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Psychology of Math Learning
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Other Learning Style Information
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This forum is for discussing any other learning style theories.
I have referred a few times to my grandson as being autistic and his particular learning styles, which are quite unusual. Some one said that "autism" is a popular label now. I confess. I use the label because people know approximately what it is. Actually, the doctors have no idea about Joshua. They call it "Non-specific brain abnormalities". He has had 2 open heart and 5 brain surgeries with hydrocephaly. It is just easier to say "autistic". His mental symptoms are close to Aspberger Syndrome. He is very logical. He asked a friend whose daughter's name is Arial if she had a son named New Times Roman.
He has a long attention span and is very good in math and science unless he thinks it doesn't make sense. He hates Geometry proofs as he considers them a waste of his time. Socially, he is greatly deficient. He is 14 now. Only time will tell if he will be able to live independently. He is a good teacher to his younger brother, though. He will also spend hours designing a game with flowcharts for his computers. The flowcharts have symbols he invented himself, so forget being able to read them. :)
Janet, thank you for sharing these stories. In the last 10-15 years, many more people with patterns similar to your grandson's have been able to participate in the society and be productive - through computers. There are several studies of how autistic people, for example, find it easier to communicate on social platforms such as Twitter where there are many formal (more logical!) speech conventions, and the social information flow is limited.
So, ironically, computers that severely limit modes of social interaction become great assistive technology for people who have social issues. I think it makes a nice point about learning styles, but I am struggling to express the point concisely just now.
One of my favorite examples is this lady: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnylM1hI2jc
She is severely autistic (she can't talk) but she uses computer tools to make movies like that video.