when there is one feature (for example, a nose) missing

According to The Wichita Vision Development Center, “Current research shows that about 20% of school-aged children have undetected vision problems which are hindering their school performance. Many of these children have passed their school’s vision screening, which is only designed to check children’s distance vision as measured by the 20/20 line on the eye chart… Children can have 20/20 eyesight, meaning normal distance vision, and still have vision problems in other areas.” (Check reference here)

Children who have poor visual closure skills will have:

• Difficulty completing a thought
• Trouble with inferences and predicting outcomes
• Difficulty separating similar words, especially those with the same beginning and ending

Activities that will help develop this skill include:

1. Completing jigsaw puzzles
2. Word searches
3. Matching complete and incomplete shapes

Take Action NOW!!! Go here to complete a checklist that will help you determine if your child has visual closure problems.

What about you?

Have you identified any visual closure difficult in your visual processing skills?