Olivehickmott

Visual Thinking 101_88: Reasonable adjustment – how to stop letters moving on the page

Posted on May 14, 2024 by olivehickmott

For years, letters moving on the page when trying to read has been associated with Dyslexia. So inventive people have come up with using coloured paper, trying coloured overlays or wearing coloured glasses. All of these can be highly successful reasonable adjustments, but there are a couple of things worth noting:

These only address the problem of looking at written words. To become fluent readers in the English language, we have to visually recognise words through images in our Visual Word Form Area (VWFA). If these letters and words do not stay still in our VWFA, where we keep mental images of words, then coloured overlays etc won’t help. In addition, people find they need to change the colour over time, so overlays etc are great “Elastoplast” but do not get to the source of the problem by only dealing with external eyesight.
I recall seeing research about letters moving faster when the student was more stressed. So at Empowering Learning we focused on un-stressing the students, and the letters stopped moving instantly, as if by magic. The techniques we use for reducing stress are:
- gentle nasal breathing in and out through your nose, right down into your belly, to enable relaxation
- teaching the student how to get grounded, fully connected to the earth
- use Emotional Freedom (EFT) techniques to overcome specific fight and flight responses.
- as mentioned in a previous blog no 87, we have found that one of the most effective reasonable adjustments is to not to look down whenever possible.
- All of these are simple to teach, will benefit every child in the classroom and are FREE.

For more information, here is the list of our classes to help support visual thinkers, and they are currently free for anyone to join in. Please share with your friends.

There will be another Blog tomorrow on more reasonable adjustments, stay tuned.

Monday 13th May 8pm or Monday 3rd June at 9:30am Mathematics and numeracy – How to better use your visual skills for all aspects of Maths. Click here to book for free

Tuesday 14th May 8pm or Tuesday 4th June at 9:30am: Clearing Energy when Exhausted – For those who are lacking energy and would like some skills to improve their energy banks. Click here to book for free

Monday 20th May 9:30am: Exploring Mental Pictures, for those who feel they are not as creative as they used to be. Come and explore with us. Click here to book for free.

Tuesday 21st May at 9:30am : Neurodivergent Strengths and Challenges – there are many neurodivergent strengths that are well worth exploring to give you different perspectives on neurodiversity. Click here to book for free

Monday 27th May at 9:30am: Easy Literacy for Dyslexia: Learn the vital skill of visualising words for reduced anxiety and developing fluent spelling and reading. Click here to book for free

Tuesday 28th May at 9:30am: Thriving with ADHD: Many tips to learn about improving ADHD for your child and you without medication. Click here to book for free

Click here for future classes

To explore more of the tips and tricks we have for neurodivergent children and adults, do click here. There is even a free introductory video there

My name is Olive Hickmott, I am a health and learning coach, specializing in working with neurodivergent students. I would be pleased to support you in any way I can.
You are welcome to contact me olive@empoweringlearning.co.uk
Here you will find my learning platform for some of my training programmes and free live webinars www.visualkids.co.uk
You will find other useful information and Practitioner Training at http://www.empoweringlearning.co.uk
Here is my YouTube channel for more free resources: https://www.youtube.com/c/OliveHickmott
My latest books are:
The Elephants in the Classroom: using every student’s natural power of Mental Imagery to enhance learning: Neurodiversity through the lens of mental Imagery.
Bridges to Success – How to transform Learning Difficulties

#olivehickmott #visualthinking #empoweringlearning #neurodivergent #mentalimagery #visual-spatial-learners #neurodivergenttoolkit #Dyslexia #ADHD #Creatingmentalimages #memory, #creativity #mentalimages #phonics #colouredoverlays

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged #mentalimagery, #visualthinking, ADHD, Autism, colouredoverlays, creaivity, dyslexia, empoweringlearning, mental-health, mentalimages, neurodivergent, neurodivergenttoolkit, neurodiversity, olivehickmott, reading, visual thinking, visual-spatial-learners | Leave a comment

Visual Thinking 101_87: Effective Reasonable Adjustment for Literacy

Posted on May 13, 2024 by olivehickmott

Reasonable adjustments are changes that organisations, people providing services, or people providing public functions have to make for you. They must make these changes to prevent your disability from putting you at a disadvantage compared with others who are not disabled.

For neurodivergent students, we have found that one of the most effective reasonable adjustments is to not to look down whenever possible.

Looking down triggers your emotions and internal dialogue (that little voice in your head) that will negatively affect a student struggling with anything, including literacy. Looking up accesses your visual memory; sideways is auditory; either will help a struggling student get out of their negative emotions and internal dialogue. Have you ever been told “the answer isn’t on the ceiling”? Well that just isn’t true. For visual thinkers the answer is always found when raise their eyes into their visual field.

So, prop up the book when trying to read, write on a slope or write on paper stuck to the wall. The difference is extraordinary.
Copying down from the board/presentation without looking down enables the student to take notes without having to process words. I did this all through university and in the workplace. It also reduces stress, enabling the student to watch the speaker whilst writing. Initially, writing may be messy, but with a bit of practice, their handwriting will be as good as before, or even better, and certainly much faster.
Write without looking at the paper when creating a story. The student can look up, imagine the story they want to write and see the words in their imagination.

I recently talked with an adult who had self-confessed terrible handwriting that neither he nor others could read. I suggested that he try writing without looking down, and his writing instantly improved. This released his subconscious belief that he had terrible handwriting in just a few sentences, see the picture here. With just a little more practice his writing will improve further.

Here is the list of our classes to help support visual thinkers, and they are currently free for anyone to join in. Please share with your friends.

Monday 13th May 8pm or Monday 3rd June at 9:30am Mathematics and numeracy – How to better use your visual skills for all aspects of Maths. Click here to book for free

Monday 20th May 9:30am: Exploring Mental Pictures, for those who feel they are not as creative as they used to be. Come and explore with us. Click here to book for free.

Monday 27th May at 9:30am: Easy Literacy for Dyslexia: Learn the vital skill of visualising words for reduced anxiety and developing fluent spelling and reading. Click here to book for free

Tuesday 28th May at 9:30am: Thriving with ADHD: Many tips to learn about improving ADHD for your child and you without medication. Click here to book for free

Click here for future classes

To explore more of the tips and tricks we have for neurodivergent children and adults, do click here. There is even a free introductory video there

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged #mentalimagery, #visualthinking, ADHD, Autism, creaivity, dyslexia, empoweringlearning, mental-health, mentalimages, neurodivergent, neurodivergenttoolkit, neurodiversity, olivehickmott, reading, visual thinking, visual-spatial-learners | Leave a comment

Visual Thinking 101_86: Are Phonics Harder to Learn for Dyslexics?

Posted on May 11, 2024 by olivehickmott

This was a question raised recently. Of course they are, but not for the reason you think. The British Dyslexia Association’s definition of Dyslexia is “Dyslexia is a learning difficulty that primarily affects the skills involved in accurate and fluent word reading and spelling. Characteristic features of Dyslexia are difficulties in phonological awareness, verbal memory and verbal processing speed.” So the answer to the question is yes, but that is a self-fulfilling prophecy and probably a tautology. When Dyslexia was first identified, it was “bright children who struggle with spelling and reading”. Phonics was not even mentioned. When phonics was added, the definition drifted into measuring students against phonic skills (see BDA definition above) that helped millions of children to spell and read. However, it left the creative, imaginative children who found this auditory strategy difficult or almost impossible to be diagnosed, Dyslexic.

So if you struggle with phonics you are almost guaranteed to be identified as dyslexic, when tested, but you don’t need a phonics only strategy to spell and read really well. Millions of people have learned to spell and read without phonics – sounds confusing?

Decoding words with phonics isn’t the only element in learning to read and spell in English. Phonics decodes individual words, and for fluency we need to recognise words to make sense of what we are reading and gain comprehension. For spelling you need to be able to picture words, especially when struggling with the quirks of the English language, for example homophones – those words that sound the same but have entirely different spelling and meaning, e.g. where and wear.

Rapid access to the Word Form Area enables word recognition and you can access words from the Word Form Area and simply write them down for spelling.

Children who think visually have easy access to mental images and can quickly learn to use the Word Form Area directly and only decode words they have never seen before. This will speed up phonics by anchoring phonemes into visual words.

In 25 years of coaching Dyslexics we have never met a child or adult who is reliably using their Word Form Area to visualise words, and they can learn how to in less than an hour. Then they can use phonics for new words they have never seen before.

Here is the list of our classes to help support visual thinkers, and they are free for anyone to join in. Please share with your friends.

Monday 13th May 8pm or Monday 3rd June at 9:30am Mathematics and numeracy – How to better use your visual skills for all aspects of Maths. Click here to book for free

Monday 20th May 9:30am: Exploring Mental Pictures, for those who feel they are not as creative as they used to be. Come and explore with us. Click here to book for free.

Monday 27th May at 9:30am: Easy Literacy for Dyslexia: Learn the vital skill of visualising words for reduced anxiety and developing fluent spelling and reading. Click here to book for free

Tuesday 28th May at 9:30am: Thriving with ADHD: Many tips to learn about improving ADHD for your child and you without medication. Click here to book for free

Click here for future classes

To explore more of the tips and tricks we have for neurodivergent children and adults, do click here. There is even a free introductory video there

Visual Thinking 101_85: Do you get light bulb moments?

Posted on May 1, 2024 by olivehickmott

In the middle of a conversation, do you get a great idea and find yourself having to share it right there and then before you forget it? This is a typical challenge for visual thinkers, especially neurodivergent people.

So, if you just blurt out your idea, what happens? A teacher may tell you not to interrupt. An adult trying to listen may get confused and lose track of the conversation. But what happens to your great idea? If you don’t say it out loud, you may well instantly forget it, and it will be lost. And these great ideas from our children in particular, are the ones that will save the world, so we mustn’t lose them.

Divergent thinking is one of the 40 strengths of neurodivergent people, but you don’t need to be neurodivergent to have great ideas. But in many cases you feel you need to say them so you don’t forget. You don’t want people to think you are not listening, but you don’t want to lose this gem. If it is a real gem carry a small notebook with you and jot down the key phrase so you can review it later. Also, learn to write without looking at the paper so you can keep eye contact and the other person will not feel ignored.

I would love a child who has had many great ideas during the day at school to come home and discuss them over dinner. Parents could set boundaries of what is possible and what goes on a list to be actioned in the future. The remarkable outcome is that children feel listened to and not ignored or suppressed. I would like to call this your “Lightbulb Ideas List.”

Do you remember the expression “the answer is 42” from “the Hitch-hikers’s Guide to the Galaxy.” It was the answer given by a supercomputer to “the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything.” When I have a good idea I often shout out to myself, “The answer is 42”. It is something so obvious that I wonder why I had never thought of it before.

This idea is featured and further explained in the Neurodivergent Strengths and Challenges workshop below.

Here is the list of our classes to help support visual thinkers, and they are free for anyone to join in. Please share with your friends.

Tuesday 7th May 8pm or Monday 27th May at 9:30am: Easy Literacy for Dyslexia: Learn the vital skill of visualising words for reduced anxiety and developing fluent spelling and reading. Click here to book for free

Wednesday 8th May 8pm or Tuesday 28th May at 9:30am: Thriving with ADHD: Many tips to learn about improving ADHD for your child and you without medication. Click here to book for free

Monday 13th May 8pm or Monday 3rd June at 9:30am Mathematics and numeracy – How to better use your visual skills for all aspects of Maths. Click here to book for free

Monday 20th May 9:30am: Exploring Mental Pictures, for those who feel they are not as creative as they used to be. Come and explore with us. Click here to book for free.

Click here for future classes

To explore more of the tips and tricks we have for neurodivergent children and adults, do click here. There is even a free introductory video there

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged #mentalimagery, #visualthinking, ADHD, Autism, creaivity, dyslexia, empoweringlearning, mental-health, mentalimages, neurodivergent, neurodivergenttoolkit, neurodiversity, olivehickmott, visual thinking, visual-spatial-learners | Leave a comment

Visual Thinking 101_84: Have you heard of Aphantasia?

Posted on April 28, 2024 by olivehickmott

This week I start a new series of free coaching calls for parents and teachers of visual thinkers. Children and adults have a whole range of visual thinking skills which have a significant effect on their ability to learn, especially for literacy, numeracy and concentration. These are the pictures you hold in your head. Some people have none, known as having Aphantasia, whilst others find them overwhelming.

First come and explore your own mental images. This is a fun class where you can explore what is meant by mental images and discover more about your own experience. Now comes the fun part, you can choose to improve or reduce the images according to your own requirements, with just a few simple exercises and no need for medication. Those who are often distracted can choose to reduce the number, its magic! Others may choose to improve their visual memory to help in exams.

Next we move onto exploring neurodivergent strengths; my favorite topic. We have identified 35 strengths that are often shared with neurodivergent students. When you focus on your strengths, learning is so much easier and more enjoyable.

Monday 13th May 8pm or Monday 3rd June at 9:30am Mathematics and numeracy – How to better use your visual skills for all aspects of Maths. Click here to book for free

Monday 20th May 9:30am: Exploring Mental Pictures, for those who feel they are not as creative as they used to be. Come and explore with us. Click here to book for free.

Monday 27th May at 9:30am: Easy Literacy for Dyslexia: Learn the vital skill of visualising words for reduced anxiety and developing fluent spelling and reading. Click here to book for free

Tuesday 28th May at 9:30am: Thriving with ADHD: Many tips to learn about improving ADHD for your child and you without medication. Click here to book for free

Click here for future classes

To explore more of the tips and tricks we have for neurodivergent children and adults, do click here. There is even a free introductory video there

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged #mentalimagery, #visualthinking, ADHD, Autism, creaivity, dyslexia, empoweringlearning, mental-health, mentalimages, neurodivergent, neurodivergenttoolkit, neurodiversity, olivehickmott, visual thinking, visual-spatial-learners | Leave a comment

Visual Thinking 101_83: What is visual thinking? ..Thinking in pictures, mental imagery, pictures in the mind?

Posted on April 18, 2024 by olivehickmott

Any of these, Visual thinking is one of the ways people prefer to think. They may recall pictures of things they have seen or seen pictures of, for example elephants, a dog, favorite film, their children, a house they lived in, the local supermarket. And they may create pictures in their mind of things they have never seen, using their imagination, for example a rainbow colored elephant doing Ninja dancing, an imaginary dragon, a helicopter landing in the sea. The picture above is mine, with credit to Quinten Blake’s “Drawing for the Artistically Undiscovered” book.

It has occurred to me recently that some adults are not good at thinking in pictures and may even not know what visual thinking is. It is simply the ability to create a picture in your mind’s eye. When children are young you may hear them talking about imaginary friends, places they would like to go on holiday, a dragon they have invented or who takes them to ballet on Fridays. They have pictures for all these things and that is how they primarily think. Remember these are the pictures they have created in their head and not necessarily the ones they have been shown. Of course, they may use their other senses as well for thinking it is a personal preference.

The critical part is that we are born with diverse thinking skills which are underpinned by good visual skills for maintaining and creating mental imagery. At 6 weeks old we can recognize our mother and according to Dr. George Land, by 4 years old 98% of children are creative geniuses. Their heads are literally full of pictures. As we grow up we may lose these strengths if we don’t use them, which is a pity as they are invaluable for learning, creativity, problem solving, critical thinking, intuition, etc: much needed in adult life. Neurodivergent students have normally developed these skills into strengths.

Many adults may have lost some of these skills but others may just be creating images as an unconscious habit out of their conscious awareness, including recognising their own children when they come out of school. Just read through the following common expressions, known as visual predicates, and notice whether they trigger an image for you, albeit fleeting:

My failure shed light on a better way to do it
The grass was a vivid green
My resilience enabled me to bounce back
That illuminates the whole process
I can see where the last jigsaw piece fits
What a brilliant idea

If you are interested in this topic, the next class on exploring mental imagery, would be particularly helpful for you or your child.

Here are the list of our classes to help support visual thinkers, and they are free for anyone to join in.

Monday 13th May 8pm or Monday 3rd June at 9:30am Mathematics and numeracy – How to better use your visual skills for all aspects of Maths. Click here to book for free

Monday 20th May 9:30am: Exploring Mental Pictures, for those who feel they are not as creative as they used to be. Come and explore with us. Click here to book for free.

Monday 27th May at 9:30am: Easy Literacy for Dyslexia: Learn the vital skill of visualising words for reduced anxiety and developing fluent spelling and reading. Click here to book for free

Tuesday 28th May at 9:30am: Thriving with ADHD: Many tips to learn about improving ADHD for your child and you without medication. Click here to book for free

Click here for future classes

To explore more of the tips and tricks we have for neurodivergent children and adults, do click here. There is even a free introductory video there

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged #mentalimagery, #visualthinking, ADHD, Autism, creaivity, dyslexia, empoweringlearning, mental-health, mentalimages, neurodivergent, neurodivergenttoolkit, neurodiversity, olivehickmott, visual thinking, visual-spatial-learners | Leave a comment

Visual Thinking 101_82: Free Coaching for Visual thinkers

Posted on April 11, 2024 by olivehickmott

Visual thinkers benefit from learning visually, so come and join one of our FREE coaching sessions, for visual thinkers, their teachers and parents.

In our experience of visual thinkers for over 25 years, there are some simple things students (adults or children), teachers and family members can do to make life easier whilst maintaining the student’s strengths and without changing who they are.

Who would think of making a dog look like this? Well a visual thinker. Visual thinkers use mental images to recall information they have seen before and to explore new ideas. These are invaluable skills for all sorts of things such as problem solving, empathy, hyper-focus, creating inventive solutions and so much more. These skills are also much in need in business today, so lets make sure students don’t lose them.

Enabling a student to use their natural visual skills, makes learning much easier and we see dramatic improvements not only in learning but also in their self-confidence. The reason is that simple steps scaffolding onto what they are already good at makes sense; using your own mental images is the key.

Here are the list of our classes to help support visual thinkers, and they are free for anyone to join in.

Click here for future classes

To explore more of the tips and tricks we have for neurodivergent children and adults, do click here. There is even a free introductory video there

Visual Thinking 101_80: Is this my ADHD?

Posted on April 4, 2024 by olivehickmott

Does your head ever feel like this? Completely overwhelmed and maybe even full of fog. Where has your clear thinking gone?

In today’s Guardian, Sian Boyle reports that life can be challenging when you have ADHD and autism. Read her article here.

With the increase in people requesting a diagnosis, Thea Stein, the Chief Executive of the Nuffield Trust, said, “The extraordinary, unpredicted and unprecedented rise in demand for autism assessments and ADHD treatments have completely overtaken the NHS’s capacity to meet them. It is frankly impossible to imagine how the system can grow fast enough to fulfil this demand.”

But are we looking at this problem through the right end of the telescope? Queuing up in a never-ending line for a diagnosis isn’t the only thing you can do to make progress and better understand your own experiences. Even when you have a diagnosis, you will still benefit from more understanding. I have been teaching free classes at two NHS Recovery Colleges for three years on topics such as “Thriving with ADHD”, “Exploring Neurodivergent Strengths and Challenges”, “improving sleep”, and “Recovering your energy”. The response has been comments like “Why didn’t someone help us with this information before? ” “This explains so much”. These sessions are not a diagnosis nor a treatment plan but an explanation of 5 essential topics and much more.

These are:

1. Identifying your neurodivergent strengths. ADHD is not a strength, but many of the underlying skills are, e.g. creativity, problem-solving, critical thinking, innovation, etc
2. Mental imagery. You may have no mental imagery (the pictures you hold in your head), or superb pictures or anything in between. No pictures are limiting, too many are exhausting and will tip you into sensory overload.
3. Grounding. Not being grounded triggers more sensory overload and confusion. Nasal breathing right down into your belly slows the pictures demanding attention in your head.
4. Being Highly Sensitive: Another topic that can overwhelm you and make your brain feel like fog. We have simple guided imagery, from EnergeticNLP, that can enable you to be calmer and stop picking up everyone else’s energy.
5. Stress and anxiety: Several valuable techniques to explore your stress, reduce it and enable you to feel safe.

I also repeat all these classes and more live, 2 classes every week, click here.

Empowering Learning offers you the tools you can use to flourish with your 21st Century diverse thinking skills, proudly moving to your destination, that defines who you are, and that, belongs to you.

Click here for future classes

To explore more of the tips and tricks we offer neurodivergent children and adults, do click here. You will learn much more about your brain and how you can help it be so much more effective. It includes more details of all these points and a lot more. There is even a free introductory video there and the toolkit gives you the option to use the techniques and go back and listen again.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged #mentalimagery, #visualthinking, ADHD, Autism, creaivity, dyslexia, empoweringlearning, mental-health, mentalimages, NCW, neurodivergent, neurodivergenttoolkit, neurodiversity, olivehickmott, visual-spatial-learners | 2 Comments

Visual Thinking 101_79: Imagine if ..

Posted on April 1, 2024 by olivehickmott

Imagine if a whole education system said, “You do belong,” “We have your back”. Suppose we moved away from an obsession to label people as somehow broken and instead focused on teaching every child through scaffolding onto their exceptional diverse visual thinking skills. This is the 21st Century, our 4-year-olds are full of 21st-century diverse thinking skills. These skills are needed in business today, are born in children, and require additional support to develop further, e.g. creativity, imagination, problem-solving, critical thinking, intuition, compassion, and so many more.

Imagine if the whole system said: “We back your potential”. Many readers will have heard a doubting voice saying, “No, this isn’t for you, you don’t belong here, you can’t do that”. I have. Imagine if the whole country commits to unlocking the pride we should have in our neurodiverse community, then look at what we could build: A community where every contribution is equally respected, where you don’t have to change who you are to get on, where whatever your background, you can feel confident that your effort will be rewarded, and the future for you and your children will be better.

Above, I borrowed some words from Sir Keir Starmer’s recent speech and adjusted them for the children and the education system as that is where it all starts. These children could thrive to be exceptional neurodivergent people within an education system that values diversity.

Empowering Learning offers you the tools you can use to flourish through your 21st Century diverse thinking skills, proudly moving to your destination, that defines who you are, and that, belongs to you.

Click here for future classes

To explore more of the tips and tricks we have for neurodivergent children and adults, do click here. There is even a free introductory video there and the toolkit gives you the option to use the techniques and go back and listen again.

Visual Thinking 101_78: Has your creativity gone?

Posted on March 27, 2024 by olivehickmott

A common theme at the Neurodiversity Celebration, last week, the extraordinary amount of creativity shared with neurodivergent people. These are the children who came into the world with all these creative skills and refuse to conform to the auditory sequential way they are being taught to be neurotypical. This may seem harsh but we know that children lose many creative imaginative skills prior to adulthood and today we need all the creative people to solve the world’s problems.

You can see in the cartoon from @Afterskool just where creativity goes when the focus is on conformity. We need to start working on this right now; moving the funding onto teaching visual students how to maintain and develop their exceptional skills and away from diagnosing them as somehow faulty.

Empowering Learning has been working with the strengths of neurodivergent students for 25 years and identified 35 strengths; e.g. creativity, problem solving, intuition, seeing different perspectives, to often seeing a better solution, and so much more. Identifying strengths is invaluable to guide your next step in life.

Click here for future classes

To explore more of the tips and tricks we have for neurodivergent children and adults, do click here. There is even a free introductory video there

Olivehickmott

Visual Thinking 101_88: Reasonable adjustment – how to stop letters moving on the page

Visual Thinking 101_87: Effective Reasonable Adjustment for Literacy

Visual Thinking 101_86: Are Phonics Harder to Learn for Dyslexics?

Visual Thinking 101_85: Do you get light bulb moments?

Visual Thinking 101_84: Have you heard of Aphantasia?

Visual Thinking 101_83: What is visual thinking? ..Thinking in pictures, mental imagery, pictures in the mind?

Visual Thinking 101_82: Free Coaching for Visual thinkers

Visual Thinking 101_80: Is this my ADHD?

Visual Thinking 101_79: Imagine if ..

Visual Thinking 101_78: Has your creativity gone?

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