Visual Processing - How vision influences daily life

Most learning and development takes place by taking in information through the sense of vision using the eyes and through the sense of hearing using the ears. These two senses, more than any of the other ways to take in information from the outside world, determine how well we develop from a new born baby to a well adjusted adult that can successfully function in life.

Seeing involves more than just our two eyes, as these are only the receptors that gather the visual information from the outside world. How this information is processed and interpreted in the brain will to a great extend determine how we perceive reality and how we react, behave and express ourselves.

When we are awake and attentive, around 90 % of all sensory information that reaches the brain comes though the eyes. This is why about one-third of the brain is dedicated to visual processing. The process is complex with the right field of vision of each eye being processed in the left brain hemisphere and the left field of vision of each eye being processed in the right hemisphere. The brain connects the half images together to arrive at two full images, one for each eye. The two separate and slightly different images help the brain to calculate distance and depth in addition to colour, shapes and movement.
Our conscious awareness cannot cope with all this visual information and most input has to be re-directed to memory, used for automatic reactions or simply deleted. Only a very small amount of information will be allowed to go through to our conscious awareness. This filtering process needs to work well in order for efficient learning and development to take place.

When this filtering process does not work optimally the following scenario's may inhibit learning:

● Too much information is allowed through to the conscious awareness. This can lead to a good visual memory, great attention to detail and a wish for perfectness. But it can also induce stress, visual overload and general tiredness and consequently a lack of attention, concentration and understanding.
● The wrong information is allowed through to the conscious awareness. This leads to confusion, poor understanding and delays in learning and development.

Some difficulties with vision can be corrected through the use of spectacles or contact lenses, but most of these filtering and processing difficulties can only be addressed by changing the way the brain processes visual information.

The five senses – hearing, vision, touch, smell and taste – plus our sense of balance and where our body is in the space around us (proprioception) all contribute to how we learn and develop. How the brain receives, filters, processes and interprets the signals from these senses determines how we perceive reality and how we react, behave and express ourselves. The SAS methods are specifically designed to strengthen sensory processing and improve inter-hemispheric synchronisation and communication. The structured training and coaching programmes improve speech & pronunciation, reading & writing, attention & understanding and lead to better behavioural, social and emotional expression.

If you are interested in overcoming limitations, boosting achievement and creating a happier life, then find out how SAS is helping children and adults of all abilities become more successful:

► The SAS Methodology – what it does and how it works;
► SAS Research – client profile and feedback;
► The SAS Programmes – the services we offer;
► The SAS Centres – where you can find us;
► The People behind SAS – get to know us better.