The Melody of Language

Newborns' Cry Melody Is Shaped by Their Native Language

Scientist at University of Würzburg found that human fetuses are able to memorize auditory stimuli from the external world by the last trimester of pregnancy, with a particular sensitivity to melody contour in both music and language. Newborns prefer their mother's voice over other voices and perceive the emotional content of messages conveyed via intonation contours in maternal speech (“motherese”).This prenatal exposure to native-language prosody influences newborns' perception leading to a specific cry melody. Later on surrounding speech influences the newborn's sound production. http://www.cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822(09)01824-7

This research confirms what dr.Tomatis already found 50 years ago: we are born with the memory of our mothers voice. He based his wonderful listening therapy on this melody of language. More info: www.listeningfitness.com

Lot Blom writes in Paravisie Magazine about picture thinking

An excellent article about the gift of dyslexia appeared in the September issue of Paravisie Magazine. In my contribution to this article I write about picture thinking and give my opinion about how we should deal with dyslexia in the Netherlands. This contribution can also be found on my website: www.dyslexie-info.nl

Creative thinkers have a difficult time at school

Picture thinking is a talent, but at school it is not estimated for its worth. Creative thinking, finding original solutions, looking at things from another perspective. Those characteristics are much needed in our society, but at school they lead to lower appraisal. Students with restless minds and bodies - far from being cultivated for their energy and curiosity - are ignored or even stigmatized. The talent is wasted.
Sir Ken Robinson, expert on the field of creativity and innovation, argues that it's because we've been educated to become good workers, rather than creative thinkers. "We are educating people out of their creativity," Robinson says.
Sir Ken Robinson held his TEDTalk in June 2006 , but the content is still up to date.

Look at: http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/66

Compensation for dyslexia treatment

From Jan 1st dyslexic children in the Netherlands get compensation for dyslexia treatment. Sounds good, but how good is it? The compensation is geared at one kind of treatment only, so parents have no free choice about what they want for their child. Compare it with dental care: if artificial teethings are compensated but dental crowns not... how much choice do you have when you have no money?
Healthcare compensation for dyslexia also means that suddenly on TV you can hear people talk about dyslexia being a 'disease'. I shiver when I hear that. Nobody protests, we are not crazy... for illnesses and diseases we get compensated. Financially you rob yourself when you persist that dyslexia is a talent, a creative, visual way of thinking.
The schools have to take care of the implementation of the whole plan. Seems not a bad idea, but the logic rattles: now the teachers have to diagnose the disease called dyslexia. Or is this a way to admit that the problem is in fact educational?

picture thinking and science

Visualisation makes boring labwork appealing for a greater audience. That is the idea behind the 2008 International Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge. Fascinating images and graphics make the findings of scientists accessible.
Some images seem modern versions of the oldfashioned schoolpictures of the Dutch painter Jetses, like this detail of an image of micro organisms in a watery environment, that was rewarded with an Honourable Mention.
Another branch of science that got an Honourable Mention: theology, with an impressive graphic of the many cross references between the chapters of the Bible. The colourfull graphic, looking like a rainbow, makes you understand the depth of this kind of literature research. The first price was for a visualisation of the human circulatory system. You can find it on the website of NewScientist.

Look at: http://technology.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn14809

picture thinking live

In the garden of the castle Haarzuilens at Utrecht, people could be what they want to be, for one day: elf, princes, dragon... Even a king, with your own castle.. No need for competition: Everybody is beautiful, everybody is different. Seemingly opposites go arm in arm. Different is fun. The sun is shining. This is the reality of imagination. This is picturethinking live...

Picture thinking at sea

Today I saw the Thinker of Rodin at the museum and now I have to think myself. On the background the sun dissapears in the ocean. I am at the Cliffhouse, San Francisco. Just around the corner the Bay begins. This place is one of the nicest corners in the world.
Yesterday I went to Alcatraz. That place makes you think too... Beautiful island, great flora and fauna and on it this ridiculous prison. There they had nothing to do except thinking. On the audiotour a prisoner tells how he occupied himself with visualisation. He could see anything he wanted in his mind.
This Thinker of Rodin, inprisoned in his unleverable body, is that what he is doing? And why does he lean with his right elbow on his left knee? To allow lateral thinking?

Images that were not yet there, but nevertheless were made

Young children expose their art in the Stedelijk Museum CS Amsterdam.
'Looking for coincidence' Symposium on December 12th 2007
How do we deal with the creative potential of children? How do we lead them towards their own learning processes? Which role can artists, teachers and musea play? These and other questions are raised in this experiment in the museum and at the Symposium on December 12th.
Six weeks long young children (4 - 7 years old) worked together with 15 artists on concepts like: collecting, order, time, experiment, coincidence and the beauty of colours. Main inspiration for the procedure was the Reggio Emilia approach.
The words written on the wall were expressed by a little girl and mean: 'Images that were not yet there, but nevertheless were made.'

http://www.toevalgezocht.nl

In wich Punch tries to read and Ron Davis gets wooden shoes from a pirate

At the DDAI Symposium held on Octobre 15, 16 and 17th 2007 in Las Vegas, Jan Klaassen, the Dutch Punch, joined the Dutch delegation. He was supposed to be an example of the great succes the Davis counseling has in the Netherlands. Unfortunately he did not bring his glasses and the Dutch girls from Volendam had trouble reading as well. Luckily a parrot could read the name on the parcel.



Ron could confirm that his name was on the parcel and was very happy with the antiquarian edition of 'Treasure Island' he got. Punch wanted to go and try his luck in the Las Vegas casino's, but Judy did not let him. The Dutch girls sang a song about a dyslexic Dutch boy, called Berend Botje, who accidently discovered America when he confused left and right and got lost. A real cultural exchange, this performance.
Next there was a pirate, who gave Ron a pair of wooden shoes, because he had to leave his shoes behind in New Zealand.
In Christchurch NZ a piece of art was made of Rons shoes. They are bronzed and you can go and stand in them. Standing in the shoes of a dyslexic person really makes you THINK DIFFERENT!
Information about the exhibition in Christchurch NZ: www.cmct.org.nz/dde/location.html

With Ron Davis in New Zealand

I just returned from Kaikoura, Nieuw Zeeland, where Ron Davis worked on his new autism approach with a small group of professionals from all over the world. In octobre his new book about autism will be ready. On the picture fltr Cathy Dodge Smith (Canada), Ana Lima (Brasilia), Ron Davis (USA) and Lot Blom (Netherlands). It worked out to be a beautiful program, with a structure different from the well known counseling week for dyslexia. Ten days working with Ron and a number of colleagues’s on a program like that...was a great experience. Like was New Zealand. The conference had long working days, but some time was kept free for excursions. I did swim with delphins, watch whales and made a tour on horseback. On the second picture you see the Kaikoura Mountains. This was the view we had during the conference. In New Zealand dyslexia is recently recognised officially as a learning problem. The connection between dyslexia and picture thinking is mentioned. The governement policy will be directed at improvement of education. A relief compared to the Dutch situation, where rusted authorities almost succeeded in declaring dyslexia a disease, and picture thinking is seen as a disability.

Dyslexia and picture thinking on TV!

In the program Één Vandaag (National TV, Nederland 1) Tuesday April 10th a video about dyslexia and picturethinking was broadcasted. We got a lot of reactions. Most people found the video to be very clarifying. My thanks to these two wonderful kids: Bram and Loes, who gave permission to film them while they where working with me.
The best reaction was of a child who spontaneously said: 'But why don't I get this?'. It is true, all children should have access to this way of learning. A link to the video can be found on www.dyslexie-info.nl. We are working on English subtitels... Information in English about the counseling can be found on www.dyslexia.com

Dostojewski and the winning World Press Photo

From NRC, february 10th 2007: ‘A good photo is like a beautiful sentence,’ says Spencer Platt, the American winner of World Press Photo 2006. He looks for literature in his pictures. ‘A photographer should make the world magic. Like you do when you read a book of Dostojewski.’

Dostojewski... the winning picture of Platt can indeed be read as a novel of Dostojewski. Only when you look longer at it, the story starts to unfold. Slowly you discover more layers... more stories come out of the picture. The stories of the people in the cabriolet making pictures of bombarded houses with their cellphones. The story of each separate person, and their relationships. And always wondering about Gods mysterious ways, I see the story is about me too, about all of us. In some way or another we all are part of the story. Very Dostojewski!

Practise thinking in pictures

Writing a poem is a way of thinking in pictures. So start writing poems!
If you never wrote a poem before, begin like this: choose three words that have a clear picture . Choose a thing, an animal and a color or a feeling. These three words form the basis for your poem. Take a paper and a pencil. Say the three words a few times aloud, and look in your mind at the thing, the animal and the color or feeling. Now you start writing down anything that comes up. This will bring about a connection between the thing, the animal and the color or feeling. The connection does not need to be logic. It may be nonsense. You can use the words several times if you want. Dive into the stream of sound, but make sure the three words stay clear pictures. You will notice that more pictures come up and that the pictures start streaming too.

Infinite variations

Do you believe that you cannot think in pictures, but want to learn: start reading poetry. The words in a poem evoke a lot of pictures. Not only the pictures of the writer, also your own! Poems can be seen, tasted and heard. You can jump in with all your senses.
To inspire you an English poem from the Dutch poet Leo Vroman, who lives in the USA.

A psalm for Albert Einstein

System! If You must surrender
to Your own lust for rolling dice
why does nothing You create
in the splendor of our Fate
ever happen twice?

No tottering glass can almost fall
and fall to break into the same
pieces twice – who can recall
one shard by a previous name?

No child is ever steered again
into the same last night
and none of us can claim the right
to live in vain.

If Thou throwst any dice at all
Thou must have shaped it like a ball
and feast upon its thunder
of infinite variations,

Thy bowling ball
all beasts and nations
must fall under.


This poem is a treat. Like good chocolat. Taste a piece and wait what happens. Infinite variations. I especially like the dice, shaped like a ball.

Visual literacy

‘Children should learn to ask questions about what they see. Teach them to interpret the pictures,’ was the conclusion of a symposium about children and picture culture, that was held in cooperation with the Fotomuseum at Rotterdam. When children are able to interpret visual information and the messages behind it, they can deal better with the enormous amount of pictures they have to digest every day. This trained way of looking is called visual literacy. With the exposition for children: IK KLIK, that was brought about in cooperation with children, the Fotomuseum wants to contribute to the development of children when dealing with the continuous flow of images that reaches them daily.

The exposition at the Nederlands Fotomuseum in Rotterdam can be visited until 3 december 2006

www.nederlandsfotomuseum.nl