I Think in Pictures, You Teach in Words: The Gifted Visual Spatial Learner by Lesley Sword My introduction to visual spatial learning was a walk around the Melbourne zoo with Linda Silverman many years ago when she handed me an article sheÂd written and said Âhere, you may be interested in thisÂ. Three months later I saw my first gifted visual spatial learner and I learned a lot from him. Since then I have worked and studied with Linda in Denver and have seen nearly 200 such children and adults, Gifted visual spatial learners keep coming to see me and I am still learning. Dr Linda Silverman, the pioneer of the Visual Spatial Learner concept identifies two types of gifted visual spatial learners. The first is children identified as gifted who score extremely high on an IQ test because of their great ability both with tasks using visual spatial processing and those requiring auditory sequential thinking processes. The second is children who are brighter than their IQ scores, who have great ability in visual spatial processing and marked weaknesses in auditory sequential processing. These children are often not identified as gifted and they struggle at school because their intelligence is not recognised and neither is their unique learning style. This paper will concentrate on the second type of gifted visual spatial learner who is Âat risk in the school environment unless their learning style is identified and appropriate modifications are made to learning and teaching practices. | |
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