Why Visual Performance Matters: Foundations for Occupational Therapy Practice — participation guide

Visual performance findings rarely arrive alone. The same child often carries an attention, learning, or developmental diagnosis, and the visual piece gets absorbed into that label.

• Association is not causation
• Visual performance signs associated with dysgraphia
• The numbers behind the urgency

• Autism commonly co-occurs with visual attention and ocular motility concerns; do not assume visual findings are "just autism."
• ADHD can coexist with genuine visual inefficiency; test whether reducing visual demand improves performance.
• Dyslexia is language-based, not vision-based; OTs avoid unproven visual cures and support occupational impact instead.
• Dysgraphia is strongly linked to visual-motor and spatial-planning deficits — a core OT intervention area.
• Comorbid plans are integrated, but scope boundaries remain clear: OT treats performance, eye care treats ocular health.

A student with ADHD and dyslexia complains that reading makes his eyes "tired." The school team wants to try a colored overlay first. How do you respond in a way that respects evidence and keeps the student's occupational needs in focus?

Write a one-paragraph team note that distinguishes dyslexia from a possible co-occurring visual efficiency problem, using correct scope language.

Review one IEP for a student with a diagnosis from this module. Identify one visual performance question that has not been addressed, and one sentence you would add to the present levels.