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| Eaton, H. (December 2002). A Mind at a Time: a Reader's Response. Educational Insights, 7(2). [Available: http://ccfi.educ.ubc.ca/publication/insights/v07n02/readersresponse/amindatatime.html] |  |
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A Reader’s Response
Levine, M. (2002). A Mind at a Time
USA: Simon & Schuster
Howard
Eaton
Director, Eaton Coull Learning Group, Vancouver,
B.C.
M.Ed.: Special Education - Boston University
B.A.: Psychology - University of British Columbia
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The
mind is a remarkable instrument that contains mysteries we are
still trying to understand; however, current research does explain
how significantly different our minds are from one another.
These differences lead to critical variations in learning strengths
and weaknesses from child to child. It is unfortunate how greatly
misunderstood children can be within home and school environments,
even though this body of knowledge is available to us.
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I have several years of teaching experience
at a combination of elementary, high school and postsecondary
levels. In the past my attempts to create entertaining and enlightening
lessons were not as well informed as they could have been. My
approaches to instructing students were based on my personal
learning style. I could have been significantly more effective
had I known something about neurodevelopmental systems and learning
profiles. I assumed that if students were looking at me
and smiling, they were actually listening and learning; I was
misinformed and unaware of my teaching errors.
A Mind at a Time
provides information that parents and teachers can use to
become more effective in their daily interactions with children.
As Dr. Levine writes, “In the course of describing
the struggles of unsuccessful children…this
book provide(s) a road map for parents and teachers, enabling
them
to observe...the unfolding of important mind functions that
play a leading role in school performance (and in career
success).
As such, this book can assist the work of parents and educators
committed to the earliest possible detection of breakdowns
in learning as well as the prompt identification of a child’s
assets”(pg.15).
I left teaching to
start my own educational diagnostic company. I have now
conducted hundreds of psycho-educational and cognitive assessments
to determine whether learning disabilities and/or attention
problems are interfering with the school performance of those
who seek our help. As a result, I have come across many kinds
of minds and have seen remarkable variations in how individuals
attend to information, process information, memorize information,
and express their knowledge. |
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I recently completed
a psycho-educational assessment for a grade twelve student.
He is struggling with depression, social anxieties, and other
behavioral problems that started to surface in grade six.
Our assessment of this student uncovered severe cognitive
processing problems with his attention control system, motor
system and memory system. It was also determined that this
student is very bright. He has a verbal IQ of 126 and a nonverbal
or visual intelligence IQ of 130. However, even though he
is very intelligent, he struggles because various neurodevelopmental
systems cause him significant difficulty with printing, note-taking,
written expression, attention to task, organization and memory.
In elementary school he was labeled as lazy and unmotivated.
It was recommended that he try harder and show more effort
at school. No one understood why he struggled, nor appreciated
that his being exceptionally bright contributed to his emotional
sensitivity to criticism. In a week he will meet with me to
discuss his learning profile and consequent school struggles.
He will begin to understand how to control his learning environment
by using accommodations such as computers, note-takers, and
extended time on exams to achieve success in school. He will
understand how the gifted personality (a perfectionist, highly
sensitive to criticism, moody, and stubborn) can be defeating
when faced with learning challenges. Dr. Levine writes, “When
people, adults and children, learn about their own gaps, they
frequently show, or actually report, a sense of relief, because
for the first time in their lives they are able to understand
exactly why they’ve been struggling to meet certain
demands and how they can go about conquering or bypassing
these challenges”(p.26). |
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These experiences,
coupled with my own significant personal learning challenges
due to dyslexia, shaped my openness to Dr. Mel Levine’s
work. My reading of his first book, Educational Care, helped
me realize just how often children are misunderstood, at school,
by their teachers, and at home by their parents. Dr. Levine’s
published works have contributed to course material I use
as an instructor. It has become my mission to
teach parents, school administrators and teachers about neurodevelopmental
issues and learning differences.
A Mind at a
Time focuses on eight cluster areas of neurodevelopment.
· Our Attention Control System
· Our Memory System
· Our Language System
· Our Spatial System
· Sequential Ordering System
· Our Motor System
· Our Higher Thinking System
· Our Social Thinking System
Each of these systems
is critical for learning; strengths and weaknesses in each can
produce various learning styles. As well, weaknesses in any
of these systems can result in a child’s chronic misunderstanding
of material being taught or significant frustrations in expressing
knowledge learned. By having a solid understanding of
these systems, parents and teachers can be effective at determining
the best instructional methods and learning strategies for their
child. Dr.
Levine brings a liberating message of hope to parents, teachers
and children; it is an especially important message for those
who are not blessed with learning profiles that mesh with
the demands of school. “Not only do different profiles
have their day in the limelight eventually, but also children
are capable of changing their strengths and weaknesses over
time. Take heart, parents: neurodevelopmental profiles are
not like computer hardware or fossils. They are resilient....parents
and teachers have to be on a constant, diligent quest for
buried treasure within children” (pp. 37, 38).
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| About the
Responding Author |
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Howard
Eaton earned his B.A. in Psychology at UBC and his M.Ed.
in Special Education at Boston University. He was a public
school teacher prior to starting the Eaton Coull Learning
Group based out of Vancouver, B.C.
Correspondence: Howard Eaton,
Eaton Coull Learning Group, Vancouver, BC, Canada. (www.eclg.com)
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