You know, I have a son with auditory processing problems who mis-hears what I say if he isn't looking directly at me when I speak to him. He apparently supplements his defective hearing with lip-reading. But he is, hands down, the smartest person I know. He was kindly explaining Einstien's Theories to me when he was 13 -- talking slow, using little words, and repeating himself a lot. And I am no dummy myself: I have plenty of academic awards to "prove" that I am "smart".
The terms in the article, such as CAPD, are all abundantly familiar to me from various homeschooling lists. Most "geniuses" appear to simply be Different. That about them which is different seems to be the source of their genius and also the source of "Eccentricities" -- which are made fun of if you dislike them or treated like endearing quirks that make them more human and accessible if you are fond of them.
I hope this article does something to promote awareness of and sensitivity to the fact that some kind of speach impediment does not in any way mean a person is "stupid". I also hope that folks can separate their political hostility towards this nation's leader from the valid points made about a fairly deep topic. I would hate to see it become just the butt of more hostile jokes. You can hate him for his politics, I don't care. But can we lighten up on the "retard" slant to this thread? It is offensive to anyone who has any kind of genuine handicap.
It is a myth that "smart people" are equally smart in all areas -- and I, personally, can't understand why this myth persists, given the overwhelming evidence of people like Einstein, who didn't comb his hair and had to keep his own address in his jacket pocket because he couldn't remember it. Newton was homeschooled after the schools labeled him "unteachable". Charlemagne spoke and read 6 languages but never learned to write any of them -- because he couldn't master the physical act of writing. The description I have heard of his writing issue.., well, I would term that "severe dysgraphia".
From my point of view, the author of the article was woefully ignorant of the topic he chose. I and many of my friends could have done the topic more justice. He didn't even cite any of the better-known and more well-respected experts on such things. Nor did he even touch on "multiple intelligences" nor mention some of the latest research coming out, I believe in a book called "Different Minds", about dyslexia, autism, et al.
Gee, didn't you know this was an area of expertise for me when you posted it? 8-! :-D :-D :-D
I guess not, given that my homeschooling website hasn't had enough traffic for all of Cyburbia to have looked it over yet.
