Visual Spatial Learners?

"I just wish I had a projector on my head and you had a screen on yours, then you would understand what I am trying to tell you." (Adam aged 9, a gifted visual spatial learner).

Strengths of the Visual Spatial Learner
  • Wholistic, sees the big picture, makes connections easily
  • Processes information visually, internally, in great detail
  • Strong desire for detail, perfection and intrinsic satisfaction in their work
  • Vivid imagery, imaginative ideation, outside the box approaches
  • Deep focus on complex tasks or projects of choice
  • Acutely perceptive of body language, others' emotions, and environmental cues.
  • Thrives on novelty, complexity and depth in problems with real-world applications.
  • Invents own system of ordering the world
  • Memorizes how to get somewhere after a single visit, or find new locations effortlessly
  • Very perceptive to sound, color, shapes and space
  • Loves building, making models, Lego, puzzles, jigsaws, computer games, television, likes art and/or music
Challenges faced by the Visual Spatial Learner
  • Struggles with sequential, rote and part-to-whole teaching, lists of facts
  • May not seem to be listening, seems to be daydreaming, slow to respond to auditory input
  • Difficulty finishing tasks/school work, work is never quite good enough. Not driven by extrinsic rewards.
  • Difficulty with handwriting, or translating ideas and stories into words on paper, communicating complex ideas.
  • Senses time differently, loses track of time, chronically late
  • Extremely sensitive to criticism, may react emotionally to perceived input
  • Struggles with spelling, times tables, computation and basic processes
  • May appear to be very disorganized
  • Has trouble following multi-step auditory directions, loses track and drifts
  • Physically sensitive, acute hearing, intense reactions to loud noises, lights, clothing tags, etc
Working around these Challenges
  • Reveal the big picture first, create a sense of context - then fill in details
  • Use rubrics or checklists, differentiate between excellence and perfection
  • Provide bridges for translating internal imagery into non-written forms (voice recording, dictation, pictures, video, speech-to-text, mind map, graphic novel)
  • Separate grades for mechanics and conceptual understanding/ideas
  • Increase the difficulty, complexity of problems & allow the use of calculators, focus on strategy and problem-solving
  • Break tasks into smaller chunks with frequent short deadlines, small rewards for getting started
  • Teach them to visualize each step of multi-step directions, "make a movie in your head"
  • Limit exposure to fluorescent lighting, unpredictable ambient noise, other distracting physical input. Colored lenses, noise filters and soft clothing can all help
Building on these Strengths
  • Use mindmaps, graphic organizers, visuals, video, to enhance and support visual processing
  • Look for patterns, word families, visualize words & spell backwards, draw word pictures
  • Use color coded calendar, digital reminders and alarms, realistic time management
Read More

Articles

I Think in Pictures, You Teach in Words, an article by Leslie Sword

Eye to Eye, Connecting with Visual Spatial Learners, a PowerPoint by Rebecca Mann

Visit visualspatial.org for a gold mine of articles and resources for parents, students and teachers learning about visual spatial learning. Allie Golon has posted several articles especially for frustrated parents, so scroll down about halfway.

Books

Raising Topsy-Turvy Kids: Successfully Parenting Your Visual-Spatial Child, by Allie Golon

If You Could See the Way I Think: A Handbook for Visual-Spatial Kids

Upside-Down Brilliance: The Visual-Spatial Learner, by Dr. Linda Silverman