07-24-2006, 04:29 PM
I was listening to the radio the other week and I was impressed by some of the things that Prof Mel Levine had to say about the education of kids who have atypical types of minds and are having difficulties in the classroom.
I don't know if the prof has heard of the word "neurodiversity", but he certainly appears to understand the idea. Interestingly, some of the kinds of kids discussed either were autistic or sounded like they were somewhat autistic, but one child, a girl who was really bad at maths, I thought fit the category of being the opposite of autistic. She was very bright at literature, articulate, outgoing and so verbally-minded that she was significantly impaired in her ability to think visually.
This is info about the prof:
Professor of Pediatrics and Director of the Clinical Center for the Study of Development and Learning University of North Carolina School of Medicine Chapel Hill, North Carolina
He wrote the book "A Mind at a Time" which I have not read. Has anyone read it? What did you think of it if you have?
This is my favourite quote from the radio show:
I don't know if the prof has heard of the word "neurodiversity", but he certainly appears to understand the idea. Interestingly, some of the kinds of kids discussed either were autistic or sounded like they were somewhat autistic, but one child, a girl who was really bad at maths, I thought fit the category of being the opposite of autistic. She was very bright at literature, articulate, outgoing and so verbally-minded that she was significantly impaired in her ability to think visually.
This is info about the prof:
Professor of Pediatrics and Director of the Clinical Center for the Study of Development and Learning University of North Carolina School of Medicine Chapel Hill, North Carolina
He wrote the book "A Mind at a Time" which I have not read. Has anyone read it? What did you think of it if you have?
This is my favourite quote from the radio show:
Quote:
Let me say first of all that one of the most important things any school can do and any parent can do is to make sure that a child's strengths are becoming stronger and stronger and stronger. I think it's more important to manage a child's strengths than it is to fret over its weaknesses, because in the long run you'll make your living on your strengths. You're going to find meaning and gratification in life by using your strengths. So that as that child goes on through school, if you notice that he has a wonderful mechanical aptitude, just really understands how things work and take apart and put together things magnificently, that has enormous implications. That could be future architect, or engineer, or mechanic of some sort, or he could be designing new forms of technology. But we also have to be alert to possible weaknesses or dysfunctions that a child may be having.
Link to radio show:
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/allinthemind/st...679087.htm