When he was 5, he memorized a map of the U.S. that I put on his wall as a decoration, and this was right after a traumatic brain injury from which he had brain damage and one eye was paralyzed and stuck in place in the corner by his nose. So he had double vision at all times unless we patched his other eye (we always had to patch the normal eye). So he had major issues with his vision.
Wow. It is amazing how some kids can compensate so well! I think that's why it can be so hard to figure out what is really going on.
I don't think there are clear links between how visual-spatial a kid is and how they learn to read, at least not for everyone. And even on the perceptual vision test that he did he was using auditory strageies to remember the information.
Very interesting idea that kids scoring very high in visual-spatial skills may be using auditory strategies to do that. I know it is something I do myself.
He is able to draw them from memory and when I ask him how he knows things like Nevada being next to California he says it's because they fit together (in a "Duh, Mom" type of voice).
I am very familiar with the "Duh, Mom" voice!
Do people who are "visual spatial learners" really think in images, like a photographic memory? I don't know--I think they may just be seeing patterns in everything or how parts fit together into a whole.
I would really like to know the answer to this. And can these individuals project the picture of a word onto a wall (or in their mind) as vividly as seeing it on paper? And can they visualize an entire word instantly? When I try to picture a word I need to spell it as I am trying to picture it and I can't easily retain the visualization.
Thanks for sharing your DS's experiences and giving me lots of food for thought!
