Gift of ADHD 2D by Lara Honos-Webb

Author:Lara Honos-Webb
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: New Harbinger Publications, Health, Psychology
ISBN: 9781572248502
Publisher: New Harbinger Publications
Published: 2005-02-28T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 6

Showing the Way:

Ecological Consciousness

Children with the diagnosis of ADHD have a preference for learning about the world through hands-on engagement. They like to be immersed in the topics they are learning about. They are often very curious about the natural and organic world, feeling a deep connection to it. This gift for engaged, experiential learning is often overlooked because existing educational systems focus on abstract learning and rote memorization. What looks like a disorder can be viewed as a poor match between a style of learning and current standards of teaching.

Not only do children with a diagnosis of ADHD learn through

engagement, they have an ardent curiosity about the living, breathing organic world. They often feel connected with and attuned to nature and animals. As a result, they may represent a much-needed force in the world: protecting the environment.

The Gift of ADHD

In chapter 1, we discussed how anything different from normal is often labeled “disorder” by psychologists, psychiatrists, and teachers. However, in order to argue that different from normal is bad, one has to believe that normal is good and healthy. In contrast, if one looks at the state of the environment, one might argue that climate change, for example, is the result of “normal” modes of consciousness—the idea that nature is exploitable and expendable. Your child’s difference may be, in some ways, better than normal, because she may become one who guides us toward a healthier relationship with our environment.

WHAT IS ECOLOGICAL CONSCIOUSNESS?

An ecological consciousness is a way of being that respects the natural world—plants, trees, animals, and insects. Individuals with this form of intelligence feel directly related to and engaged with the natural world. Children with an ecological consciousness often are very sensitive to animals and ardently interested in nature. These children like to spend time outside, doing anything from picking flowers and leaves and examining worms and insects in the dirt to simply rambling.

Howard Gardner described naturalist intelligence as a separate type of intelligence uniquely capable of solving problems related to the natural world (1999). He discussed Darwin as an exemplar of this type of intelligence, a person who was intensely interested in understanding the natural world and who spent his life directly engaged with the natural world.

Nature as Medicine

When the first edition of The Gift of ADHD (2005) was released, many of the ideas presented in it were embraced and featured in mainstream media—except for the idea of ecological intelligence. In some places this idea was received as “California-speak.” Ironically, 108

Showing the Way: Ecological Consciousness

even then it was one of the most scientifically validated interventions for increasing attention. The research robustly demonstrates the positive impact of time spent in nature on attention in general and ADHD specifically.

Since the release of the first edition, the idea of nature as medicine has gone mainstream. The National Wildlife Federation has formed the national coalition “No Child Left Inside.” This coalition advocates for legislation and other national initiatives to address the crisis of children’s disconnect from nature as TV, computers, and other digital media increasingly consume children’s lives.

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