Visual Tracing

 

Purpose:  To develop visual attention span for detail through kinesthetic support.

Materials:  Line drawings, cartoons, or coloring books, three pencils or pens – red, green, and black (or blue), occluder.

Procedure: 

Patient is to:

1.  With the left eye occluded, place a drawing before the right eye, then place the next one before the left eye, with the right eye occluded.

2.  Using the red pencil, begin at the upper edge of the box and make short horizontal dashes (each dash from left to right) from the upper left angle to the right upper angle. The dashed line should run just outside and parallel to the printed solid line, about 1/8″ away.

3.  Next, vertical dashes are reproduced from top to bottom, also on the outside of the solid line.  The bottom line is then reproduced by dashes just outside and below, from left to right.

4.  The whole picture inside the box is treated in the same manner.  All lines are to be drawn from the left to the right and from the top to the bottom.  In the case of circular lines, the preferred direction is clockwise, but quite often the form of the figure demands a counterclockwise direction.  In such cases, a counterclockwise movement is permitted.

5.  When all parts of the target have been reproduced in red, as described, a green pencil may be used to draw dash lines inside solid lines.

6.  A blue (or black) pencil may then be used to make dashes directly on the original line.

7.  Alternate, doing one tracing with the right hand and right eye and one with the left hand and the left eye.

Aspects to be emphasized:

1.  Accurate control of dash lines.

2.  Immediate awareness and correction of inappropriate pencil placement.