Some visual thinkers have such a strong visual mind that it causes conflict with their verbal side (speaking, listening, reading, and writing). This can cause symptoms in any or all of these areas. If you would have asked me if Meredith had strong vernal skills, I would have said yes, because she always had a strong vocabulary. However, after we learned of her strong visual mind, we discovered that Meredith's listening skills were very weak--something she had learned to hide very well. We thought for many years that she was just oppositional...but we just didn't know that verbal instructions and directives were playing to her weakest side. Did you know that parental guidance is 98% VERBAL?!? That causes a problem if you have a highly visual child.
We began working with Dr. Cheri Florance (maverickmind.com...I'll talk more about her later) who suggested we give Meredith's teachers a questionnaire designed to identify any weaknesses in these verbal areas. Turned out that Meredith failed or had difficulty with listening skills about 80% of the time. No wonder she struggled in school--an environment where listening is the number one skill, making up 76% of time in elementary school. The further one progresses in the education system, the higher that percentage gets.
A visual thinker tends to forget what they hear and remember what they see. School--or "Verbal Land" as Dr. Florance refers to it--plays to the students with strong verbal skills. Throughout history, many of the most creative thinkers who changed the world in novel ways struggled in school.
No wonder Meredith is thriving in her new school environment. This year she is attending Odyssey School. It is a school for "Bright Kids Who Learn Differently." Meredith loves all the hands on activities and the focus on multiple intelligences. Now she is relearning things that she only "heard" before. Remember, visual thinkers forget what they hear and remember what they see!
