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While your Facebook and email inbox and cocktail-party discussions are likely full of the loss of Steve Jobs, I can't resist sharing the following video. I watched it yesterday for the first time in a long time; I guess I had sort of an epiphany. It sort of put everything in one place for me... Those famous faces, many of whom I know were grade-skipped as children, or who were 2e.
My newly diagnosed DD9 is on a personal mission to discover how dyslexia can be viewed as an ability rather than a disability. When you are counted among the likes of Einstein, Churchill, Kennedy, Mozart, Edison, Lennon, Disney and Steve Jobs, you can't help but be inspired.
Tomorrow is always fresh, with no mistakes in it. — L.M. Montgomery
My newly diagnosed DD9 is on a personal mission to discover how dyslexia can be viewed as an ability rather than a disability. When you are counted among the likes of Einstein, Churchill, Kennedy, Mozart, Edison, Lennon, Disney and Steve Jobs, you can't help but be inspired.
"Sally Shaywitz, a leading dyslexia neuroscientist at Yale, believes the disorder can carry surprising talents along with its well-known disadvantages. "Dyslexics are overrepresented in the top ranks of people who are unusually insightful, who bring a new perspective, who think out of the box," says Shaywitz. She is co-director of the Center for Learning and Attention at Yale, along with her husband, Dr. Bennett Shaywitz, a professor of pediatrics and neurology."
Jobs�s story has several lessons, especially for members of Generation Jobless and those of us who worry about national decline. The first is that studying the so-called STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and math) isn�t for everyone�not even Steve Jobs. Nor is it the only route to innovation. The second is that in a complex, diversified, but highly specialized consumer economy like our own, some young people will take predictable career paths and become lawyers, doctors, veterinarians, or biotech researchers�but others will wander in the wilderness as they try to find a way to align their interests with the labor market.
That process is often (and unfortunately) called �following your passion,� and it may seem a pretty dumb thing to do at a time when even recent college grads are facing an 8 percent unemployment rate. But the economic growth of the previous decades gave us a flood of new creative jobs: Web designers, social-media consultants, content strategists, actors in one of the many new regional theaters. I could barely suppress a guffaw when a friend told me that her daughter was going to �circus college� a few years ago. Joke�s on me: the daughter is now a trapeze artist for Cirque du Soleil in Florida. (The company, founded only in the mid-1980s, employs 5,000 people.) Another friend�s son wanted to be a blues singer. Who doesn�t? But after living in the Mississippi Delta for nine months and playing nameless bars for many more, he is now signing record contracts and doing European tours.
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My inclinations are more in the Tiger Mom direction, my wife even more so. But even before reading this article I had musings along the lines above. To what extent should one push a child in a direction that seems practical?
"To see what is in front of one's nose needs a constant struggle." - George Orwell
My newly diagnosed DD9 is on a personal mission to discover how dyslexia can be viewed as an ability rather than a disability. When you are counted among the likes of Einstein, Churchill, Kennedy, Mozart, Edison, Lennon, Disney and Steve Jobs, you can't help but be inspired.
Don't forget Gen George S Patton. He was 15 years older than most men in his position and was considered the best at fusing ideas and putting them into action. He almost flunked out of West Point. His parents read to him when they found out he had dyslexia and he learned to memorize everything as a counter. He also learned to work very, very hard to overcome his difficulties and this work ethic followed him until he died.
My inclinations are more in the Tiger Mom direction, my wife even more so. But even before reading this article I had musings along the lines above. To what extent should one push a child in a direction that seems practical?
To me, the only right answer to this question is: none.
- What seems practical today may quickly become impractical. - It's ultimately their lives to lead. - Your child might be headed on a path that is exceptionally difficult to succeed on, but remember, we're talking about exceptional children.
I look upon my mission as providing my kid with a rich and diverse skill set, which increases her options. So if she decides to go the rock star route and fails, she can always fall back on the 9-to-5 grind in a more "practical" field.
I know this may be a bit of a generalization, but many of these people mentioned (Lennon, Jobs, etc.) are very creative, visual, big picture, divergent, outside the box, 'right-brain' types. Visual spatial learners or right-brain types often have learning disabilities (ADHD, dyslexia, autism - ie. Temple Grandin, etc.) or misdiagnosed with them. True, gifted visual spatial learners like Einstein comprise less than 30% of the population, according to Dr. Linda Silverman.
Take heart. Dr. James Goodrich is a top pediatric neurosurgeon in the US and world; he pioneered the surgery to remove the Egyptian conjoined twins about 6 years ago. Read page 2 on this article - http://nymag.com/nymetro/health/features/12470/ He barely graduated high school with a GPA 1.62 and initially went to a community college because no one would admit him with such low grades. Amazing VSL!!
Curiosity and passion may prove to be fruitful and prosperous.
My inclinations are more in the Tiger Mom direction, my wife even more so. But even before reading this article I had musings along the lines above. To what extent should one push a child in a direction that seems practical?
To me, the only right answer to this question is: none.
- What seems practical today may quickly become impractical. - It's ultimately their lives to lead. - Your child might be headed on a path that is exceptionally difficult to succeed on, but remember, we're talking about exceptional children.
I look upon my mission as providing my kid with a rich and diverse skill set, which increases her options. So if she decides to go the rock star route and fails, she can always fall back on the 9-to-5 grind in a more "practical" field.
I have given up "Tiger Mom" in favor of what I want to call "Tiger Cub". So this would be me working just as hard but, instead of pushing Butter where I want her to go, I am pushing her where SHE says she wants to go. DH and myself both come from homes where we feel we didn't get the kind of nurturing we should have. We both had talent search letters, but weren't allowed to go...we have decided that our efforts will best pay off if we let her reach as high as she can and be there to support her, should she fall...
But, as in Dude's rock star example...there are actuall TONS of jobs in the music industry, right? For each mega star, there are probably at least 100+ people involved in the production of a CD or music video. We have a friend who is a sound engineer for big names like Karly Simon and Melissa Etheridge. He might not be a rock star, but he is supremely happy and has a wonderful life and wonderful family. If my kid wants to reach for rock star, then I am going to say go for it and not tell her about the "other" music jobs until she comes asking
I get excited when the library lets me know my books are ready for pickup...
