The Power of Images: Visual-Spatial Learners (continued)

Visual-spatial learners and giftedness

I coined the term "visual-spatial learner" in 1981, after observing an interesting phenomenon in testing gifted children. The children with the highest test scores, the ones who went beyond the norms in the manual, achieved these scores by passing visual-spatial items that were designed for children twice their age. They demonstrated excellent auditory-sequential abilities, but their visual-spatial abilities were even more extraordinary. As they tended to be somewhat shy and cautious, I made the connection between visual-spatial learning style and introversion. Introverts (who gain energy from within themselves rather than from interaction with others) may or may not be visual-spatial, but visual-spatial learners are very often introverted (Dixon, 1983; Lohman, 1994). [For more on introversion, please see Chapter 10 in Upside-Down Brilliance.]

Soon I began to notice that not only were the highest scorers visual-spatial, so were the lowest scorers. These were children who fit most of the descriptors on our Characteristics of Giftedness Scale (Silverman, 1990), but fell short of the gifted range on the IQ tests and bombed in school. The main difference between the two groups was that the students who took the top off the IQ tests had advanced auditory-sequential skills as well as advanced visual-spatial abilities, whereas the underachievers had exceptional visual-spatial abilities combined with weak auditory-sequential skills. For example, they could copy extremely complicated block designs and tell how many blocks were in an array with some of them hidden, but they could not repeat 5 random digits.

As I spent more time observing visual-spatial children, I realized that they saw the world differently, three-dimensionally. They saw through artists' eyes, and some demonstrated artistic talent. Some were scientists and mathematicians, able to see the complex inter-relationships of systems. Some were computer junkies. Some were dancers, actors, musicians, imaginative writers. Some were highly emotional, extremely empathic. Some were spiritually aware and psychically attuned. Most were pattern-seekers and pattern-finders, excited with each new discovery. They pursued their interests passionately, sometimes to the exclusion of everything else. They definitely marched to a different drummer.

Children who are strong in right-hemispheric abilities, but weak in left-hemispheric skills, are more likely to become underachievers and drop-outs. They are more often counted among gifted children with learning disabilities (e.g., dyslexia, dysgraphia-difficulties with handwriting, central auditory processing disorder, AD/HD); gifted children from culturally diverse backgrounds; left-handed children; children who had difficult births; and children who suffered chronic ear infections in the first few years of life. Unless they're taught to their learning style, they are also at higher risk for delinquency (Seeley, 2003). Their learning differences are perceived as deficiencies, and most of the attention paid to these children is for the purpose of ameliorating their deficits. Rarely are their visual-spatial gifts recognized and developed in school. Ironically, the most effective way to reach these students is to teach to their strengths.

Everyone has two hemispheres, but no one uses both hemispheres equally. Just as each person prefers one hand over the other, auditory-sequential learners use their left hemispheres more than their right, while visual-spatial learners use their right hemispheres more often than their left. We have to honor hemispheric preference, just as we honor hand preference. We would no more expect children to be equally proficient with each hemisphere than we would expect them to be equally proficient with either hand. The problem, as I see it, is that left-hemispheric proficiency has been emphasized in school for eons at the expense of right-hemispheric development.

Visual-spatial learners and school

The right hemisphere is our mental video camera. It enables us to see the "big picture" rather than just a series of details. It gives us the context into which to place our experience (Ornstein, 1997). It is essential to art, music, dance, drama, sports, mechanics, geometry, physics, calculus, technology, invention, metaphor, intuition, emotional responsiveness, and spirituality. Art is born in images. Scientific breakthroughs and visionary leadership originate with images. Beauty, love and peace are the promise of the right hemisphere (Shlain, 1998).

For thousands of years, school has been primarily dedicated to the education of the left hemisphere. Children enter school with more balance between their left and right hemispheres than when they graduate. They begin Kindergarten with a vivid imagination that expresses itself in their block play, their pretend games, and their dress-up corner. By first grade, they are taught that playing is something they do at recess in organized games, and school is where they work. Children with good phonemic awareness, who learn to read on schedule by the phonetic approach employed in most primary grades, are considered good students. Children who struggle with reading often develop poor self-esteem.

For some visual-spatial learners, reading is Flatland. It is a two-dimensional experience that is difficult for their three-dimensional minds to grasp. If you see the world in three dimensions, you live in a world of moving forms-of dynamic shapes. You may be able to build a Space Station with Legos or create a magnificent horse out of clay, but b, d, p, and q all look alike. They are all the same shape-flipped and rotated. Imagine trying to learn to read when the letters turn upside-down, flip backwards, and even trade places-moving around the page! Visual-spatial learners learn best whatever they can see in their minds. In some countries, children first learn to read words like "mountain," and "lake," words they can visualize, and when they have established a large enough reading vocabulary of these words, then they begin to learn smaller words, such as "the," and "is," that are not as amenable to visualization.

Writing can be even more discouraging. The fine motor skills needed for writing with one's right hand are controlled by the left hemisphere (Springer & Deutsch, 1998). Letters that flip and rotate in one's field of vision will end up upside-down or backward on the paper. Spelling is a nightmare. It is purely sequential. Many visual-spatial children (and adults) speak at one level, and write at a much lower level, because there are so many words that they cannot remember how to spell. They may overuse the same words, because each word is a label for a picture in their minds, and they would no more dream of using a synonym than they would consider changing all the names of the pictures in an art gallery (Grow, 1990). While their ideas may be superb, they cannot express them well because of mechanical difficulties: handwriting, spelling, punctuation, capitalization, grammar, syntax, organization-all the left-hemispheric skills that educators cherish.

Memorizing math facts is yet another roadblock for visual-spatial learners. They are natural mathematicians and scientists, excellent pattern-finders, but they cannot do rote memorization. They understand a concept by forming a visual image in their minds, and seeing the underlying structure. This allows them to arrive at answers to math problems intuitively. When commanded to show their work, they go completely blank, because they did not take a series of steps to arrive at their answers. Show your work may be an appropriate request for an auditory-sequential learner, but it simply cannot be done by someone who uses a visual-spatial thought process.

Time is an anathema to the visual-spatial learner. School is all about time. You must arrive on time, take timed tests, complete your work in class on time, move on to other subjects on time, and turn in your homework on time. According to Leonard Shlain (1998), our time sense originated in the left hemisphere. "Time is the quintessential attribute of the left brain. All of the functions of this hemisphere proceed temporally" (p. 220). Time is essential for linear speech. "A conversation can be understood only when one person speaks at a time. In contrast, one's right brain can listen to the sounds of a seventy-piece orchestra and hear them holistically" (pp. 22-23).

As it is currently structured, school is an unfriendly place for visual-spatial learners, and they do not demonstrate their full potential during the school day. It is a much better match for auditory-sequential learners. But I predict that in the near future, schools will become more welcoming to visual-spatial students. Every day there are more and more computers in schools. At the college level, notes are taken on laptops, and homework is turned in and corrected via email. It is only a matter of time before every student has a computer. A computer is as indispensable to the visual-spatial child as a book is to an auditory-sequential child. It is visual, graphic, unconcerned with time, highly motivating, responsive to the inquisitive mind of the visual-spatial learner, and accesses the right hemisphere. It is the skating rink where a visual-spatial mind can perform dazzling feats.

How many visual-spatial learners are there?

We have been conducting studies with the Visual-Spatial Identifier (Haas, 2001), which was developed over a ten-year period by a multidisciplinary team. The Identifier has been validated with 750 fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students (the entire student body in these grades) in urban and rural school districts. Nearly 50% of each school was Hispanic. Following are some sample questions from the self-report form of the Visual-Spatial Identifier: