Visual perception and processing abilities are impacted by impairments
of attention, information processing, memory and executive functioning:
- Impairments of attention may affect the person’s ability to focus on, take in and remember visual information. The person may not be able to adequately scan their visual environment (e.g. when crossing a road or looking for something in the kitchen) or switch between visual tasks (e.g. reading a recipe whilst cooking).
- Changes to information processing may cause the person to become overloaded with visual information which they are unable to interpret rapidly and efficiently. This can have serious implications for safety e.g. when driving or crossing the road. It may affect the person’s ability to manage the work environment. Changes to information processing abilities may also cause the person to experience feelings of overwhelm which may be expressed as distress, anxiety or sensory overload/hypersensitivity to visual stimuli.
- Memory is important for visual processing. Visual memory skills are necessary in order to store and recall visual information. To effectively use visual processing skills it is necessary to recall and apply previously learned visual information, which may include memory for everyday objects, routes, people’s faces, sequences of actions etc. Visual memory also includes important information necessary for identification such as shape, size, texture and colour. Therefore, the ability to match previously stored visual memories to new information may be disrupted by changes in perception and processing. Changes in visual perception and processing have a significant impact on the ability to store accurate new visual information in memory, potentially resulting in newly stored visual information being inaccurate. Therefore the ability to relate visual information to stored memories may be impaired.
- Executive functioning difficulties affecting the ability to weigh up information, make accurate judgements and formulate constructive responses may impact on the person’s ability to use visual information in their everyday activities such as walking, communication and carrying out complex visual tasks (e.g. in employment, driving, playing a computer game).