Visual thinkers.

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I am a visual thinker.

I would like advice on study techniques as I've been told stuff like "make notes" or "draw diagrams" but I'm dyspraxic which means writing and drawing are hard to say the least. I have tried typing my notes but my dyspraxia makes typing slow. Also I am perfectionist so I end up almost copying the book out because I'm scared to leave out information.

When I read a textbook, I can often "zoom in" to a page from memory, if there is a table or a diagram. It is harder with text but I'm good at remembering things that stand out on the page.

As examples of my visual memory / thinking, I never write shopping lists as I can "walk through" my kitchen and house in my head and then I know what to order (I do online food shopping as I get panic attacks in supermarkets), also I am very good at games or tests which include visual memory.

Any inputs on studying techniques for visual thinkers (but taking into consideration my dyspraxia-related difficulties in using my hands) would be appreciated.

Note: so far I have studied just by repetitive reading, which works for topics I like, but I struggle with topics I find boring.

I store, manipulate, and create images in my mind.
Besides communicating to others for presentation or paper, there is no reason to write or draw things outside your mind, so I don't use any study techniques.

Make models, and dioramas when taking in new information. Watch videos on whatever you're trying to learn. Make models, graphs, dioramas, and documentaries when presenting information to others. Work on your drawing skills. Try out image editing software. Go to museums.

If you're good at retaining bits and pieces from lectures, get hold of some of those audiolearn disks or check out some of those Great Lectures DVDs from your library.

What field or fields are you drawn to?

i use a ruler and make diagrams out of simple lines.

The big trick is to use lots of colored sheets of paper, to add that extra dimension to your notes.

Thanks for the suggestions.

I am doing a Pharmacology degree but I have Biochemistry and Immunology modules I'm stuck on.

I will try drawing diagrams buy believe me, evey time I put pen to paper, it is guaranteed to take hours.

To be honest I like the idea of manipulating the images in my mind

Watching videos of cell signaling online (animated cartoons) helps a lot.

I know I have the capacity to remember. My dad just says I "need to get over this mental block".

It's Biochemistry and Immunology that I forget quickly.

It'd almost as if my brain chooses what it wants to learn. Most annoying.

I cannot draw it seems. I tried doing a diagram and I was repeatedly erasing it out and starting again. My handwritten parts are illegible and the amount of extreme energy I had to put into it was annoying.

Basically my dyspraxia makes any fine motor coordination a major struggle. Hence why I get extra time and a computer in the exams.

I'm going to train my brain to use the power of its memory to not have to use notes to study. If I can memorise my kitchen or a whole train map with ease then I can remember Biochemistry and Immunology.

Just got to keep my concentration going.

Get a six inch ruler, and stick to it.

I can try.

I am a visual thinker too. I am really bad with words and have to think a lot when I speak. I can play films in my head that I come up with when playing the movie. I am good at memorizing what I see. I am good at recognizing peoples faces for example.

But I suck at words...

According to this: http://life-with-aspergers.blogspot.co. ... s.html?m=1

I might not be as much of a pure visual thinker as I thought.

Because I am very good with maths (although I work out problems visually) and i am good with learning train maps (which could be visual thinker but then it could be a mix of other things too).

I am not good at building things, but that is more due to my coordination problems.

However when I think of patterns or lists, I think of them visually.

Comments?

I'd say you're still a visual thinker. You said you still visualize everything, including maths. Math is very conducive to visualization. I never really fit into any of Dr. Grandin's thinking types, either; I think they can overlap.

I'm also a visual thinker and I also struggled to figure out how to take notes. I found typing out notes to be easier because I'm a very slow writer if I want to write notes that are actually legible. However, they had to be textual; I tried doing concept maps but I found it difficult to congest ideas to a few words and ended up missing many things because I was focusing so much on making everything concise.

So I don't really have any good advice to offer here, sorry

Makes sense.

I learn best by reading and looking at diagrams in textbooks / online.

I've been trying making diagrams by hand and on the computer. Not helpful because my coordination and pedantic, obsessive nature of learning absolutely everything means I can't compress info.

Hey SteelMaiden,

I'm a visual thinker as well. I tend to use lists with key words - the key word acts as a "key" to open up the "image file" or "video" in my head.

For example: if I was in a lecture I'd write down a few keywords from the lecture and was able to remember visually the parts of the lecture later just by seeing the keywords.

I also use highlighters a lot to catagorize the keywords into categories. Kind of like a cross-reference system. I have a bin on my desk with a yellow, red, orange, gren, blue and purple highlighter.

That's interesting eggheadjr. I am bad with remembering people though so I have invented my own "language" of symbols and abbreviations to make my note taking in lectures faster. I've had people say "what on earth is this?!?!" when looking at my lecture notes. When I get home I type up my notes with lots of colours and also diagrams off the internet.

I used to highlight so much in textbooks at school but now I have this need to keep my textbooks in pristine condition.

I'm rubbish at learning from textbooks that are just black text on white for pages and pages and pages. I buy textbooks with coloured headings and plenty of diagrams if possible. I have a lot of science textbooks with the word "Illustrated" in the title.

I can reproduce almost any diagram in a textbook that I've seen at will. Text is harder. Numbers I remember well too.

Lol I just realised people may think "how can SteelMaiden be a visual thinker while having a visual processing disorder?"

Answer is: my visual processing disorder doesn't affect my mental imagery. Yes, I need overlays to read and I have to wear Irlen lenses at uni, and yes I often fall down the stairs, but when it comes to things I see clearly (focusing my vision on one object helps), my memory is very detailed of it later on.

Me and my father are both visual thinkers, and we both don't take notes or write lists or anything else on paper, because it is slower, harder, and less flexible for visual thinkers to put things on paper or verbally sequence/categorize them than to flash up a bunch of mental images and play with them in our minds. The hard part for us is communicating our thoughts using language to other people. Even communicating through pictures on paper or computer is annoying, because it is slow and takes time to make the pictures.