Auditory Learners

I got a call two weeks ago from the MTC asking if I would be able to take on another missionary.  He had been tutored by one of our sisters, but after one lesson, she didn't know what to do to teach him.  Turns out, this elder has dyslexia and is an auditory learner.  I said, "Oh!  I know what to do for that - my daughter is an auditory learner."  (Did  you know that about Kellie?  She needs to hear books read aloud to her in order to understand them.  I've done a lot of research this last year on it to learn how to help her.)  When I met with the elder, I began by explaining what I knew about auditory learners and told him some of the positive things about that type of learner.  I read aloud to him and had him tell me what he understood - it was very difficult for him.  At one point, he said, "I just want you know, I am not dumb."  I replied, "I know you're not dumb.  You're very intelligent"  and went on to learn that he was a whiz at math, an excellent speaker and an insightful group discussion contributor.  I gave him some techniques to work on, but realized very quickly that he really needed an audio device for his personal study.  You know the rules about that at the MTC, so I followed the chain of command and after a day was able to get permission.  Then it was a matter of finding a player.  Everyone I talked to was positive that there were no iPhones or MP3 players at the MTC, but I kindly said, "I know there are, because I saw my son and his district with them in September."  After another day, we located one and had the scriptures downloaded to it and I was able to present it to this elder.  We studied together with it in Enos:  he had his scriptures open and then also had the Illustrated Book of Mormon open to the section on Enos, and then we would listen to the audio, pausing after a verse or a couple of verses to check comprehension.  What a difference!  It was such a testimony to me of how the Lord provides for His children.  Just before this elder left for the mission field, I spoke with his mission president and was able to get permission for him to use the audio there as well.  

This week, I had another opportunity to be an instrument in this area.  I had a missionary referred to me who came in on Wed who was identified as an auditory learner, just like the one from the week before.  Usually, we don't start tutoring until the following Monday, but I felt strongly when I got his name Thursday evening that I needed to meet with him Friday morning.  So I hauled myself up and to the MTC by 8 am.   This elder is a hardworking farm boy from Rexburg, ID. (He was super tan so I asked him where he'd been to get that tan thinking he'd say Lake Powell or something like that and he said, "I work on a farm.  I'm always outside.")  When he started high school, he knew that he needed a different way to learn, so he searched on his own until he found a computer program that scans in any book and then transfers the page to the screen and reads it aloud to you.  He made sure this program was on every computer at his school and the schools in the area and spent the rest of his high school time promoting its use in schools around the nation.  It changed everything for him - he had been a D student before and he became an A student.  I asked him what he had done in school before he found that program and he said he'd been in special ed classes.  Tragedy!  He was learning less because the schools didn't know how to teach him, not because he wasn't capable of understanding.  I very quickly determined that he needed an audio player at the MTC and went to work getting the necessary approvals.  Since a precedent had already been set because of the work with the other elder, I had an audio player in that elder's hand less than two hours later.  Amazing!  He was so grateful.  He had been preparing himself to struggle and to just accept it and rely on the Lord - such humility and faith - and was praying for help.  When I gave him the audio player, he said, "This is an answer to prayer."  It's wonderful how the Lord is using my experience in helping Kellie to help others, too.  

Auditory learning is a learning style in which a person learns through listening. An auditory learner depends on hearing and speaking as a main way of learning.^[1] Auditory learners must be able to hear what is being said in order to understand and may have difficulty with instructions that are written. They also use their listening and repeating skills to sort through the information that is sent to them.