Neuro-Psychology recognizes that there are many different types of "intelligence," the ability to learn new skills through different modalities. The WISC-V is an example of an IQ test that measures multiple types of intelligence.
This test breaks intelligence into five Indexes:
| Visual Spatial Index | Visual Non-Linear Abstract thinking from multiple perspectives. |
| Fluid Reasoning Index | Visual Linear Conceptualization from a fixed perspective. |
| Working Memory Index | The ability to input, remember, and retrieve different types of verbal or visual information. |
| Processing Speed Index | he ability to perform a series of relatively simple visual tasks at high speed. |
Many children who score poorly on tests of Working Memory and Processing Speed have IQ tests scores that are artificially lowered by problems of visual attention or visual performance.
The parents of these children are often told their child has a non-verbal learning disability.
This means that the child’s verbal skills are good, but their scores on visual IQ or processing speed IQ are low. It is not unusual to see a child’s low scores in visual IQ or processing speed IQ raised 15-20 points after completing a vision therapy program that successfully enhances visual performance and visual attention.
When a child scores poorly on a given section of an IQ Test, some professionals jump to the conclusion that that represents that something is physically wrong with the child, that the child somehow lacks the brain “hardware” to learn in certain ways. This is not always the case! When a child scores poorly on a given section on an IQ Test, is simply means that the child did poorly on that particular test. It does not identify WHY the person did poorly on that test.
We have identified several patterns of scores on visual performance testing that identify patients who will have large increases in non-verbal intelligence (and learning ability) following successful enhancement of these visual skills.