Math Is Visual Before It’s Numerical: Introducing the Math & Visual Skills Series
- Michelle Slater
- May 16
- 4 min read
Updated: May 19
This topic hits close to home for me personally and has also deeply shaped the way I look at learning as an Occupational Therapist. Over the years, I began noticing something I couldn’t ignore: many of the same visual perception and visual-spatial challenges affecting handwriting were also affecting math — especially higher-level problem solving, geometry, spatial reasoning, and mental organization. The more I observed, both personally and professionally, the more I realized we often talk about math as if it’s only numerical… when so much of it is actually visual.
That realization is what inspired this Math & Visual Skills Series which is called:
The Access Lens (Math Edition).
I still remember how hard I worked in Calculus.
I would stare at worksheets and problems for what felt like forever. No matter how much extra help I got, how long I stayed after school, or before sports practice, nothing really clicked for me.
Now I’m watching something similar happen again at home — except this time it’s geometry.
And it’s making me realize there may be something more impacting math performance than I once understood.
During sessions, I’ve also started paying closer attention to how some students perform in math. For a long time, I avoided focusing on math because of my own experiences struggling with it.
But I began noticing something interesting.
Some students could explain the concept verbally. They knew the answers when talking through it out loud. They were trying hard.
But on paper, things looked very different.
Numbers ended up in the wrong columns.
Steps got skipped.
Place values became confusing.
Word problems felt overwhelming.
Math became frustrating.
The harder they worked, the more stuck they seemed to feel.
And it keeps making me wonder:
What if some math struggles aren’t really about understanding math at all?
What if something more foundational is getting in the way?
Math Is Visual Before It’s Numerical
What I’m starting to realize is that math was never just about numbers for me.
When I look back at my own struggles — and now what I’m noticing during sessions and at home — I keep coming back to how much math depends on visual and spatial processing.
Math requires organizing information on a page.
Seeing patterns.
Holding visual information in your mind.
Sequencing steps.
Managing spatial relationships.
Shifting attention back and forth without losing your place.
And honestly, I don’t think I understood how cognitively exhausting that can feel when those foundational visual skills are not working efficiently.
The more I learn, the more I wonder if some of my own struggles with math were never about intelligence or effort at all.
Maybe it was about access.
Maybe my brain understood more than I could consistently show on paper.
And maybe that’s why it feels so familiar hearing someone I love talk about how hard they’re working, how much extra help they’re getting, and still feeling stuck.
The “Aha Moment” Many Families Never Hear
The students that come to me for OT support in school often have received:
intervention,
extra practice,
accommodations,
even enrichment…
…yet they still struggle with their schoolwork.
Not because they aren’t capable.
But because the brain is working overtime simply trying to access the information visually.
The concept is understood — but the visual processing system may not be supporting efficient learning.
That changes everything.
How Eye Learn Pro Supports Learning Access
Eye Learn Pro focuses on assessing and strengthening foundational visual skills connected to:
reading,
math performance,
attention,
executive functioning,
and cognitive efficiency.
The goal is to improve access to learning by supporting the systems that help the brain process visual information more efficiently.
Because when learning becomes more efficient, confidence often follows.
Coming Next in The Access Lens (Math Edition) Series:
A Different Way to Look at Math Struggles
The Hidden Visual Perception Skills Behind Math Success
Signs a Student May Have Underlying Visual Skill Deficits Affecting Math
📚 Research References
These studies support the connection between visuospatial skills, executive functioning, visual-spatial ability, and mathematics achievement.
1. Executive Function, Visual-Spatial Skills, and Math Achievement
Cognitive Development
Kahl, Tobias & Segerer, Robin & Grob, Alexander & Möhring, Wenke. (2022). Bidirectional associations among executive functions, visual-spatial skills, and mathematical achievement in primary school students: Insights from a longitudinal study.
Key finding: Executive functions and visual-spatial skills show a bidirectional relationship with mathematical achievement in primary school children, meaning each influences the other over time.
2. Executive Function and Spatial Skills in Early Math
Journal of Experimental Child Psychology
Verdine, B. N., Golinkoff, R. M., Hirsh-Pasek, K., Newcombe, N. S., Filipowicz, A. T., & Chang, A. (2014).Contributions of executive function and spatial skills to preschool mathematics achievement. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology.
Key finding: Spatial skills and executive functioning independently contribute to early mathematics achievement, even before formal schooling begins.
3. Numerical, Spatial, and Executive Function Contributions to Math
Cognitive Psychology
Gunderson, E. A., Ramirez, G., Beilock, S. L., & Levine, S. C. (2019).Relations between numerical, spatial, and executive function skills and mathematics achievement. Cognitive Psychology.
Key finding: Mathematical achievement is strongly predicted by a combination of numerical skills, spatial reasoning, and executive functioning — not numerical ability alone.
4. Visual-Spatial Ability and Academic Achievement
Frontiers in Psychology
Liu S, Wei W, Chen Y, Hugo P and Zhao J (2021) Visual–Spatial Ability Predicts Academic Achievement Through Arithmetic and Reading Abilities. Front. Psychol. 11:591308. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.591308
Key finding: Visual-spatial ability significantly predicts academic achievement, with effects mediated through both arithmetic and reading performance.
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