Billboards

I never knew how much real estate billboards occupied in Meredith's mind.

This year we were lucky enough to find a wonderful private school for Meredith--it is her favorite place in the world now...quite the contrast to the last few years. The school is about 10 miles from our house and we gladly make the commute each day. Most people sigh when I tell them about the distance thinking that I must hate it, but I have found it to be great. Especially having a tween, you get more information from them when they're stuck in the car with you for an hour each day.

On one particular morning commute, Meredith mentioned something about what the next billboard was going to be. She explained that she knows how to get to school by following the billboards. When her Dad had to drive her to school one day, she said as an example, that is how she told him how to get there.

Apparently, she has a (mental) movie of the drive to school and that is how she knows the order of the billboards. My obvious question to her was, "What happens when the billboards change?" Boy, that was a launching board question.

Everytime a billboard changes, Merebith has to go and edit the movie to reflect the new pictures. Meredith then described in detail how Merebith accomplishes that. In the past, Dogot (Merebith's helper that is a dog robot) has gotten on Merebith's computer and really messed things up just pressing random keys. So now, Merebith has a secure location where she performs her editing. I can't recall all the exact details, but Meredith described to me (looking up as if she was watching the movie) all the multitude of security doors, locks, more doors, hallways, shoots, etc. that Merebith has to pass through in order to get to her editing room. She looked up and counted pointing with her finger, "...9, 10, 11...12 doors to get there."

And then she told me that whole story about how Merebith has a picture of Dogot with his first "parts" on the mouse pad of her editing computer. In case you didn't read the previous post, Dogot started as a baby robot of sorts and in his lifetime he will exchange parts about five times until he is full grown.

So, guess what? They just erected two new billboard frames near our house. I looked over at Meredith in the car when we passed by and I said, "Merebith's going to be busy, isn't she?" and Meredith responded with a groan, "I know."

Meet Dogot

I need to introduce you to Dogot now. Dogot is Merebith's assistant (apparently she does get to sleep now and then!). Dogot is a dog robot--a dalmation dog robot to be exact. When he was new, he had training wheels, but now he has just one wheel as you can see in the picture. He wheels himself around and relieves Merebith of her duties when she is sleeping or busy with something else. Because he is on wheels, his bed is just a chair with armrests (without the seat) that he backs up into. Why armrests? Because Dogot can make his arms pop out if he needs them (can you imagine the sound effects that Meredith makes when she describes him?). When he talks, he sounds like a robot.

Recently, Meredith told me that at Merebith's computer where she has to edit Meredith's movies (more on that later), her mouse pad is a picture of Dogot with his first parts. "First parts?" I ask. She told me that as Dogot grows, he gets new parts. He will have gone through about five sets of parts by the time he is full grown. The level of detail to her imagination astounds me. I mean, Merebith--her mental assistant--has a dog robot assistant whose "baby" picture is on the mouse pad of her computer where she edits Meredith's mental movies. C'mon people!

"And, We're Renovating!"

One evening Meredith asked me to help her study for a test she was having the next day. As often happens, I could see the stress building and building as we started. Meredith kept complaining of a headache. Finally after it was clear we were getting little to no return for our efforts, I told Meredith (in all seriousness) that she probably had a headache because Merebith was running all over her brain trying to get the files she needed. Without skipping a beat, Meredith responded with gusto, "Yeah, and we're renovating."


Renovating? I wasn't expecting that. "What do you mean you're renovating?" I asked. "Mom, whenever I get smarter I have to make more room for my files," she said as if this was basic information I should already know. She explained that everything was a mess, that all the files were on the floor, and that a new area was being constructed. "That's a lot of work for Merebith...does she do that all by herself?" I asked.  She responded with new information: "Mom...all the characters that I've ever drawn make up the construction crew. Even that first person I ever drew in preschool--the one with the head and the legs coming straight off of it with no body."

Wow...Meredith must have drawn thousands of characters over the years. She's always adopting new ways to draw hairstyles, clothes, shoes... That's pretty amazing. Once again I had to digest this new information. I asked where Merebith slept while all this was going on. "Oh, she goes to her house. The Treasure of Files is just where she works." I followed up with, "What's Merebith's house like?" imagining the treasure trove that must be. Meredith explained that it is a really big house. "And Mom...all the artwork that I've ever made is hanging on the walls," she added with enthusiasm. Once again, I get the little shock from this new information. Like the characters, Meredith has made an abundance of artworks over the years.

Speaking of being a visual thinker, it's fun to imagine myself what Merebith's house looks like. I wonder how far my vision of Merebith's house differs from Meredith's vision. Do you make pictures in your mind of things that people describe to you?   I was talking to my hairstylist and the owner of the hair salon--imagining that they must both be very visual thinkers. The owner told me that he always has this experience of making a mental picture of what a client looks like when he is on the phone with her taking the appointment. Then he is often surprised when the client walks in the salon for the first time because she doesn't look like the picture he constructed. I would assume most people have this experience to some degree (or not?), but the people I've spoken with who are extremely visual seem to take it to a new level!

Oh, I just remembered that Meredith also said somewhere in that conversation that while Merebith is away, a security force of ants guards the Treasure of Files. She added that in emergency situations when the ants need to get the people out of the area, they yell, "Move it, move it, move it," gesturing with their hands (or legs, I suppose) to get moving on the double. I wonder where in the world the idea for army ants came from! I'll have to ask her and report back to you.

Synesthesia...the OTHER Big Discovery

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When I discovered Meredith's filing system of pictures, I went to Facebook to tap into my friends to see if anyone knew about this or had similar systems.  My friend Brad responded by saying that it sounds like Meredith might have some synesthesia.  Synesthesia?  

Like most people, I had no idea what synesthesia was.  Through Brad and Google, I learned that synesthesia is when a person has a sort of cross wiring of their senses so that when they experience one sense, another sense is triggered.  Examples include seeing colors when you hear music, seeing letters and numbers as colors, or getting a particular taste in your mouth when you hear a particular name.  The synesthestic experience is involuntary and automatic and doesn't seem to change over time.

There are two theories about how or why synesthesia occurs.  The first theory is that people who experience synesthesia (synesthetes) have more cross-wiring between sections in their brain.  The second theory is that everyone has the same wiring, but some people have overexcitability or less inhibition in these areas. 

The most common form is called grapheme-color synesthesia where people see written letters as colors.  For some reason, it is really common for people to have their color for letter a as red.  Therefore, whenever I suspect someone has synesthesia and they tell me that their letter a is red, I'm pretty sure they're a synesthete.  Of course, letter a doesn't have to be red.  In fact, synesthetes colors are very individualized and very specific.  People won't just say their letter b is blue; they will say it is a light blue with a little turquoise tint to it. 

 A quick test with Meredith and I find out that yes, indeed, she has different colors for her letters.  But something was strange.  I discovered that if I wrote a word in color and none of the letters were in the colors that she "sees" them as in her mind, she was unable to see them. I had discovered this when we were on a camping trip in our RV.  After digesting this for a day or two, I tried another experiment with her that I won't ever forget.  We were driving on the highway and I saw something written on my McDonald's soda cup: "Keep [Texas] Litter Free." (The word "Texas" was red and the other words were black in case you can't see the color on your screen.) I showed it to Meredith in the back seat and asked her to read it.  She said, "Keep Litter Free."  You don't see this word Texas?  She responded, "Well, I see a letter 'a' floating there, but that's it."  Wow.  She only saw the letter a because the letter a is red to her.  She explained that she has always seen these extra letters floating around, but she never understood why.

The questions were running through my mind. What about school? Teachers use color all the time.  Dry erase markers on the board, vis-a-vis markers on the overhead, and textbooks are full of colored text as well.  I thought about the fact that in her class, they had a small dry erase board where the lunch choices were written every day...with a red dry erase marker.  Ha!  I thought I found a hole in her explanation because she went up and made her lunch choice just fine every day. But no, she explained that there was one boy who always talked out loud and when he would go up and read the lunch choices, she would go follow him so that she could hear what they were and make her choice. Holy cow.  She had found all sorts of ways to compensate.

Then Meredith tells me that if she happens to see a letter written on the board in the color that she sees it as in her mind, she also hears a sound.  Like a dog barking, an alarm, and a slide whistle.  That information almost put me over the edge.  I mean, that's a little crazy to imagine about your child.  

In researching synesthesia, I learned that one of the foremost experts on the subject is at Baylor in Houston--Dr. David Eagleman.  I contacted him and we had a conversation about these peculiar issues that Meredith was experiencing.  He said that he hadn't heard of the kind of word blindness that she was experiencing, nor had he heard of the letter-color-sound connection before.  Great...you never want to be the exception in science!

We made some immediate accomodations for her in her classroom.  We made sure the teachers only used black markers and she was given a black and white copy of any colored handouts.  Fortunately, after the issue came to light, Meredith was able to somehow figure things out on her own and now she doesn't experience the word blindness anymore.  As for the barking dogs and slide whistles?  I bet those are still there.

I saw a video with Dr. Eagleman today and he had a really good example of what it is like to experience synesthesia.  He showed a photo similar to the above picture.  He said that more than likely, you had an automatic thought in your mind, "Barack Obama."  That is how the synesthestic response works, except maybe you experience colors, tastes, feelings, or sounds instead of the word, "Barack Obama."

Do your letters have colors?  What about your days of the week?  If they do, chances are that someone else in your family has a red letter "a" as well!  For a family of synesthetes, it's fun to start arguments over what the correct color is for Monday or Tuesday.  Sometimes I have to pinch myself and realize that if anyone else would be listening in on our conversations, they would probably think that we had all lost it!

"My Guy Wears Khaki Pants"

After the shocking revelations from Meredith on that first day she told me she had pictures for everything (shocking because it was so different than how I think and that I never knew this about her), I HAD to tell someone about it.  Poor Tom--as soon as he got home from work I rushed him into our room and told him, "You're never going to believe this!  Meredith has pictures for every number and every word.  She keeps them all in filing cabinets in her mind and she has this little girl named Merebith who manages all of the files for her.  She wears a little school girl uniform and everything -- look at all these pictures she drew about it!"  Then comes the response out of left field from Tom:
                  
                    "I have a filing system...[long pause]...My guy wears khaki pants." 

Holy crap.  Seriously?  No.way.

Tom described his little guy (no name) as a geeky file clerk from the 1950s who wore the aforementioned khaki pants, a white shirt, and glasses.  Kind of Dilbert-like.  Tom described his filing cabinets as those old clunky, wooden filing cabinets with an insert in each drawer showing a letter typed with an old-fashioned typewriter.  Apparently the little guy also uses a big calculator whenever Tom does calculations.

That pretty much changed everthing.  It was clear that this was some form of thinking that was genetic and passed from Tom to Meredith.  I wasn't dealing with a totally unique child.  I was dealing with a unique FAMILY now!  How incredible--INCREDIBLE!--that neither Tom nor Meredith shared this with anyone (it was just how they thought, afterall...why would they think it was "different"), but independently had the very same manner of thinking...filing cabinets and little assistants.  The beauty of it was that Tom could basically translate things that Meredith was sharing with me and explain it in more detail.  But more than anything, Tom and Meredith would now forever have a special bond.

For me, I suddenly had a husband and a child that seemed foreign to me.  I had to learn their "language" and try to decipher how they were different from me and what things they shared together.  It was if I had to discover who they were all over again.  It was exciting, but a bit freightening at the same time.  It was a lot to take in to say the least.  I was happy for Tom because for the first time in his life, he had some explanation for things.  These discoveries would send our whole family on a journey--and our wheels are still on the road to a destination unknown.  One thing is for sure, however, we all understand each other a whole lot better than before.

The Chicken Patty Sandwich Story

Once Meredith and I began talking in depth about how she thinks in pictures, she began to be more aware of her inner workings and she started to share her observations with me. One day she told me a story that really put into perspective exactly how visual she is. She not only thinks in pictures, but thinks in video as well.

The story goes that she was in the cafeteria line at school and at the time she was in fourth grade. She saw that they were serving a Chicken Patty Sandwich. She had never had this particular sandwich before so when she saw it, she said to herself that it looks like a chicken nugget, only bigger and on a bun. Then she thought that there was a name for that logic she just used in that observation. She told me that she went (in her mind) to the Second Grade Filing Cabinet (from two years prior mind you) and then pulled out the Vocabulary Files. She thumbed through the files until she saw the word that she was looking for:

                         inference



That would seem remarkable enough, but that was just the starting point. She said that not only could she see the word, she could see her teacher writing the word on the board, she could see the wrinkles in her shirt as she moved her arm, and she could see the ridges on the edges of the letters of the word inference on the board.

Once again, I was picking up my figurative jaw off the floor. I was beginning to hone the skill of listening to Meredith's stories (which she shared spontaneously without prior notice) without letting on how completely amazed I was. Hearing things like this for the first time pretty much shattered any preconceived notions about my daughter and it did take me back a bit. As exciting as it was, of course there is also an aftershock of grief for the "normal" daughter I thought I would have. After every aftershock, however, I learned a new normal and really accepted and appreciated her gifts.

Mechanic at Work

Here is a photo of Meredith helping me make Tom's Christmas present this year. Many visual thinkers love hands-on activities...that's the best way to teach my Meredith for sure. I need to remember that she learns better through exploring than verbal instruction though--a repeated mistake that I make and a cause for sure-fire mother-daughter clashes. We take it for granted that everyone's verbal skills are equal...don't you?

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!

The Treasure of Files

Merebith holds the key to the "Treasure of Files"

The "Treasure of Files" is where Merebith works. It is where Meredith stores all of her mental images and Merebith helps her to retrieve the files. From what she has described, Meredith has lots and lots of files and Merebith is VERY busy at her job. Meredith told me that sometimes Merebith works so hard, she has to pause, huffing and puffing away! I have heard Meredith describe files for each grade, files for vacation memories, files on people that contain words that describe that person in a font and color that she associates with that person--I'm white with orange heart polka dots, for example.

The day she told me this (the BIG discovery day), I was testing her with questions (because c'mon...how could she possibly do this?).  I asked her to tell me what was in the "A" file, and she started listing off her friends and classmates whose names started with the letter A. She looked up when she was telling me what she saw...I remember learning that you look up when you are accessing your memory. I asked her if she had a file on her principal, Ms. Hohmann, and she looked up, not responding right away. She kept looking and looking and then said, "Oh, there it is! It was misfiled under letter G." Whoa, I did not see that coming. I have come to understand that if Meredith doesn't have a file for something, she won't be able to remember it. That is why it is important to give visual learners the big picture, or some sort of context before teaching them something. They need to attach it to something. Dr. Florance taught me that the engine of the visual thinking pathway is the "Associator." Visual thinking works by association. It is not sequential or time-based...time is not the strong suit for visual thinkers!!! Anyone who lives with a strong visual thinker is keenly aware of this!

Merry Christmas to Merebith!

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

Just a news flash to tell you that Merebith has passed out due to the excitement of receiving a deluxe pink new video camera for Christmas.  (Santa Claus brought Meredith a new video camera for Christmas...Merebith pretty much experiences everything that Meredith does, but usually in a much exaggerated way.  For instance, Meredith has told me that if she is cold, it is snowing for Merebith.)  "Brainta Claus" must have paid a visit to "Brainsburg."  Brainsburg is the town where Merebith lives in Meredith's mind.  There is a lot to explore in Brainsburg, like where Merebith goes to work everyday at the Treasure of Files, the Braines & Noble bookstore, Merebith's house, and much more.  Oh, the Treasure of Files...I have so much to tell you about!!!  More to come...

The BIG Discovery!

Meredith was in fourth grade and starting to struggle academically.  She had always been a poor speller, although she would ace her spelling tests.  She received good grades up to this point.  But, fourth grade relied more on reading for learning.  I enrolled Meredith in Kumon--a private enrichment or remedial academic program, depending on your use of it.  Kumon relies heavily on building block teaching and uses lots of drill and repetition, a protocol I later learned is a terrible fit for a visual learner.  Visual learners do best getting the whole picture first and then filling in the details. They do not learn in a sequential manner.  And drill and repetition bore them to tears I have now learned. So, I asked the teacher on her initial visit to Kumon why she thought Meredith might have trouble with spelling. She responded by asking me whether Meredith was a visual learner.  I didn't know.  I said that she was always drawing pictures, so maybe?

Later the next day, after I had a chance to research what a visual learner looked like, I asked Meredith whether pictures worked well for her.  She said, "Yes...do you want to see my picture for 9+7?"  "You have a picture for 9+7?" I asked.  She took out some colored markers and this is what she drew:

She described number 9 as an alien who gives a gift to the little boy number 7 (see the helicopter hat?) who then gives the gift to his sister number 16 for her Sweet 16 birthday.  I asked Meredith if she had pictures for every number and she said she did.  "Every number?  12? 19? 51?"  "You're so funny, Mama," she said to me as if it was so funny to her that I didn't know that.

As I picked my jaw off the floor, we continued talking and I discovered that she has pictures for every number as well as every word.  Holy cow!  This was a lot to take in.  And if that wasn't enough, she then told me about her little "helper" friend in her mind named "Merebith."  Looking back, the dyslexia factor between "Meredith" and "Merebith" is fascinating.  Apparently, Merebith is a little tiny girl--sort of an alter ego (she describes her as basically herself, but a different person).  Meredith described to me in detail how Merebith wears a school girl outfit complete with a plaid skirt, a white shirt, a matching headband, Mary Jane shoes and black glasses.   This is the picture of Merebith that Meredith drew for me:

I really will never forget that day for as long as I live.

Who are Meredith and Merebith Anyway?

After much encouragement from friends, I'm starting this blog to journal the unique adventures of my daughter Meredith.  More than anything, I don't want to lose the stories that she shares with me because as you'll find out, they are very intricate and dynamic diaries of her inner world.  But first let me introduce myself. 

My name is Angela, but I go by Angé.  (It is pronouced Angie, but I was named after a great aunt who owned a fashionable dress shop in small town, Wisconsin.  My theory was that she was adding a little flair to her name with the accent.  It's usually too much trouble to find the "é," so I typically just write, "Ange."  More information than you needed?  I just hate that people think I'm calling myself "Ang" when I write "Ange.")  I am a stay-at-home Mom married to Tom--another interesting character!  I have two children--Meredith who is now 11 years old and Tyler who is 7.  We live in Texas, but have roots up North.  My husband and I met each other at the Unversity of Pittsburgh when we lived next door in apartments behind what used to be the old Forbes Field for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Fast forward through years of graduate school, long distance dating, first jobs, marriage, and raising two children.  Things in this predictable life pattern changed dramatically when my daughter was 10 years old and in fourth grade.  I discovered that she had a extremely vivid visual way of thinking and learning.  And I mean extremely and vivid.  I'll unwrap all the details on how I discovered this.  Those discoveries have led to changes in our family relationships, changes in schools, discovering parts of my husband that I never knew, and discovering a whole new perspective on learning "disorders" and/or divergent thinking.  I have come a long way and now I can truly say I admire and appreciate the gifts that the extreme visual minds possess--gifts that are so often misunderstood and unrecognized.  I hope to share with you what I have learned and experienced and I hope you'll be entertained by my (or Meredith's) stories. 

For those of you who may find similar patterns in your children, I look forward to helping you in any way that I can, for I have learned a lot.  And what I've learned is not found in your typical parenting books.  Fortunately, I see more and more information about parenting this type of child, but you wouldn't really know to look for these sources unless you knew what you were really dealing with in the first place.  And even if you did access these resources, these are complex kiddos and I can't imagine anyone mastering how to parent them without lots and lots of practice.  But by that time, they'll be up and out!  We can still try though...

Oh, I almost forgot. I never told you about Merebith.  Merebith is the little girl that helps my daughter Meredith with all the inner workings in her mind.  You'll come to learn all about her soon.  I have decided for now to type "Merebith" in italics to help you decipher between her and Meredith.