Wired.com article: The Educational Tyranny of the Neurotypicals

[Nervous Rex]

The Educational Tyranny of the Neurotypicals

My random comments:

This was an interesting read, and I think I agree with pretty much all of it. I would have liked a little more detail, but I guess I should read his PhD dissertation for that. He links to several other articles and books that could be a deep rabbithole of reading.

I've never heard the term "neuroatypical". I'm used to "neurotypical" and "neurodiverse". I wonder if "neuroatypical" is gaining or losing popularity against "neurodiverse". I like "neurodiverse" better, because it contains "diverse" which, to me, implies more openness and more possibilities. Plus, the abbreviation for "neuroatypical" would be NA, which I would read as "not applicable."

He mentions letting children pursue more interest-based learning. He doesn't mention Montessori-style education, but it sounds exactly like that to me. I agree that "sit down, be quiet, and memorize" doesn't work nearly as well as the education system thinks it does for both NDs and NTs. I did well in the "shut up and memorize" environment all the way up to high school. In college, however, I was suddenly required to not just regurgitate memorized facts, but demonstrate mastery of a topic. It was a sudden shock and an eye-opening experience, that first semester. I see the standards my wife has to teach by and I am glad that the educational system is moving (though probably too slowly) toward emphasizing mastery.

This article cites quite a few AS stereotypes - must be good with numbers, schedules, and rules, etc. His main point, though, is that we need as much diversity in teaching as we have in our students. For that point, I'll give him a pass on his stereotypes.

 

[Pats]

Interesting article. And I agree I prefer the neurodiverse over neuroAtypical. Atypical means NOT typical and I'd much rather be thought of as diverse (which sounds like it could be useful).
I did lousy with memorizing anything. When reading a book or story I couldn't remember names so I couldn't keep track of who was doing what. Names and dates - forget it. I couldn't even answer who the author was. As many times as I've read the New Testament I should have it memorized word for word, but still can't remember the names and, thought I know what it says, I could never tell you where to find anything I've read. So Reading, history and anything else that you had to remember names or dates, I kept very low scores in.

 

[Autistamatic]

Thanks for the link. Interesting to see an article like that in such a mainstream publication.
I've never been comfortable with any formal education. Not the stuffy, formal school education I had nor the happy-clappy group task nonsense of corporate training. Give me an interesting problem to solve, or an engaging task requiring new skills or research and I'll learn faster than ever, and really enjoy doing it.
That's where my screen name comes from. When I'm in that productive, learning intensive zone, I'm not just autistic - I'm autistamatic!

 

[tducey]

Thanks for sharing. Good article, think it highlighted the many things that we can do.

 

[Mattymatt]

Very interesting read! The educational system is very tyrannical and dictatorial. In fact some the neurotypical teachers I had took perverse delight in making things doubly difficult for me. If you recall Pink Floyd's The Wall lyrics, "There were certain teachers who would hurt the children in any way they could." This was my grade school experience.