FSB Author Article
Learning Disabilities
by Jenifer Fox,
Author of Your Child's Strengths: A Guide for Parents and Teachers
In February 2001, the New York Times
published a memorable article about a scientific study by a group of
psychologists. The group claimed to have done an "exhaustive" review of
Winnie-the-Pooh
literature and then catalogued and diagnosed a range of clinical,
personality, and psychological disorders among the major characters in
the Winnie-the-Pooh books. Their study, called the Pathology in the Hundred Acre Wood: A Neurodevelopmental Perspective on A. A. Milne,
was one in which the authors describe the various deficiencies of each
character. Pooh, for example, has impulsivity issues signaling ADHD,
which is compounded by his addiction to honey. For him, they prescribe Ritalin and adherence to the Zone diet. Piglet, they contend, is beset by generalized anxiety disorder
and may benefit from a low dose of paroxetine. Owl, though bright, is
dyslexic; no drugs are able to help him. Christopher Robin spends too
much time playing "make-believe," perhaps signaling some future
malfunction, and the scientists noted the total lack of adult
supervision in the Hundred Acre Wood.
The study was a great joke, highlighting our increasing tendency to
label each other and focus on weaknesses rather than strengths. An
amazing number of people didn't get it. They complained research
"shouldn't be used for stuff like this." Other people got it but didn't
think it was funny. "These things are much too serious to be joked
about," they said. The joke is in the madness of it all. We have
created in real life a storybook world that is as crazy as the study
done on the Hundred Acre Wood. Most of the labels we ascribe to
children overlook what is right about children. We prefer to
concentrate on labeling weaknesses. Teachers and parents must begin to
change the focus from labeling weakness to proclaiming strengths. I am
not suggesting that the students who are labeled LD do not struggle --
they clearly do, and suffer as a result. And I am all for helping kids
catch up and learn what they need to know to get ahead in life, but the
way in which we do that -- with a sole focus on the weakness of the
students -- is only half the equation. If we are going to remediate
weaknesses, we must have an equal commitment to building
strengths. We don't help children succeed when we place all the
blame for the learning problems on them. We assume that the struggle in
school is all the student's fault when there are many factors that can
contribute to a child having difficulty in school:
If an adolescent is left home alone most afternoons, with no one to
talk to her or help her solve problems or learn how to interact, the
child may become delayed in social or intellectual development.
If teachers have a learning style that is at odds with the child's
style (such as a highly visually oriented adult and an energetic child
who learns by doing, not by seeing), the mismatch may appear to be a
learning disability in the child.
If a child is fed a constant diet of junk food and gets little exercise, he may be unable to concentrate in school.
If early instruction in reading and math was poor, a student who cannot catch up may become so frustrated that he gives up.
People will have to learn to rely on different types of evidence that
measure individual achievement and satisfaction. This is going to
require a major paradigm shift, but just like every other important
shift in outdated, conventional thinking, the process begins with the
individual. We can make things better for future generations, and for
our own futures, if we begin instilling a positive, strengths-based
focus in the youth of America.
Copyright © 2009 Jenifer Fox, author of Your Child's Strengths: A Guide for Parents and Teachers
Author Bio
Jenifer Fox, author of Your Child's Strengths: A Guide for Parents and Teachers, is an educator and public speaker who has worked in public and
independent schools as a teacher and administrator for twenty-five
years. She is currently the international leader of the Strengths
Movement in K-12 schools. She holds a B.S. in communication from the
University of Wisconsin-Madison, an M.A. in English from Middlebury
College's Bread Loaf School of English, and an M.Ed. in school
administration from Harvard University.
For more information, please visit www.strengthsmovement.com