Amy in CO Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 My dd, almost 16, has struggled with school from the very beginning. When I talked to her last night, I realized that she thinks in pictures, not words. She thinks she understands something because she can "see" it in her mind, but when asked to explain it, she can't convert the picture to words. It doesn't matter if she is trying to speak or write, the explanation just doesn't come out in an understandable way. I have shown her different ways to study in the hopes that we might get the words in her mind, but it isn't working. We both just end up frustrated. She has a poor vocabulary and a regular vocab program hasn't worked because she can't make the connection between the program and her other work. I do have her use a thesaurus when writing and substitute better words after her first draft. But none of those words stay with her after she writes them. In the very next writing assignment, she will return to the same, simplistic words again. Has anyone dealt with this or know of something that we might try? Is this a type of learning difficulty that I haven't heard about? Thanks for any suggestions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
choirfarm Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 Have you seen the movie Temple Grandlin?? ( I may not be spelling it correctly.) It was made by HBO but is VERY clean. No bad words. There is one scene where they have put cow parts on her car that is gross, but other than that a fascinating film that my husband, teenage sons and 9year old daughter all loved. She saw in pictures. In fact, that is how that film starts wiht her saying that. You might watch that and maybe google what helped her get through school. She was autistic but that is how she saw: in pictures. She struggled in math and French but once they made the connection that is how she learned she was able to do well. Just a thought. Christine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kebo Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 My son is reading the book, "A Mango Shaped Space" about a girl with synesthesia, who pictured words and things associated with colors. A small section that I found fascinating talked about how difficult it was to learn Spanish because "friend" and "amigo" were different colors and she had a hard time linking them in her mind. Perhaps there are support groups or foundations for synesthesia that you may find helpful. Here's one site I found with a very quick search. http://www.mixsig.net/ Best of luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LBS Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 I would look at Ron Davis' The Gift of Learning and Howard Gardner's multiple intelligences. There is debate about "visual thinkers" and "picture thinkers" that came up a lot when testing one of my children, at UVA. She is an extremely gifted artist. I don't have enough expertise to use your description and know what you describe. LBS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy in CO Posted March 9, 2011 Author Share Posted March 9, 2011 Thank you. I will get to searching on these suggestions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChristineMM Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 Invest $11 in Visual-Spatial Learners by Golem, available on Amazon. Strong visual thinkers are often very right brained learners. This has tips on how to teach them. Also google "visual spatial learners silverman" for a very good comparison of right and left brained learners. The book Study Smarter Not Harder, I am just starting to read. So far it seems the techniques given are right brained learning techniques that the author wants left brainers to use to 'tap into their whole mind'. I am using it for creative study ideas for my right brained learner who is in 8th grade. We are using mind maps instead of plain traditional flash cards. We have used various right brained spelling study techniques that worked great. Also read articles by Dianne Craft on right brained learners, see her website, consider going to hear her speak at a HS conference. She also sells copies of her lectures and some DVD lectures on her site if you can't get to see her in person. Since my son is so very right brained we have had challenges, before I knew about right brained learners. My son thinks in pictures primarily and also 'sees words in color'. I'm not that way. He also has a photographic memory. There is a ton of info out there if you do the research then really try the techniques. If your child is also dyslexic consider using the Davis Dyslexia system or at least reading the book The Gift of Dyslexia. Also IN THE MIND'S EYE portrays dyslexics and visual people as having a special gift that our world needs, a different perspective than just labeling them as special needs and learning disabled. Also the new series on Science Discovery channel INGENIOUS MINDS explains brains and learning and visual learners, the show has been so interesting (it just started running 3 weeks ago). It shows even neurologists understand little about the brain and learning. These visual learners and asperger's and autistic minds really stump them and sometimes the brain scans don't mesh with what they thought they'd show. Very interesting. HTH any questions leave a comment on my blog, I only pop in here occasionally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 Teaching her to sign, classifiers particularly, would provide a step between the pictures and English. It would get the pictures out of her brain in a language format, which would be the first step towards converting it. I'm only guessing. It took me a lot of work to be able to see home movies in my head so I could improve my signing. Rosie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 In addition to the above resources, see Silverman's Upside Down Brilliance (try your library; it's out of print), and the articles on her website http://www.visualspatial.org/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teresa Hope Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 My husband has Asperberger's Syndrome and he sees in pictures. He is extremely successful in his work, but school was a bomb for him. He will be 50 next month. We know a lot more now about these different kinds of thinking/learning. Brilliant guy in the areas he has knowledge. He has a very formal way of talking with lots of vocab words, but he doesn't not like to read fiction, only technical material. My son, though, he struggles with vocab in exactly the way you describe. Don't have a lot to help, but just know that these "problems" don't have to mean failure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katilac Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 Have you seen the movie Temple Grandlin?? ( I may not be spelling it correctly.) It was made by HBO but is VERY clean. No bad words. There is one scene where they have put cow parts on her car that is gross, but other than that a fascinating film that my husband, teenage sons and 9year old daughter all loved. She saw in pictures. In fact, that is how that film starts wiht her saying that. You might watch that and maybe google what helped her get through school. She was autistic but that is how she saw: in pictures. She struggled in math and French but once they made the connection that is how she learned she was able to do well. Just a thought. Christine She has also written several books, one of them titled "Thinking in Pictures." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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