Visual-Spatial Organization and Reading

Abstract

In an intact class of grade two children, cognitive spatial ability was better than the children's visual-perceptual ability in differentiating good from poorer readers. The visual-perceptual skills measured by the Frostig test were insufficient for advanced reading at the grade two level and an unnecessary requirement for high reading ability. The results suggest that perceptual-motor training will be the most effective when used preventively rather than remedially and when the programs are implemented during the early years of development at the time the child is in Piaget's preoperational stage. The study supported an alternate theoretical framework for understanding the relationship of visual-perceptual deficits and reading. In addition, it provided initial instructional procedures that can be used in teaching important cognitive, visual-spatial abilities.