Sherri Malouf wrote:
> I
> had this thought -- what if all of the people we have labeled as
ADD or
> other kinds of mind/thinking disorders actually are the more progressive
> thinkers? (snip) what if all of this represents a shift in the way human beings are
> thinking/being and it doesn't fit accpeted standards or expectations? We
> don't fit into the scientific/reductionist methodology so there is
> something wrong with us
I had this thought: Difference has no valence. Yet, we have been
programmed to think of differences as better or worse or as you state -
more/less progressive.
Most of the labelling in schools was based on imprecise & inappropriate
measures and limited knowledge about how the brain functions. Knowing you,
Sherri, any negative labelling of your capabilities had to be based on
gross ignorance on the school's part. In the past 10 years we have made
amazing progress in brain research which has led us to recognize multiple
intelligences, different paths of knowing, etc.
Assessment is an objective finding of the facts-e.g. your husband gathers
information/thinks in a different pattern from you.When we then evaluate
this or judge its relative merit as better or worse, we perpetuate the
pattern we were taught. What other options are there? How can we model
them?
> W. (As a side note -- just to prove that I could
> think this way if I had to -- when I finally went to University -- in
> Great Biritain -- I studied and have a BSc in Economics and Law and
> conducted statistical analysis in my Masters degree).
>
> It's just another evening of upside down thinking. We always seem to want
> to fix what is different and doesn't fit in instead of thinking of it as
> progress and advancement...
-- Carol Sager, Sager Educational Enterprises http://www.erinet.com/patterwc/CLIIN/ Critical Linkages II Newsletter; 21 Wallis Road, Chestnut Hill, MA 02167; V.(617)469-9644; Fax(same)-9639Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>