Rate this book

The Power Of Neurodiversity: Unleashing The Advantages Of Your Differently Wired Brain (2011)

by Thomas Armstrong(Favorite Author)

3.88 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

0738215244 (ISBN13: 9780738215242)

languge

English

genre

Nonfiction

publisher

Da Capo Lifelong Books

review 1: I absolutely LOVED Armstrong's exposure of the sometimes alienating nature of American values for non-neuro-typical folks. When someone doesn't fit the mold, they are overlooked or disdained. Everyone deserves to be valued for the strengths they bring to community. He doesn't gloss over the fact that states of being like schizophrenia and depression can be miserable. Instead he brings an awareness of the potential gifts within these altered states of being.
review 2: It is hard to argue with the central premise of this book – that we should look for and value the positive attributes of every individual. I also agree that people need to respect neurodiversity. Neurotypical people should seek to understand and appreciate people whose brains work differently.I... more think the author approaches the subject from the perspective of psychology. He wants society to help individuals recognize and nurture their most positive human attributes. Even if an individual is mentally or intellectually atypical, society can still value the individual’s creativity or cheerful demeanor for example. While I think this is a wonderful theory, I think it is also a bit utopian. In essence, the author is saying “from each according to his ability, to each according to his need.” While many families do operate according to this Marxist principle, modern industrialist societies don’t. For better or for worse, we value the things that have market value. As a result, I think the ideas in this book are in fact gaining wide acceptance when it comes to recognizing the strengths of many people with ADD/ADHD, high-functioning autistic people and dyslexic people. In the modern labor market, these people may be able to find a perfect niche: the salesperson with ADD, the computer programmer with Asperger’s, the entrepreneur with dyslexia. But for others, the person’s positive value may not have a market value. People cannot necessarily parlay being creative or athletic or loveable into a job that pays the rent (although in some cases they can).I thought the description of Howard Gardner’s concept of multiple intelligences was very good (linguistic, logical-mathematical, spatial, bodily, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalist). The older I get, the more I have come to appreciate this way of thinking about intelligence. Personally, I would score high in “logical-mathematical,” which is what is measured by the traditional IQ test, but I am average or below average in the other types of intelligence. I think that recognizing this has really helped me focus my self-improvement efforts in a way that is likely to increase my happiness in life. Getting back to my point in the previous paragraph, however, I think it is naive to believe that everyone possesses intelligence, and that it’s just a matter of figuring out which kind. Unfortunately, I think some people fall short in every type of intelligence, just as some people excel with respect to many types of intelligence.Some other things I learned from this book that I thought were interesting are:neoteny – retaining of childlike qualities into later development. The more evolved a species is, the more likely there are to be childlike features held into adulthood. e.g., curiosity, playfulness, wonder, creativity, flexibility, inventiveness and humor. People with ADD have a deficit paying attention to routine (and often boring) events that have often been externally imposed. But they excel at paying attention to lots of different things at once (roaming) and hyperfocus on things that interest them (homing).The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association fails to distinguish between those who become depressed as a result of a specific cause and those who become depressed without cause! That seems absurd to me.In general, this book had a lot of good material on “niche construction” – modifying your surrounding environment to fit the needs of your unique brain. While it is important to change yourself to fit in better with your environment, it is also true that the environment is not uniform. You may be able to find (or create) a niche within the environment that suits you perfectly. less

Download links for: The Power of Neurodiversity: Unleashing the Advantages of Your Differently Wired Brain

Advertising