FEATURES OF VISUAL PERCEPTION DEVELOPMENT IN PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN WITH LOW VISION: FINDINGS FROM THE BASELINE STAGE OF THE STUDY
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31392/UDU-nc.series19.2026.50.02Keywords:
visual perception, primary school children, low vision, assessment, visual search, visual-motor activityAbstract
The article presents the findings from the baseline stage of an empirical study on visual perception in primary school children with low vision. The aim was to characterize the sequence used to form the final sample, define the limits of generalization, and analyze visual perception assessment results across four criteria. The initial cohort comprised 104 children aged 6–11 years with ophthalmologically confirmed reduced visual functions. After examining whether the diagnostic trials could be completed under the predefined conditions and permitted accessibility adaptations, 88 children proceeded to the next stage. The influence of co-occurring conditions on comprehension of instructions, organization of activity, and task performance was then considered, resulting in a final sample of 76 participants (73,1% of the initial cohort). Assessment was conducted individually using an author-developed criterion-based diagnostic instrument comprising 28 tasks grouped into four areas: sensory-perceptual abilities, selectivity and organization of visual search, spatial perception, and visual-motor activity. Each task contained six diagnostic trials and was scored according to a unified procedure. Across the four criteria, high-level performance ranged from 17,1% to 21,1%, medium-level performance from 40,8% to 46,1%, and low-level performance from 34,2% to 40,8%. The largest proportions of low-level results were found for the spatial and visual-motor activity criteria. Greater difficulties appeared in tasks requiring stable holistic recognition, sustained visual tracking, route construction, reproduction of complex patterns, and independent checking of results. The findings indicate directions for further correctional and developmental work focused on systematic visual search, spatial actions, visual control, self-checking, and self-correction. The interpretation is limited by the predominance of participants aged 7–9 years and by the exclusion of children whose co-occurring conditions required substantial modification of the assessment procedure.
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