The perceptual processes of reading They are the first phase of the entire reading process. In a previous post, I explained that reading is not a single action, but reading is a complex mechanism that involves a series of different linked processes.
In this entry I am going to explain to you what the perceptual processes of reading consist of, what are the most frequent difficulties that boys and girls usually present in these processes, and some guidelines for their recovery.
What are the perceptual processes of reading
The perceptual processes of reading consist of visual perception of letters and words. This is the first action we take when reading.
But in addition to vision, the perceptual processes of reading include the so-called saccadic eye movements. Reading is not carried out by sweeping the entire line of words letter by letter, but rather the eye makes small jumps along the line: these are saccadic movements.
Therefore, the perceptual processes of reading involve the appropriate visual perception of letters and words and saccadic eye movements.
Difficulties in visual discrimination of letters and words
In some cases, children have reading difficulties (they read at an inadequate speed, they do not understand what they read…) and it turns out that the problems center on the perceptual processes of reading.
The difficulties in these processes are noticeable, for example, when similar letters are confused: p/b, o/e, a/e, d/b, n/u, u/v, etc.
Other times, errors focus on the discrimination of similar syllables: se/es, tra/tar, al/la, etc.
And in other cases, problems in the perceptual processes of reading manifest themselves in the confusion of similar wordsnormally because they include letters or syllables like the previous ones: plane/span, cloud/sube, este/ese, etc…
Difficulties with saccadic eye movements
In other cases, difficulties in the perceptual processes of reading occur when there are some kind of alteration in saccadic eye movements.
The eyes do not correctly make the movements necessary to read and this causes reading difficulties.
Evaluate perceptual processes
When a boy or girl has reading problems, you always have to evaluate the perceptual processes of reading to rule out that they could be affected.
The evaluation is carried out with discrimination tasks of letters, syllables and similar words.
It is a task that can be done by the teacher himselfand also counselors or professionals such as pedagogues, speech therapists, psychologists or similar.
If you encounter difficulties in this aspect, it is advisable to go a little deeper and assess perceptual difficulties. with other types of visual stimuli such as symbols (arrows with different orientation), schematic drawings, icons, drawings and colors.
Evaluating saccadic eye movements is a more specialized question which is not usually carried out in the school context, since it requires technology and specialized professionals.
In this article You can find more information about this aspect.
Educative intervention
If there are indeed difficulties in the perceptual processes of reading, the intervention will focus on the affected aspects, in order to recover them.
You have to start working with the stimuli that are affected. For example, if there are errors in the visual discrimination of pictures and letters, we must start with the pictures first.
The order to follow would be to work with drawings, icons, symbols, letters, syllables and words, although only if the perceptual processes of reading are affected by these stimuli.
The ideal is not only to perform visual discrimination tasks, but help the child discover perceptual differences between the different stimuli. For example, the letter “d” has the rounded area on the left, while the “b” has it on the right.
Materials
In the Gesfomedia Education publishing house We have pedagogically designed material to recover the perceptual processes of reading letters, syllables and words.
In the following links, We present these three notebooks to you and you can view some sample cards:
Discriminate letters, syllables and words, level 1
Discriminate letters, syllables and words, level 2
Discriminate letters, syllables and words, level 3
The rest of the reading processes
You can find the rest of the reading processes in these entries:
I hope that all this information helps you clarify the perceptual processes of reading and improve educational intervention.