Three General Types of Information-processing Difficulties

• Visual processing dysfunction
• Auditory processing dysfunction
• Motor processing dysfunction

A visual processing or perceptual disorder refers to a diminished ability to make sense of information taken in through the eyes. This is different from problems involving sight or sharpness of vision. Difficulties with visual processing affect how visual information is interpreted or processed by the brain.

Learners with visual processing difficulties would tend to have problems:

• visualizing words
• recalling letter sequence properly
• reversing or rotating letters (most commonly b and d but also p/g/q, w/m and n/u)
• copying accurately
• keeping their place when reading (for example, skipping lines).

An auditory processing disorder interferes with an individual’s ability to analyze or make sense of information taken in through the ears. This is different from problems involving hearing per se, such as deafness or being hard of hearing. Difficulties with auditory processing do not affect what the ear hears, but do affect how this information is interpreted or processed by the brain.

An auditory processing deficit can interfere directly with speech and language, but can also affect all areas of learning, especially reading and spelling. When instruction in school relies primarily on spoken language, the individual with an auditory processing disorder may have serious difficulty understanding the lesson or the directions. Learners with auditory processing difficulties commonly experience problems:

• segmenting or sequencing words
• “holding” the sound in his or her head while writing it out
• checking a spelling phonetically
• filtering out background sound
• distinguishing differences in sounds.

A motor processing dysfunction refers to difficulties in fine and/or gross motor skills. Some common difficulties include:

• clumsiness (gross motor), lack of coordination
• poor handwriting
• poor sense of direction (for example, right/left discrimination)
• poor verbal expression (for example, usiing words out of context).

Herod, L. (2000). Learning differently: An introduction to learning disabilities and adult literacy (2nd ed.). Winnipeg, Manitoba: Adult Learning and Literacy Department of Manitoba Education, Training and Youth. www.edu.gov.mb.ca/ael/all/publications/learning_diff_revised_jan02.pdf. Used with permission.

Handout 10.4