thundersweet Posted January 25, 2014 Share Posted January 25, 2014 My son was seen by a development optometrist last year. One of the test they performed was the Gardner Visual Perception Skills Test. I don't have the full breakdown of the areas tested within this test in front of me but he tested very well in all of those areas, particularly visual spacial (96%). Does this confirm a VSL? I am trying to find the best way to teach him and suspect he is a VSL but I'm curious if this would confirm I am headed in the right direction. Thanks, Sandy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted January 25, 2014 Share Posted January 25, 2014 VSL and "right-brain" lists are going to be pretty interchangeable (applying to both labels), so just google for some. Whether a dc who could be very linear/sequential and still score highly, can't say. I think the best way to confirm it is just make some of the recommended changes. If he isn't (or has visual deficits that hide his VSL), then he'll probably wig out. Otherwise, just plow forward. You won't hurt him, and you might find your changes work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geodob Posted January 25, 2014 Share Posted January 25, 2014 It does indicate that he is a strong Visual-Spacial thinker/ learner. Though did they do the full battery of Gardner Tests ? As it would be interesting to know how he went with the Musical Intelligence Test? Which is a test of auditory processing and the recognition of tonal and rhythmic patterns in sound. Where a strength in one, is often balanced by a difficulty with the other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thundersweet Posted January 25, 2014 Author Share Posted January 25, 2014 Thank you! I struggle with knowing how to teach him and that I am tapping in to how he learns best. Sometimes I'm just not sure. He was diagnosed with dyslexia from a Barton certified screener about 6 months ago and we started Barton. He has done fantastic and is probably reading on grade level now even though we just finished level 3. All of a sudden, he's reading so well and I'm not sure where it's coming from. lol Yesterday, he read a book about states of matter and read words like, physical properties, container, ect without batting an eyelash. I am taking him to a NS for a full eval as soon as she can get him scheduled. I had him start on Brainware Safari last week and he does exceptionally well with the visual excercises. This got me thinking so I pulled out our eye exam report and reread it. Now I'm wondering about the high scores in the visual perception area and if that might be an indication of his strengths. Sounds like maybe it is and I need explore that further. Thanks, Sandy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geodob Posted January 25, 2014 Share Posted January 25, 2014 You wrote about his high scores in the visual perception area. But it is important to recognize this as visual-spacial, which is a combination of visual and spacial processing. While a visual image represents the whole image. It is spacial processing that can identify elements within it, and identify spacial relationships between them. How things fit together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted January 25, 2014 Share Posted January 25, 2014 Books I would recommend include the Eides' The Dyslexic Advantage (which may be applicable even in the absence of dyslexia, which would be the case for at least two of my kids who are not dyslexic but fit some of the descriptions in the book to a great degree) and Silverman's Upside Down Brilliance. You might also look at Silverman's comparison chart for more clues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thundersweet Posted January 25, 2014 Author Share Posted January 25, 2014 geodob, can you explain further? I really do not understand what it means to be a visual spacial learner and how it fits together. Wapiti, thanks for the link. Can anyone really explain how I figure out if my ds thinks in pictures? I asked him and he said he doesn't know. lol I would like to get Upside Down Brilliance but it's $45 used on Amazon. Is it worth the price! I will by it if it's a must read. Sandy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted January 25, 2014 Share Posted January 25, 2014 geodob, can you explain further? I really do not understand what it means to be a visual spacial learner and how it fits together. Wapiti, thanks for the link. Can anyone really explain how I figure out if my ds thinks in pictures? I asked him and he said he doesn't know. lol I would like to get Upside Down Brilliance but it's $45 used on Amazon. Is it worth the price! I will by it if it's a must read. Sandy Upside Down Brilliance put it all together for me. There is a good chance that your library has it and it's worth putting on hold. I'm not sure whether it's worth that much as there are so many books out there now than there used to be; Silverman's book was the first one I read, years ago, and I was blown away (when my dd was getting tested at the GDC, during a break the tester handed me the book opened to a particular chapter she wanted me to read, and I found myself reading about... me). The GDC has the book for slightly cheaper ($37) but I don't know how much shipping is; instead, you might start with reading all the articles on the visual-spatial resource site I linked above, as many are straight from the book. As for the VSL idea generally, it's a way of thinking and taking in information (more right brain, less left). For my VSLs, the most important aspect for learning has been the presentation of a context or big picture before the details. Put most simply, along with visual-spatial strengths, there may (or may not!) be various auditory-sequential (left-brain) weaknesses. Step by step/sequential learning (how most traditional curricula are organized) is the opposite of big-picture-first and that can sometimes be more difficult if there are weaknesses present. Listening in for words of wisdom from geodob :lurk5: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thundersweet Posted January 25, 2014 Author Share Posted January 25, 2014 I think I need to get reading!! What does it mean when people say they need the big picture before the details? Can you give examples of how this works in everyday homeschooling? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thundersweet Posted January 25, 2014 Author Share Posted January 25, 2014 Thanks for the link to the book. I did buy it there. At least at that price, it's a new copy! Sandy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geodob Posted January 26, 2014 Share Posted January 26, 2014 Spacial thinking is the real key. The crucial role of spacial thinking, is that we use to identify and organize relationships. While we can represent things, concepts as words or visual images. Thinking involves identifying the relationships between and within these words and images. Where you asked 'how it fits together'? Where it is spacial thinking that we use to 'fit things together'. Which is also what changes 'knowing' into 'understanding'. It could also be described a 'lateral thinking', as opposed to 'linear thinking'. Where linear thinking, is limited to thinking of what comes next. If anything changes, it disrupts the whole process. But with spacial/ lateral thinking, the process is understood as a whole. So that if anything changes, it can be seen as part of whole, and adjustments then made. Though the term 'big picture', is really a metaphor. Where it really means to start with the 'whole', and then investigate the elements that form it. As opposed to starting at the beginning, and going step by step, to arrive at the whole. But the whole is understood as a series of steps. Math could be used to demonstrate the difference? 2+9-4+6= ? 2+c-4+b= 13 ? With 2+c-4+b=13. We start with the answer, the whole, and then we have work to arrive at it? Where we can also understand different ways to arrive at it. Spacial thinking is also how we concieve of sequences, where a sequence needs to first be concieved of as a whole. Then relationships between elements within it, can then be identified. So that essentially it's whole to part thinking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herekittykitty Posted January 27, 2014 Share Posted January 27, 2014 This is a new book on teaching tips for VSL. It's written by Betty Maxwell who does a lot of work with Linda Silverman. I have it and I think it has a lot of practical tips. http://www.amazon.com/Picture-It-Teaching-Visual-Spatial-Learners/dp/1478282312/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1390802467&sr=8-1&keywords=betty+maxwell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thundersweet Posted January 27, 2014 Author Share Posted January 27, 2014 herekittykitty, I did order this book already. Should be here today! Thanks geodob, thank you! That makes it a little more clear for me!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted January 27, 2014 Share Posted January 27, 2014 FWIW, I met Maxwell at the conference for dd12's first psych eval, back when she was at the end of K, newly-6. I was expressing my annoyance that dd couldn't sound out three letter words or remember them. She had a vision issue, as it turned out (as was pointed out in that conference - they referred us to the covd) but Maxwell also insisted that there was a VSL angle there. She was kinda like, "duh!" She sounded frustrated with me. (At that point in time, I had no clue about VSLs.) Maxwell also authored some of the articles on the visual-spatial site, so I might expect some of that content to be in her book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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