This is a guest blog (part 2, please click here for part 1) about Skeffington’s model of vision and Vision from Linda who attended her first College of Optometrists in Vision Development meeting (www.covd.org) earlier this year.
The third circle is identification, which does not need much explanation besides “What is it?”. Identification is having the ability to analyze the information through other senses and the eyes. Babies learn this through everyday play. We learn to identify things through touch, taste, smell, hearing, and sight. Even without sight the other senses allow a person to be able to identify an apple from an orange, or shirts from pants. Our knowledge continues to grow as foundations are acquired. Often children who struggle in school do not have these proper foundations built in. They may struggle with basic spatial orientation (mixes b and d or p and q) or basic body control.
The last part of the circle is Speech/language/auditory or the “What about it?” This allows us to be able to communicate, understand, and explain what our vision is processing. Babies learn this when they learn to speak and earlier through body language. Patients without light perception are still able to describe differences between an apple and an orange due to the other sensory inputs from smell, feel, and taste, but the ability to communicate this to another plays a huge role on how these individuals orient themselves in this world.
A part of the circle that is not mentioned, but has a huge impact on vision is timing, or “when is it?” This part of vision gives us the understanding of time and space. Babies learn this through music and dancing. Even patients with no light perception are able to dance to a certain beat, without needing to see someone else dance first. We need to our eyes to coordinate not only point to the right place, but at the right time to make these movements and perceptions relevant.
The circles gave me a better understanding of how a person without sight still has vision. I can explain to my patient now that being clumsy can be related to a visual deficit. A person has to understand the space around them to prevent bumping into things. I can explain the circle to children’s parents who are struggling in Kindergarten due to the identification circle. It becomes difficult to learn sight words if the child cannot identify or discriminate between all the letters of the alphabet, both capital and lowercase.
The circle gives us a vivid understanding of how a person who has sight can still struggle reading. To be able to read without any difficulties, a person has to have an understanding of their space. They need to understand where to point their eyes and to what position do the eyes jump to next. This is only after they are able to coordinate their eye movements, eye teaming, and eye focusing to create a clear image in the first place.
Lastly, to be able to drive without causing a wreck, a person needs to know when they have to stop and how to move with traffic. Our visual system has to be able to detect change in the environment in order to allow the rest of our body to adapt or anticipate how to react to these changes.
These concepts are how we use our vision to help guided us through everyday in space and time. Visual deficits can be the result of deficits in one or more areas of Skeffington’s circles. If you have these problems, there is a solution! Vision rehabilitation therapy can train your brain to learn all these concepts so that you can become functional again.