About education: here’s what I don’t understand. On the one hand, you have the child – this incredibly wonderful organism that has had millions of years to evolve a beautifully complex brain designed to be naturally curious, playful, vital, creative, and joyful. On the other hand, you have this amazing world: exquisite life forms, unbelievable...Read More
Imagine that Leonardo da Vinci was a child growing up in contemporary times and school authorities had to determine whether or not he should receive an IEP (Individual Education Plan). Here’s what it might look like. Principal: ”Okay, I think we’re ready to start. Who wants to get the ball rolling?”‘ School Psychologist: ”Well, I ran...Read More
Tests have become de regueur in education over the past decade, with so many teachers being assessed on their ability to increase their students’ test scores. I’ve developed this test (not yet standardized) specifically for teachers (parents can take it too). The objective of this test is to help educators get in touch with their...Read More
‘’Imagine with me for a moment that everyone in the world has been suddenly transformed into a flower. Some of us are petunias, some are begonias, others of us are tulips, and some are daisies. Now, I want you to imagine that in this culture of flowers, the psychiatrists are the roses. Let’s take a...Read More
Here’s an article that I did as a guest blogger for National Autism Resources, an organization that provides tools and products to help make the world of kids diagnosed with autism more in sync with their unique challenges and gifts. In it I describe a new way of explaining to kids with brain differences how...Read More
I just received in my email box a link to a video made by the kids at Yealey Elementary School, in Florence, Kentucky, reviewing my new children’s book: Smarts! Everybody’s Got Them. Intended for kids ages 5 to 9, the book presents Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences through pictures and words. Each of the...Read More
My father went to medical school at McGill University in Montreal, Canada in the 1940’s at a time when there were some really distinguished physicians walking in the halls such as Hans Selye (the originator of the concept of ”stress”) and Wilder Penfield, who did a series of amazing experiments with surgery for epilepsy which...Read More
It’s a well-known fact that many authentic Persian carpets have deliberate mistakes woven into them because of the Islamic belief that only Allah is perfect, and that a perfect carpet would be an insult to Him. The belief makes it clear that humans are innately imperfect. Unfortunately, in our American schools, teachers often expect students...Read More
Lately, there’s been a resurgence in the ”reading wars,” which is the term used to describe the dispute between supporters of a ”phonics” or ”phonemic awareness” method for teaching reading and those who instead promote a ”whole language” approach. This war has been going on ever since 1955 when Rudolf Flesch wrote the best-selling book...Read More
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