Every semester, I teach Introduction to Political Theory. It's a survey class where we rip through Western History and discuss a dozen different political theorists from Plato to Malcolm X. Before we get into the reading for the day, I show one or two powerpoint slides with a brief bio of the theorist.
When I first put these slides together a year or two ago, I was struck
by how many of these guys were clearly on the autistic spectrum. Thomas
Aquinas was known as the 'dumb ox,' because he appeared to be stupid
and rather clumsy. He had difficulty with speech and amazing powers of
memory and concentration. He had poor social skills. Hello? Asperger's
Syndrome. Having a dash of autism may be the key ingredient of great
thinkers.
Doctors may now be pointing to the positives of ADHD, another neurological disorder. Some say that ADHD is the reason why Michael Phelps and others have been so successful.
There is a growing movement in disability circles for the greater
acceptance of neurological diversity and even championing the different
thought processes of people with autism, ADHD, and ADD. They say that
these conditions aren't disabilities, but super abilities.
Apt. 11d 
As mentioned in the article, there is similar literature on the number of CEO’s who are dyslexic. But that’s only one side of the story. The idea in that case seems to be that, faced with a certain amount of adversity and challenge, a disproportionate number will adapt, thrive, and succeed, but also a disproportionate number will also fall behind and struggle (a sort of flattening out of the bell curve). So you find more dyslexic CEOs, but also more dyslexics on the unemployment line.
Along the same lines, manic depressives are often unhappy being treated because they miss the super-productivity of their “manic” phases (even though they certainly don’t miss the depression.)
It would not be surprising to find similar results for ADHD or autism.
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They say that these conditions aren’t disabilities, but super abilities.
I think Knochenhauer’s point is important here. If learning disabilities are really just super-abilities, then the undiagnosed might want accommodations, too. So the super/LD students get double-time but the non-super/non-LD students want, say, the ability to bring a cheat sheet because they’re not as good at memorization.
This semester, 6 of the 32 students in my class have LD accommodations from the university (for all of them, this means double-time on exams). Having 20% of the class have double time, a huge advantage, has caused me to re-evaluate my exam design.
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Siobhan has just made one of the more moronic statements I’ve read in a long time. Having “double-time” on tests is a “huge” advantage only if you’re unafflicted with a malady like ADHD.The whole point is that double-time for someone with ADHD is like “normal time” to anyone else–and therefore is no “advantage” at all. All the time differential is doing is leveling the field if what one is seeking is measurement of knowledge rather than speed of regurgitation.
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Siobhan has just made one of the more moronic statements I’ve read in a long time. Having “double-time” on tests is a “huge” advantage only if you’re unafflicted with a malady like ADHD.The whole point is that double-time for someone with ADHD is like “normal time” to anyone else–and therefore is no “advantage” at all. All the time differential is doing is leveling the field if what one is seeking is measurement of knowledge rather than speed of regurgitation.
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I think Siobhan is doing exactly the right thing: in an environment where you can’t select on ability to do things fast – and some of those kids will have been gaming the system to get themselves classified, and some will be less, some more, disadvantaged by the time thing – you need to try and write an exam which looks at mastery more directly rather than trying to learn about how well they have it based on speed with which they can produce.
Do you lose something? Do I want a surgeon who needs to have me open for twice the time because s/he is slower (but otherwise just as good?!).
I have an ADHD kid. He is thinking – what to do in my life? And right now he is thinking – cop. This may actually be a good choice – police work involves a lot of short situations you have to deal with, and does not require that you write the Great American Novel. And (he is pretty smart and insightful into people’s motives, has a good memory) I think we are all better off if people play to their strengths.
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This jibes with the book I just read as well that says that ADHD is often overdiagnosed, but that even kids (mostly boys) who exhibit ADHD qualities, but aren’t strictly ADHD could benefit from a school environment that allows them to be who they are, rather than forcing them to, say, sit still for hours on end.
P.S. Like the new blog style.
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See, I completely disagree here. First on diagnosing historical figures with various ailments or neurological differences. Why does this bother you? Clearly, we have a much better understanding of these issues today and we can certainly get enough from well written biographies of these figures to diagnose them today. Isn’t there some stuff about Van Gogh having a some particular disorder that made him hyper sensitive to the color yellow? A ton has been written about Einstein. 1 in 94 people are on the austistic spectrum. A good number of them be in the very functional part of the spectrum. And a good number of them are in academia.
re: super abilities v. disabilities. Of course, it depends on where you fall on the spectrum or how the particular neurological issue develops. But, seriously, half of Microsoft is on the autistic spectrum. That’s why so many people in your state are having kids with full blown autism. Their computer geeky parents have a dash of autism, and the kids get a much worse case of it. Look my kid, whose symptoms are so atypical that he might fall into one of three or four different diagnoses, is super smart. He is waaay smarter than the regular kid. Partly that has to do with the fact that his neurological quirks make him a supreme decoder and give him a photographic memory. If we successfully mainstream him in the next year or two (and it looks like it’s going to happen), then he’ll have a leg up on all his neurologically typical peers.
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On the way to Home Depot an hour ago I found myself behind a car whose bumper sticker said, “My kid has more chromosomes than your honor student” and, in case we missed the point, “Down Syndrome Pride.”
Now, I was not one of those who sneered at Sarah Palin for her failure to abort her Down pregnancy, but the notion of Down Syndrome Pride seems nuts, to me.
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