Visual Discrimination: Telling Similar Letters and Shapes Apart

By Laura Lurns · Reviewed by Philip Weaver · Last reviewed 2026-10-11

What visual discrimination means

Telling similar letters and shapes apart is one visual skill. You may hear this called visual discrimination. On our pages, the name describes a skill. It is not a diagnosis, and not a type of child. In our view, an eye exam is worth doing early. Ask for one that includes near vision.

Telling similar letters apart sits beside other visual skills. One is keeping your place along a line. Another is holding a word in mind long enough to write it. These parts are our own grouping. They are not a way to diagnose a child. The grouping is not from anyone else.

Our page on visual processing disorder covers what visual processing means.

Our page on processing difficulties has more.

Mixing up letters and shapes that look alike

Some children mix up letters or shapes that look alike. That is a behavior. The behavior alone does not tell you why.

Some children do not see the print clearly. Some find similar shapes hard to tell apart. Some find reading and spelling words hard. This page cannot tell you the reason.

In our view, an eye exam is worth doing early. Ask for one that includes near vision. If schoolwork worries you, talk with the teacher.

Why an eye exam is worth doing early

In our view, an eye exam is worth doing early. Some children avoid close work, rub their eyes or lose their place. In our view, that is a reason for a full eye exam. Ask for one that includes near vision.

If an exam finds an eye problem, that problem needs its own care.

Our page on dyslexia and vision problems has more.

Reversed letters

Reversed letters and numbers are things like b for d, or was for saw.

On their own, reversals neither point to dyslexia nor rule it out. Note them, and watch the reading and the spelling too. Dyslexia is not seeing letters backwards.

In our view, what you see at home counts. Write it down, and take it to the teacher.

Our page on whether people with dyslexia see letters backwards has more.

Letters, reading and math

We hold no study of visual discrimination and reading, spelling or math.

The American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) is a US body of eye doctors. In 2017, the AAO wrote about visual perception in general and learning disabilities. It said no consistent link with reading or schoolwork has been shown. In our view, an eye exam is worth doing early. Ask for one that includes near vision.

If reading is hard, reading improves with reading instruction, so keep it going.

Our page on misaligned columns and misread math signs has more.

Who checks what

An eye doctor checks eyesight and how the eyes work together. In our view, an eye exam is worth doing early. Ask for one that includes near vision.

A school psychologist can assess learning broadly.

An occupational therapist may assess visual-motor skills, such as copying and handwriting.

Ask each one what their test measures, and what it does not.

Our page on who assesses visual processing has more.

Games, exercises and vision training

This page makes no claim for any program, game or exercise.

The American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus (AAPOS) is a US body of children's eye doctors. As of 2026, AAPOS has a page on children with learning disabilities. That page was last updated in 2020. It says no scientific evidence suggests visual perceptual training improves their schoolwork. It says the same of vision training. We are not against eye care. AAPOS's point is about training, not eye exams. In our view, an eye exam is worth doing early. Ask for one that includes near vision.

Our page on vision therapy and dyslexia has more.

If your child has lost a skill

Some children could do something and now cannot. That is different from a child who has not built the skill yet. Our position is that a lost skill goes to a doctor first, not a tutor.

When to ask for help

Each of these is a reason to ask for help on its own.

• Little change, even with steady practice and good teaching.
• Schoolwork well below what school expects.
• A teacher who raises a concern about learning.
• Extreme upset about schoolwork.
• Complete avoidance of school or learning.
• Hopelessness about learning.
• Sadness or worry that lasts.
• Significant delays in speech, language or motor development.
• A skill that was there and has gone. Our position is that a lost skill goes to a doctor first, not a tutor.

If no skill has gone, start with the teacher. Say what you are seeing at home, and what you have tried. Beyond the teacher, the right person depends on what it turns out to be about. If the work is too hard, someone who works on that school skill. If worry or mood is the thing, someone who works with children's mental health. In our view, delays in speech, language or movement are worth raising with your child's doctor. In our view, if you are worried enough to ask, a professional evaluation is worth asking about.

Any talk of hurting themselves is a same-day call to your doctor or a crisis line.