The Mind's Eye View Of a Dyslexic
- Viewing circle exercise
- Position-Hopping of mind's eye
- Symbol or word blindness
- A dyslexic may distort the appearance of words
- Repeated failures block the expectation of learning
Let's Return to Our “Viewing Circle” Exercise.
This time, instead of "a portion of a car", our person views the 2-dimensional written characters: “WAS.” We know that one of the attributes of the dyslexic is that he thinks in a high percentage of images and non-verbal thoughts. In the case of this word, however, the 2-dimensional word “WAS” has no visual or non-verbal identification associated with it.
None of Us Can Associate a Picture with the Word “WAS”!Those of us without dyslexia can think abstractly and know that the word “WAS” has something to do with “being in the past tense.” However, for the multi-sensory dyslexic, there is no visual translation because no sensory experience or association to the word exists, and therefore there is no meaning for the word.
Position-Hopping of Mind's Eye
The dyslexic’s mind’s eye immediately, without conscious awareness of what he is doing, begins to jump around the viewing circle to figure out the written characters. However, this only causes more sensory confusion.
At this point, the dyslexic may move to his mind’s ear. As he moves to the right side of the circle and looks at the word “WAS,” he sees/hears and recognizes the word “SAW.”This, of course, doesn't help him understand what he is reading because it does not make sense in the context of the sentence. so, our ever-creative dyslexic unconsciously jumps to a position above the circle, and his mind's eye now sees “MAS” – or perhaps it sees all the characters flipped over (inverted) and sees...
None of these perceptions make sense...
As the viewer moves from position to position, none of his perceptions make any sense. Each position on the circle provides more confusing results. There is no viewing position that will give him resolution of his confusion because there is no sensory meaning for the word “WAS.”
Most Dyslexics are Symbol or Word Blind Individuals.
This is due to their reliance on visual thinking when reading.
As a result of this word and symbol blindness, they may:
The Dyslexic May Distort the Appearance of Words
The dyslexic may distort the appearance of words he is looking at, and may make a word into one he already knows. For example, he may look at the word "definition" and recognize it as the word "difficult." He knows what this word means. However, when he reads "difficult" for the word "definition" in the text, he becomes confused about the meaning of the sentence he is reading.
In the following sentence, The context changes when the word "definition" Is read as the word "difficult."Read the definition to me, please.Read the difficult to me, please.
Repeated Failures Block the Expectation of Learning
After the dyslexic has unsuccessfully resolved his sensory confusion, the dyslexic usually gives up looking for solutions and moves on to something else. Many times he leaves defeated and with the frustration, guilt or embarrassment that becomes associated with his inability to read. The decay of the individual’s self-esteem begins and can generate the onset of such symptoms as depression, ADD, ADHD, ADLD, inattentiveness within the classroom setting, and/or learning difficulties.
(next) ... Align Mind's Eye: Expand a child's learning dimension, teach him to Align the Mind's Eye and the Body.
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