Neurodiversity: Discovering the Extraordinary Gifts of Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia, and Other Brain Differences by Thomas Armstrong

Author:Thomas Armstrong
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Science, Psychology
Publisher: Da Capo Lifelong Books
Published: 2010-05-24T21:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 7

The Rainbow of Intelligences

How much gentleness, insight and wisdom would be lost from our cultural heritage if we were to screen out . . . “defects” and narrow the human

genome. Although I anxiously await the benefits that modern genetics may bring us, I am perplexed by the thought of how little of human nature

we can truly measure with superficial tools such as the Intelligence Quotient.

—ROBERT D. SHEELER, M.D.,

MAYO CLINIC

In her biography The Strangest Song, Gloria Lenhoff is described as a woman in her midfifties who is short in stature (four feet, ten inches), wears glasses, and has an elfin nose, puffy eyes, and an expansive mouth. When she walks, she walks on the bal s of her feet. She can’t make change for a

dol ar, can’t subtract seven from fifteen, can’t tel left from right, can’t cross the street alone, and can’t write her name legibly. She has an IQ of 55. But she can sing opera in twenty-five different languages, including Chinese. As a smal child, her parents noticed her interest in music and, to encourage her, showered her with musical toys and rhythm instruments—tambourines, flutophones, drums, xylophones, and toy pianos. As she grew up, they sought and

found teachers who could help her develop her musical skil s. She can’t read music, but she sings, plays the accordion, and has perfect pitch. She needs only to hear a piece of music once or twice to be able to remember it in its entirety. As a result, she has a repertoire of thousands of songs. Her mother, Sylvia Lenhoff, doesn’t think that she is a savant. “I think she has an ability, a proclivity, that had to be developed. It took a great deal of time and hard work for Gloria to become the musician she is today.”1

Williams Syndrome: A Profile of Peaks and Valleys

Gloria has Wil iams syndrome, a genetic disorder that affects one in every seventy-five hundred births. It arises as a result of a missing gene on

chromosome 7 (plus several missing genes on either side). This particular gene is responsible for making the protein elastin, which gives “elasticity” and flexibility to human tissue, including arteries, lungs, intestines, the brain, and skin. As a result of missing this gene, many people with Wil iams syndrome have heart problems, digestive difficulties, high blood pressure, early wrinkling skin, and the characteristic elfin facial features that make many of them look very similar to each other. They also have an unusual profile of cognitive abilities and disabilities. They have very poor visual-spatial skil s but excel ent conversational abilities. In one study, a teenager with an IQ of 49 was asked to draw a picture of an elephant, which appeared as an

indecipherable col ection of squiggles and scratches. However, when asked to verbal y describe an elephant, he proceeded to use an almost lyrical

language: “It has long gray ears, fan ears, ears that can blow in the wind . . . ”2 People with Wil iams syndrome also have a

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