Admissions season has just concluded in independent and parochial schools. Many magnet schools and programs for gifted students in the public sector have recently selected their new crop of students. From Boston to Oahu admission committees have screened four and five year-olds and later convened to discuss which candidates to admit. If you were to eavesdrop on admissions conferences you would most likely hear more than a few conversations very similar to the one below.
Frankly, I am a bit troubled by our next candidate’s profile. There are some red flags that suggest he may be on the spectrum.
Oh, that’s too bad. He is such an attractive child- those big eyes- and quiet too. I'm sure he would never disrupt the class.
He is quiet but I am worried about perseveration. Did you notice that he never put that compass down? Just kept staring at it as he moved around the room.
I agree. That obsession with the compass is definitely perseveration. I think he is on the spectrum.
I was thinking the same thing. I noted some echolalia.
Too bad. He was so captivated by the music. I think he might have real talent but if he is on the spectrum we can’t take him.
He is a spectrum kid all right. Did you read his application? His parents report that when he first saw his baby sister he said, “Yes, but where does it have it’s small wheels?”
I don’t think we can meet his needs.
That’s right. We are not the right place for a kid on the spectrum.
OK then. Albert is not accepted. I will notify Mr. And Mrs. Einstein.
Walter Isaacson’s new biography, Einstein: His Life and Universe, reminded me of five year-old Albert’s fascination with the compass. As he held the gift from his father Albert’s hands trembled and he wondered why the needle always pointed north. He later wrote,"I can still remember...this experience made a deep and lasting impression on me. Something deeply hidden had to be behind things"
Isaacson’s book describes a young boy with several characteristics that would earn him a diagnosis somewhere on the autistic spectrum. He reports that young Albert would repeat words and sentences over and over to himself until he could get them right. That is echolalia, a symptom of autism.
The ability to think in pictures, a trait Isaacson believes was key to Einstein’s genius, is a spectrum behavior defined as visuospatial thinking.
The fascination with the compass could be labeled as the spectrum behavior of perseveration- getting stuck with one behavior or object.
Little Albert’s quirky question about his sister, “Where are the wheels?” would likely be interpreted as an indiscriminate social interaction or indifference to others. Social impairment is a symptom of autism.
In an interview with WHYY's Fresh Air Isaacson said, “His sense of wonder, his ability to think in pictures and his rebellious streak were what made Einstein a genius. “
If he were applying to kindergarten in 2007 those very behaviors would earn young Albert a rejection letter from many selective schools.
Admissions committees work hard to ensure that their student bodies are diverse. Appropriately, much attention is given to racial, socio-economic and gender balance but there is much work to be done to create schools that are authentically diverse. Far too few schools are inclusive of students with learning differences. If we really want to educate children who will solve the big problems of the 21st century we must stop stigmatizing children who learn or socialize differently.They may be some of our most creative students who, like Einstein, look at the world with wonder when most of us see only the mundane. We need more kids who are obsessed with pondering questions that cannot be answered on a test- questions that might take a lifetime to answer.
In his interview on NPR's Fresh Air Walter Isaacson said, “Einstein was not smarter than other physicists. He was just more creative.”
In his TEDTalk Sir Ken Robinson said, ”Creativity now is as important as literacy and we should treat it with the same status.”
Let’s strengthen our focus on creativity and broaden our definition of intelligence. We must reach more children who learn differently-kids like Albert.
My dream school will be inclusive of learners with diverse backgrounds and abilities. In my dream school the admissions committee would have been excited by Albert and his compass.
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