During the years of
childhood development, physical touch evolves into visual touch, allowing the
child to perceive an item visually. However, when strong eye movement skills
are not present in the child, the visual touch reflex fails to fully kick into
gear.
Instead, the child continues to touch everything physically as a means of
obtaining information about his or her surroundings. This critical transition
into visual touch generally takes place around the age of 2. With a new mode of
touch the child is able to effectively explore through vision and this becomes
the dominant mode of exploration.
When a child does not
make the transition to visual touch, they tend to be overactive or hyperactive
and explore in ways that are not controlled by vision. Because the child does
not have strong visual skills, he or she tends to have unreliable visual
experiences.
Western medicine has
gotten into the habit of treating hyperactivity with medications used to treat
ADHD. These medicines are designed to inhibit the desire for physical
exploration. However, they do not solve the overall problem of poor visual
skills that can be treated through visual therapy.
In other words, they stifle
the child’s ability to explore the world in a way many consider unacceptable.
A failure to transition
from physical to visual touch is also known to cause disorganization and
impulsivity. This is because children who grow into visual exploration
naturally become more reflective and less impulsive as they look into the
future. Looking ahead, allows the person to predict consequences based on
actions.
This feature gives the individual a choice to better organize and
predict his or her own actions according to potential consequences. Children who do not grow into visual
exploration cannot fully develop these abilities and instead act impulsively
and in a disorganized manner.
To learn more about hyperactivity, impulsivity, disorganization, and vision, click here.
