Visual thinking vs word thinking
My sons with ADHD and ADD think in pictures
Over the weekend, I started to educate myself further on visual thinking. I had already partly done this when my youngest son was with ADHD had been diagnosed because he lagged tremendously behind in reading at school and as a result he had to repeat group three. Now he is in group four and has made some progress. This is partly thanks to medication but it is still not as it should be. He is still a year behind in reading level and now that my eldest son is with ADD diagnosed, it came bubbling up again... "you have to do something with this!"...and since I wasn't able to take this further at the time, I am taking this further now.
ADD, ADHD and the right brain
So now it turns out that almost all ADDs and ADHDs use their right hemisphere, which means they think mainly in pictures. This means that they have a different thinking system and therefore cannot follow the current school system, which mainly uses the left hemisphere (words), and thus fall behind and often even stagnate in reading/learning levels.
Unfortunately, schools are not yet set up for right-leaning children and so, in a lot of cases, these children will get stuck or not really progress....
For many parents, this will be a point that may show why their child is not progressing further, despite any efforts the school may be making, which may even end up causing a dyslexia protocol involved.
What can you do?
As a parent, you can take steps to address this yourself. There are books on the market that you can use to support your child, or go to a coach who can help your child with this, so that his/her talents are recognised and your child enjoys reading a book again and can keep up at school.
One book I definitely want to recommend to you and that is: 'I think in images, you teach in words', in it, as a parent of an ADD or ADHD-diagnosed child, you will get a whole different perspective on this diagnosis.
And it 'Workbook, I learn differently' is also highly recommended!
In any case, it has given me a lot to work with and I will definitely continue to use this to help and support children and parents in the future.
I wish you much reading and recognition pleasure in advance.
Greetings Lyana
Ps. Should you have any questions following the above, check out my site http://www.natuurtalent.net for more information on the core vision method, if you don't find the answer to your question there feel free to send an email.
Thanks Nathanja ..I am already busy gathering info myself ... regarding these method s ... because I myself am also busy with startup practice for children oa in this area.
Gr lyana
Oh what fun! Very rewarding work! Good luck.
I now have over a decade of experience as a tutor at a homework institute. I noticed that sometimes there were students I could not help properly. As a Creative Therapist, I always looked for different solutions and I was also aware of the different learning styles, but there was still something I couldn't put my finger on, until I heard about the Core Vision method. This method explains why pupils with AD(H)D, dyslexia, 'visual thinkers' and highly-sensitive children can get stuck in education, but also how we can help the pupils to be able to absorb the material via the right hemisphere. As it turns out, the students pick up on this wonderfully. I started doing the training myself and during the lessons, I saw a range of past students passing by my mind's eye. Suddenly I got it! How these students thought. This method was designed by Wim Bouman who also wrote the book 'Powerful different learning'. On his site you can read how this method differs from other methods: http://www.kernvisiemethode.nl/ You can also find coaches in your area on this site. Nice to see more and more attention being paid to students with a right-learning style!
Hello Nathanja,
Nice of you to post this, and nice to read that as a study guide, you got insight into why many children are not progressing in education, that is the biggest issue in education so far, that they are not looking further, and if schools would focus more on this, a lot of students would start to do well, in fact I sincerely hope that in the future this will be introduced as standard that teachers have to pick up the visual learning system, would be a whole lot less worry and labels for parents, children and teachers.
Thanks again for sharing.
Greetings Lyana
Dear Lyana,
Fortunately, there are a lot of people who want to fight for this, who also see that things need to change in education. It is so distressing to see these children feeling 'stupid', when in fact they are often so intelligent. Where the teacher looks for the only right answer, these students can look at things from different angles and thus also find multiple solutions. Then see to filter out the right one. I hope to be able to help many students with this method in the future!!!
Greetings,
Nathanja
I ordered the book 'I think in pictures, you teach in words' and found a coach around here who teaches the 'I learn differently method'. I'm so curious to see if it catches on with her too. Would be very nice. That she has a method that helps her to show that she really isn't stupid and that she starts to believe in herself again!!!
Hello Marjon,
How nice to read that you were able to find a coach near you, and that they will work with her, wish your daughter good luck, and the book will give you more insight, AHA moments, so lots of reading pleasure too I would say....
Greetings Lyana
Thank you Natasja for your contribution, and Miranda the 'I learn differently method' can also very well be taken up with your child as a parent, there is a workbook for that that you can order via bol.com...
I learn differently | Agnes Oosterveen-Hess
Workbook for primary school students with learning difficulties. Dyslexia, ADHD, ADD, visual thinking, gifted and HSP.
Good luck.
Sounds idd very familiar. My son also really lags behind with reading and also went back from grade 4 to 3. You feel helpless.
I have add myself. So I also think largely in images. Reading and learning go very well for me. I use many colours to mark text. To get something really right in my head, I write it down. Several times if necessary. So I have to link a physical action to what I have to learn and that works well. By marking text, t is easier to store it in your head as a picture. I also have an above-average IQ and a good memory. Maybe someone will benefit from my way of learning.
Hello Ellen,
There are courses that help adults with visual thinking and learning, you can visit one of these sites for example, there is more on guidance for adult visual thinkers, I hope I have been able to help you a bit with this. Regards Lyana
http://www.opwegnaardichterbij.nl/blog/begeleiding/beelddenkers/
http://praktijkvaardig.nl/beeld-denken-bij-volwassenen.html
Is there also some kind of "I learn differently" method for adults? What can help adult visual thinkers learn/study better in their education?
Anyone (book/site) tips?
I am a visual thinker, but beyond looking for pictures/drawing pictures to the learning text, I don't get any further.
Ideas?
Thanks in advance!
Ellen,
The method is fine for adults too.
In practice, the picture-thinking parent often comes along and they too store the numbers and letters in their heads with the same precision!!!!
The feast of recognition.
With our son, the insight that he was a visual thinker came in group 3 and we started working with the practical training 'I learn differently'
By now certified coach 'I learn differently' for 4 years and first helped teach our son and then many other new age children the right entrance to learning!!!!
By the way , our son is now taking the MAVO class with great ease, he has found his learning strategy.
Yes Linda, that does give recognition ...and the method works well. I also work with it with our youngest ...I am also busy preparing to use it to guide other children in the future.