Clockwise or Clockconfused?

My garage door opener bit the dust.  I saved it for my kids so they could take it apart---they love to explore stuff like that.  When I brought it out to work on, the first step was to take out a screw.  Meredith took on the task and started turning the screwdriver to the right to unscrew it.  My husband and I chimed in right away like all parents do in that sing-songy voice: "Lefty Loosey, Righty Tighty."  Meredith still has some difficulty with left vs. right.  To be oh, so helpful, we chimed in again, "Right is clockwise and left is counterclockwise."

Meredith told us that she never understood that, because clockwise goes right at the top of the clock, but then turns left at the bottom of the clock.  It took a second for me to understand what she meant, but then I could see her problem.  She had a very good point!  I guess everyone makes the assumption that when you say that clockwise is to the right you mean that at the top (12), you go right.

This was yet another example of how it is so easy to take things for granted and make incorrect assumptions.  It is also a great example of the strengths of a visual or dyslexic mind.  Meredith saw the clock work in a way that I never even thought of.  It is time for all kinds of minds to be valued for their unique strengths.  I know that more and more is being done to address educating all kinds of minds, but I think there is a very long way to go. 

This is why I am so thankful for those who acted boldly and started the Odyssey School in Austin, Texas, because they are the embodiment of this view.  The tagline for the School is that they serve "Bright Children Who Learn Differently."  Last week, Odyssey School posted something on their Facebook page that impressed me beyond description.  They understand the basics that some children learn differently and benefit from a different teaching environment than public schools.  But, they are so far beyond that.  They understand that they are not only addressing deficits...they are nuturing unique strengths in students that may have otherwise not be realized:

     "Working 'for the kids' sounds good, feels good, looks good. But we are also working for ourselves - these kids can make our world better."

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!