An Application: Considering a Mind at a Time

"Planet earth is inhabited by all kinds of people who have all kinds of minds. The brain of each human is unique. Some minds are wired to create symphonies and sonnets, while others are fitted out to build bridges, highways, and computers; design airplanes and road systems; drive trucks and taxicabs; or seek cures for breast cancer and hypertension...Tragic results are seen when we misconstrue and possibly even misuse a child's kind of mind! And that happens all the time...

Some children end up paying an exorbitant price for having the kind of mind they were born with. Through no fault of their own, they are the owners of brains that somehow don't quite mesh with the demands they come up against, requirements like the need to spell accurately, write legibly, read quickly, work efficiently, or recall multiplication facts automatically. When they grow up, they will be able to practice their brain's specialties; in childhood they will be evaluated ruthlessly on how well they do everything."

From: A Mind at a Time by Mel Levine, M.D. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2002, pp. 13-14.