The Myth of Laziness » (Reprint)

Mel Levine, M.D., is professor of pediatrics at the University of North Carolina Medical School and director of its Clinical Center for the Study of Development and Learning. He is the founder and cochairman of All Kinds of Minds, a nonprofit institute for the understanding of differences in learning, and the author of two previous national best-selling books, A Mind at a Time and The Myth of Laziness. He and his wife, Bambi, live on Sanctuary Farm in North Carolina.

With its practical advice and its compassionate tone, The Myth of Laziness shows parents how to nurture their children's strengths and improve their classroom productivity. Most important, it shows how correcting these problems in childhood will help children live a fulfilling and productive adult life.

Publishers Weekly

Pediatrician Levine, a developmental-behavioral expert, offers theories on why it's so hard for some teenagers-even bright ones-to succeed in school. "Often these individuals absorb and process information well; they learn but they don't produce," he says, adding, "people say glibly that they are not `living up to their potential.' " Levine prefers the term "output failure" over "laziness." In a series of case studies, he discusses the biological, neurological and psychological factors that may be responsible for "output failure." He focuses on kids challenged by oral and written communication; he believes parents and educators must pay attention to different learning styles rather than simply label a child as lazy. Even fidgeting, according to Levine, may be a plus: "Isn't it odd that kids get criticized for being fidgety when they should be commended for implementing a strategy that significantly elevates their attention?" Despite the thought-provoking theories and discussions of problems such as impairment in the generation of ideas and memory difficulties, only the final chapter, "Cultivating and Restoring Output," offers a broad range of strategies that can be used to remedy such troubles. Still, the advice-e.g., create a home office for kids, document time spent and level of output, adjust expectations-is on target and should help struggling parents. Agent, Lane Zachary. (Jan. 9) Forecast: Levine's last book, A Mind at a Time, just completed a 22-week run on PW's bestseller list. The success of that book should interest conscientious parents in this new one. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Contents

Acknowledgments

Prologue

The Myth of Sisyphus

1 Getting a Mind to Work

2 Russell Strinberg:

A Case of Low Motor Turnout

3 Clint Walker:

Forgetting How to Remember

4 Ginny Caldwell:

Repeated Energy Crises

5 Scott Murray:

Controls Out of Control

6 Darnell Mason:

Words That Can't Describe

7 Roberta Chan:

Deflation Ideation

8 Sharon and Mark Taylor:

Falling Prey to Disarray

9 Output's Inputs

10 The Righting of Writing

11 Cultivating and Restoring Output