The Associator, The Sequencer and Communication
Greetings!
Visual people often use association to form memories. When they learn a new idea, they associate it with images already in their own knowledge base of images.
The opposite of the brain's associator is the verbal pathway, or sequencer. While the associator operates outside the constraints of time, the sequencer is solidly based on time sequencing. This is what enables us to think in paragraphs and to tell stories ("First, this happened. And then that happened. And then next ...").
Understanding the consequences of one's actions depends on the time-based sequencing of cause and effect. When my son Whitney was age 4, he wanted to jump off the roof to fly like Superman. He didn't understand the danger involved because he had no understanding of cause and effect. A sense of cause and effect can only develop if you have the ability to correlate information, using language.
If life is simply a series of recurring images with no ability to correlate them (language), then there can be no connection between cause and effect and children may engage in dangerous behavior with literally no concept of the potential danger.
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The associator can also lead a Maverick to create messages that are difficult for the rest of us to understand. Mark, a college student diagnosed with autism, was asked, "How did you get here today?" and he replied:
"I took the train in from Long Island. My family went to the beach. Maybe I will be an engineer. The reason I like engineering is that there are serious problems. I have always been good in math. When teachers are difficult to understand. Like Dr. Einstein. There was an exhibit on Einstein at the history museum. Did you see it?"
This disjointed speech was based on the association of visual images. In Mark's attempt to communicate, he was unable to express the visuals inside his mind, so he jumped from one interior picture to another without using words to communicate the association between one image and the next. For Mark, these associations were self-evident, but for the rest of us, there seemed to be no connections.
Here is a "translation" of Mark's thoughts into sequencer language:
"I took the train in from Long Island. The train reminds me of a picture in my mind from the time my family took me to the beach and we rode the train. A train is designed by mechanical engineers. Maybe I will be an engineer. I like engineering because there are problems to solve that require math skills. I have always been good in math, except at times when my math teachers were difficult to understand. I recently saw a video on Dr. Albert Einstein and learned that he had a hard time understanding his teachers, too. There was an exhibit on Einstein at the history museum. Did you see it?"
Having a communication disorder can result in a very complex life socially, academically and vocationally, and can even result in dangerous behavior.
If the behaviors above describe your child, I strongly urge you to make an appointment for an evaluation.
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Parent Corner
"I notice that his sequential thinking is improving. During the hokey pokey song, he knows which body part comes next. He points to his head to signal that put your head in and out and shake it all about. He is very successful in this song, and is making new discoveries the more we listen to it. We started out by taking his arm, putting it in, then out, same for leg. Then he got the arm part down. Then he started doing the foot part. Now he does whole self in, and head in too!" (Mother of a Toddler Maverick)
"My son has been working from the sequencer and has done quite well. Even when we switched our roles, he adapted quickly to being the teacher. He seemed proud that he was able to reinstruct me on the task I was to perform. When I forgot a character, he reminded me without hesitation. Amazing!" (Mother of a 13-year-old Maverick)
"Yesterday we used that cookie recipe for a sequencing exercise - that was brilliant on your part!!! They were delicious, too! We got a new book with all cookie recipes, a photo of every kind and step-by-step instructions. He's doing a good job with them. He's so encouraged when the cookies turn out good, too!" (Mother of a 12-year-old Maverick)
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Free Screening
The visual brain is very powerful and because of this overwhelming power, children can have problems with attention, memory, cooperation, motivation and communication. The visual brain can become the enemy of the auditory-verbal brain and cause it to malfunction.
Find out if this is the situation you are facing by scheduling an appointment with my assistant. Just click http://brain-engineering-labs.genbook.com. Choose "Free Telephone Screening" and select a day and time that's open and we will call you. It's as easy as that.
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Maverick "Caterpillars" on You Tube!
One of the animal songs and dance movements we use in the "AMP Up With The Animals" program is the Curly Little Caterpillar. One of the Moms captured three Mavericks as they acted out the Caterpillar movements and learned the lyrics, and then posted it on You Tube. You can watch it here:
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Quotes from a Visual Thinker
"I grew up playing Legos. I think that was an important factor in shaping the person that I am." This was from Pasha Sadri, co-founder of polyvore.com, a web site that lets fashion afficionados create ensembles from pictures of merchandise and visuals found all over the web. Members then post their "set" for others to see and comment on. It's "a lot like playing paper dolls with pictures of real clothes," according to the article about the web site.
Sadri says that, like creating things with Legos, when you put on clothes "you are making that sort of assembly from pieces that you have and it's highly integrated with your identity." He says what inspired him to create the web site was that he "felt that it would be great to work on something that has a visual component. If you look at all the different types of visual media, images are the ones your brain processes the fastest."
(From "Fashion Democracy," by Alexandra Jacobs, New Yorker magazine, 3/29/10)
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written by Dr. Cheri Florance, Ph.D. with Marrin Gazzaniga
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Thank you and we look forward to helping you soon.
Cheri Florance, Ph.D.
Brain Engineering Labs
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