From Susan Parkinson, Arts Dyslexia Trust
In her article on dyscalculia, Laura Spinney ignores the differences in the way we process and organise auditory and visual information (24 January, p 40).
The auditory system organises sounds according to their relationship in time, which is one-dimensional. The visual system organises images according to their relationship in space, which is three-dimensional. Almost all subjects taught in schools are based on the sequential, one-directional languages of words and numbers. Learning difficulties, such as dyscalculia and dyslexia, are experienced by those who learn better using visual techniques.
We learn to count through spoken numbers. To the visual-spatial thinker, the main understanding of that number will come from what is seen. But there is nothing about the spatial proportion of the symbol “5” to suggest it indicates five of anything at all.
For both dyscalculics and dyslexics, the problem to be overcome is how to translate the audio-sequential information into appropriate 3D images.
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Ashford, Kent, UK
