In Search of Words

For many years schools have used linear, words-based teaching methods, assuming that this is the most effective way of educating our children. Learner who think in a holistic, visual way have consequently been marginalised and in many cases branded with a 'learning difficulty' label, simply because they think and learn in a way that is incongruous with traditional classroom teaching. Teachers and parents can struggle to know how encourage this 'different' way of thinking, often because they simply don't understand it.


In this book Oliver West offers a unique insight into the minds of a visual thinker. Strongly dyslexic himself, he has developed a unique portfolio of visual thinking techniques for learning and personal development. These techniques and strategies enable visual thinkers and those with dyslexic tendencies to discover why they think differently and to find learning strategies which work for them. They have proven successful in helping learners in all levels of education, from pre-school to postgraduate; students who have continually struggled with traditional education have found their ability to learn transformed through the use of Oliver West 'Footnotes' techniques. For many visual thinkers they have become an essential tool for overcoming day to day frustrations in memory and communication, in education and beyond.


The scope of the strategies is not limited to visual thinkers: learners who have only ever thought in a linear way have discovered stimulating and efficient new ways of learning, while teachers and trainers in business as well as education are realising the effectiveness of Footnotes techniques as a powerful teaching tools.


This book introduces some of the main characteristics of visual thinkers, and then presents a range of Footnotes visual thinking techniques in a dyslexia-friendly format.