Learning to write with correct spelling
Hi, I have a grand-daughter (10.5 yr old) who I (non-aphantasic) am teaching to spell, and I am in no doubt that she has aphantasia. It would be very helpfult to receive feedback from a person (s) with aphantasia. Susan retains the correct spelling of a word mainly by remembering how to produce it correctly (method) rather than what it looks like. Through repetition of writing a word correctly, she can recall the mechanical way she wrote letters and the word. Further complementary key routes to produce the correctly spelt word: using sound to letter(s) mapping; and grammatical rules, seem to work well. Seeing how it is correctly spelt has never improved spelling. Would love to hear others input and thoughts on this. Carole
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Lois Tucker•recently•edited
I have complete aphantasia but have always excelled at anything involving words. How sounds and shapes make up words, how periods are ends of sentences, what paragraphs and chapters look like are things I learned when I around 5 years old and it unlocked spelling along with word meaning. I looked up anything I didn't know in a dictionary & learned more that way. I don't see words in my mind, I just know them. Maybe something similar would help? You don't say how old she is. Spelling is as much knowing pronunciation as meaning and letters.
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Neal White•recently•edited
I have aphantasia and struggle to spell certain words to this day.
Practice (repetition) and memorization worked for me. I remember the letters of a word as a sequence. Learning to touch type also helped. My fingers learn the sequences of letters, even when I sometimes have trouble spelling a word when I think about it.
When my wife, who has hyperphantasia, learned that I don't see words in my mind, said (in an alarmed voice): "How can you spell?" She actually sees the word letters overlaying her visual field, even when her eyes are open. I wish it were so easy for me.
Reassure your daughter that lots of people have trouble spelling and that aphantasia is not a handicap, but simply a different way of experiencing the world. There are some advantages of having aphantasia: My wife is troubled by bad memories and dreams that feel as real as real-life. She says she sometimes wishes she had aphantasia too.
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