PURPOSE: in this relate the visual memory to orthographic performance of children's handwriting from 2nd and 3rd years of elementary school. METHODS: it was analyzed 61 children, male and female, with average age between 8 and 9 years old, were analyzed. The children were evaluated in classroom, by the examiner, during the 2nd semester of the school year, in 3 different stages: oral dictation valuation of isolated words, of silent reading valuation of isolated words and visual memory analysis through the Rey Complex Figure. RESULTS: it was noticed that orthographic mistakes reduces during visual dictation, when compared to oral dictation; children who make more orthographic mistakes during dictation, have worse performance on the Rey Complex Figure; children from 3rd year have less frequency of orthographic mistakes and better performance on the Rey Complex Figure, when compared to 2nd year children. CONCLUSION: visual memory is an important fact during orthographic development, helping children to understand better the acquisition of orthographic rules.
Language; Memory; Visual Perception; Dyslexia; Learning Disorders
