They may also have trouble walking through a crowded classroom or store without knocking things over. Visual discrimination is the ability to distinguish one object from another. Figure-ground discrimination is the ability to distinguish an object from the background. Students struggling with this skill may also have trouble concentrating on one word or tracing objects when there are overlapping objects. Focusing on important information on the blackboard when there is a lot written on the board may be difficult, too.
Visual closure is the ability to identify the whole when only a part is shown.
Activities in children's workbooks where they have to find all the socks or all the fish exercise this skill. The child looks through and has to identify the correct number of items even though only parts of them can be seen. Children with visual memory problems may have trouble identifying letters, numbers and words as well as shapes and objects. ED.D., Francine J. McNamara, M.S.W., C.S.W., Barron's, 1995. All rights reserved.