Visual Thinking

Following multi-step directions, organizing and communicating complex ideas, completing tasks from start to finish, keeping track of personal items, navigating a playground full of peers and play structures, and being successful on the soccer field or hockey rink are all skills that require a foundation of well-developed visual spatial capacities. Academically, children with underdeveloped visual spatial abilities often have challenges with reading comprehension, expressive communication such as writing, and with developing a conceptual understanding of mathematical relationships. Visual spatial thinking allows one to mentally construct images and to manipulate and recall these ideas as needed.  As stated by Harry Wachs, O.D. and Hans Furth, Ph.D., “The determining factor for visual intelligence is not what passes through the eye, but rather what a person can understand from a particular visual experience and coordinate with other aspects of body and sense thinking” (Thinking Goes to School, 1975). In other words, visual thinking involves the integration of incoming sensory information with our own experiences, knowledge of our bodies in space and our ability to plan and sequence.

The Visual Thinking Program at The Portia Learning Centre improves one’s fundamental cognitive abilities to include visual thinking, logical reasoning and sensorimotor awareness.  Drawing upon the cognitive development theories of Jean Piaget and the extension of these ideas to visual spatial thinking by Harry Wachs, our therapeutic approach follows a constructivist model of learning and development relying upon guided discovery and acquisition of learning experiences. Working with a child in his or her “zone of proximal development” (Vygotsky, 1978), supports healthy development and meaningful learning by providing students with the opportunity to engage in problem solving and critical thinking activities at the "just right" developmental level. Although organized in a developmental hierarchy, the Program is individualized to address each child’s unique learning profile.

The Visual Thinking Program involves two 50-minute sessions per week. Each session will be followed by a 10-minute parent meeting. Parents are encouraged to participate in as much of the session as appropriate for the student. Parents or caregivers are required to practice specific ‘thinking’ activities with their child for 20-30 minutes each day that they are not in the office.  Parents, therapist and child work closely together to be sure the practice is productive and fun! An initial 2-hour assessment is required to determine if the Visual Thinking Program is a good fit for you and your child. This will include a brief written report of your child’s Cognitive Profile.

To learn more about this developmental approach for learning, please refer to the following resources:

The Interactive Learning Center.  Lexington, Massachusetts.  www.theinteractivelearningcenter.com

Furth, H.G. & Wachs, H. (1975). Thinking Goes To School: Piaget’s Theory in Practice. New York: Oxford University Press.

Hobson, P. (2004). The Cradle of Thought: Exploring the Origins of Thinking. New York: Oxford University Press.

Siegel, D. (1999). The Developing Mind: How Relationships and the Brain Interact to Shape who we are. New York: Guilford Press.

Greenspan, S.I. (2010). The Learning Tree: Overcoming Learning Disabilities From the Ground Up. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press.

Greenspan, S.I. & Shanker, S.G. (2004). The First Idea: How Symbols, Language and Intelligence Evolved From our Primate Ancestors to Modern Humans. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press.

Wachs, H. (2000). Visual-Spatial Thinking. In The Interdisciplinary Council on Developmental and Learning Disorders: Clinical Practice Guidelines (pp. 517-536). Bethesda, MD: ICDL Press.