More Bad News About Lead

Research continues to pile up on the ugly effects of lead, and new research seems to suggest the level of lead exposure that can be dangerous to be lower than previously thought.

The CDC lists risk factors I had never even thought about, including "take home" lead from construction sites.

OSHA has a couple of pages on workplace lead precautions. And the CDC has a page about lead in drinking water.

While there's no reason to get paranoid about it, it's also a good thing to be informed about and know that your child is not exposed to any unnecessary risks.

Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic National Headquarters

Just can't say enough good things about the Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic National Headquarters.

Listening to books on tape can be such a useful resource for students with Dyslexia. Not having to read with your eyes frees up your visual processing to imagine the book unfolding in your head.

I makes me wonder how much damage TV is doing to our kids. When we listen to a story that doesn't have pictures attached, there really is no limit to the pictures we can develop in our heads. I was watching the Matrix last night, which is just visually stunning, but I can't help but think how much better off I would be if I had to imagine those visual on my own.

Enough of my rant, definitely check this site out.

English School Goes Back to Victorian Education!

Let's bring back canes, drills, and forcing lefties to use their right hand!

In a great example of experiential learning, a class in Gloucester got a first hand lesson in the wonders of modern education.

Their teacher brought back Victorian educational methods for the day. Although they did spare the rod, it sounds like they had to endure a lot of the other components of period education: costumes, separate gender classes, and drills, drills, drills. It shouldn't be much of a stretch to realize why this kind of system created so many dyslexics! Kudos to their teacher, Jessica Sampson, for a daring and creative lesson.

While we still have a long way to go in our education system to recognize the need for visual-experiential education, it's always good to realize how far we have come, and to realize that there are a lot of great teachers out there doing some really innovative things.

Perseverance Personified

Cayla Pacheco doesn't seem to be able to take "you can't" for an answer. This is just an unbelieveable story about a young woman who has fought through a ton of challenges and taken them all in stride. Buried deep at the bottom of the story describing her effort that collected two trucks full of supplies for service members and their families is a mention of her dyslexia:


"Yes, I have to give a speech," said Cayla, who suffers from dyslexia, "a one-minute speech. Then if I am a" -- her mother helped her finish her sentence -- "Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Award finalist, I have to give a three-minute speech.

"I'm just worrying about the one-minute speech right now."

While I believe Cayla might have struggles with her written school-work, you can't separate out the vision of this young woman from the way that she learns. Cayla knows no boundaries because she has the ability to visualize that which does not exist in the world and create it. Countless other visionairies before her, from Disney to Einstein similarly "struggled" with Dyslexia, and were "still" able to acheive great things. The sooner we start realizing that learning differently is something to be celebrated, not "suffered", the more Caylas we will find in our own neighborhoods, schools, and homes.

Welcome to the 3D Learner Blog

This blog is all about providing tools for visual-experiential learners, people who learn best when they see and experience information. For a good introduction to who we are and what we do, check out What is a 3D Learner?