Professori
Professori
Please bear with me on this one because it may be a bit long, but I want to make a meaningful point before asking some questions of Aspies.
There is a choreographer who is well known – Gillian Lynne, who choreographed both Cats and Phantom of the Opera. When she was at school she was thought to be hopeless. The school wrote to her parents to inform them that she had a learning disorder because she could not sit still or concentrate.
This was in the 1930’s when they did not have the option to label children with some sort of 'disorder' such as ADHD. Today she would be diagnosed with some form of mental disability. She was taken to a specialist who listened to all the problems that she was having, but took the time to observe her behaviour.
He noticed that she immediately began to dance and move to the music of the radio when it was switched on. He then told the mother that he did not think she had a disorder but simply enjoyed dancing - she was a dancer.
So, her mother took her to a dance school and she said that the moment she entered the room her life exploded because it was full of people like her who could not sit still, but had to move in order to think. She was eventually auditioned for the Royal Ballet School and had a wonderful career as a soloist at the Royal Ballet.
She also started her own ballet school which became famous. She is responsible for some of the most successful musical theatre in history. Today she would have been diagnosed with something like ADHD, put on medication and told to calm down. Her potential, creativity and innovation as a dancer and choreographer would have been lost.
Education focuses on academic ability, and on the needs of industrialism. So, the most useful subjects for success at work are at the top of the hierarchy - such as Maths and Science. At university the Arts are almost entirely rejected in favour of business related subjects. Most kids and university students are probably steered away from subjects that they really enjoy on the assumption that they will never find a job or make money doing those subjects.
Don’t do music because you cannot make money being a musician, and don’t do art because you will never be a successful artist. Now this is profoundly mistaken. The whole world is engulfed in revolution right now - a knowledge revolution which will embrace all kinds of innovation and creativity, but our education system still educates us out of, away from creativity and innovation and not into it.
This is particularly true of those who are regarded as having 'disorders', or 'disabilities', or are classified as 'abnormal'. They are simply never given the chance to discover their unique talents and strengths, or their innovative abilities. Rather they are stifled and kept dumbed down because for many reasons they are marginalised.
Imagine the untapped potential in the world today because of all of the hidden innovative and creative abilities, the undiscovered strengths and talents which if they are discovered would lead to so much more in the lives of so many who are marginalised.
Aspies/autistics have many hidden strengths and talents which in many cases remain dormant.
So, as Aspies what are your hidden strengths, talents which your have never really been able to express or even fully discover? What really gives you a sense of creativity and achievement when you are doing it? What do you think of the education systems of today in this regard?
There is a choreographer who is well known – Gillian Lynne, who choreographed both Cats and Phantom of the Opera. When she was at school she was thought to be hopeless. The school wrote to her parents to inform them that she had a learning disorder because she could not sit still or concentrate.
This was in the 1930’s when they did not have the option to label children with some sort of 'disorder' such as ADHD. Today she would be diagnosed with some form of mental disability. She was taken to a specialist who listened to all the problems that she was having, but took the time to observe her behaviour.
He noticed that she immediately began to dance and move to the music of the radio when it was switched on. He then told the mother that he did not think she had a disorder but simply enjoyed dancing - she was a dancer.
So, her mother took her to a dance school and she said that the moment she entered the room her life exploded because it was full of people like her who could not sit still, but had to move in order to think. She was eventually auditioned for the Royal Ballet School and had a wonderful career as a soloist at the Royal Ballet.
She also started her own ballet school which became famous. She is responsible for some of the most successful musical theatre in history. Today she would have been diagnosed with something like ADHD, put on medication and told to calm down. Her potential, creativity and innovation as a dancer and choreographer would have been lost.
Education focuses on academic ability, and on the needs of industrialism. So, the most useful subjects for success at work are at the top of the hierarchy - such as Maths and Science. At university the Arts are almost entirely rejected in favour of business related subjects. Most kids and university students are probably steered away from subjects that they really enjoy on the assumption that they will never find a job or make money doing those subjects.
Don’t do music because you cannot make money being a musician, and don’t do art because you will never be a successful artist. Now this is profoundly mistaken. The whole world is engulfed in revolution right now - a knowledge revolution which will embrace all kinds of innovation and creativity, but our education system still educates us out of, away from creativity and innovation and not into it.
This is particularly true of those who are regarded as having 'disorders', or 'disabilities', or are classified as 'abnormal'. They are simply never given the chance to discover their unique talents and strengths, or their innovative abilities. Rather they are stifled and kept dumbed down because for many reasons they are marginalised.
Imagine the untapped potential in the world today because of all of the hidden innovative and creative abilities, the undiscovered strengths and talents which if they are discovered would lead to so much more in the lives of so many who are marginalised.
Aspies/autistics have many hidden strengths and talents which in many cases remain dormant.
So, as Aspies what are your hidden strengths, talents which your have never really been able to express or even fully discover? What really gives you a sense of creativity and achievement when you are doing it? What do you think of the education systems of today in this regard?
