Breathe In, Breathe Out

The Handicap That Isn't

Boredom is bad, idle hands being the tool of the devil and all, right? For the perpetually bored, maybe so. But look at what one bored guy has to say about it:

“I get bored easily, and that is a great motivator,” he said. “I think everybody should have dyslexia and A.D.D.”

If I didn't know better, I'd swear that's a quote from the Dude in The Big Lebowski. But it's actually from Paul Orfalea, the founder of Kinkos. He was quoted in an article announcing details of a new study that found a significant number of dyslexics among the dynamic world of entrepreneurs.

Rather than being a handicap or hinderance, it seems the dyslexics come to develop and rely on their ability to work around their problems with written communication and organization. Simply put, they quickly learn how to delegate authority and work with oral communication. And in business, particularly the dynamic world of the entrepreneurial, that's a big asset.

One reason that dyslexics are drawn to entrepreneurship, Professor Logan said, is that strategies they have used since childhood to offset their weaknesses in written communication and organizational ability — identifying trustworthy people and handing over major responsibilities to them — can be applied to businesses.

Two things get my attention here. The idea that a seeming weakness can turn into an unusually useful strength is just, well, refreshing. But the real trick, I think, is that it involves learning. If you have difficulty reading, writing, taking tests, etc. you have to learn how to workaround that. And when you do, the workaround - in this case delegating stuff to others - can be more than just useful.

I don't think ... no, I know ... that learning alternate ways of doing things or all sorts is an asset that's not restricted to the world of business.

I think it's call being human.

Allergic to Sensory Information?

I'd first read about Sensory Processing Disorder and its pioneering work by A Jean Ayers about a dozen years ago in a book by Thomas Hannah. When a story on Sensory Processing Disorder in popped up in Time Magazine recently, I wanted to know more.

According to the article (prompted by a recent conference on SPD), the disorder is:

As defined by Ayres and others, SPD is a mixed bag of syndromes, but all involve difficulty handling information that comes in through the senses--not merely hearing, sight, smell, taste and touch, but also the proprioceptive and vestibular senses, which tell us where our arms and legs are in relation to the rest of us and how our body is oriented toward gravity. Some kids treated for SPD can't maintain an upright position at a desk; some are so sensitive to touch that they shriek when their fingernails are trimmed or if they get oatmeal on their face. Sounds and smells can be overwhelming. When lawn mowers roar outside the home of Lizzie Cave, 4, a STAR child, she's been known to vomit.

Sensory processing disorder might be a widespread condition affecting the learning ability of lots of young kids. The catch here is that we can't really say that with any degree of accuracy because it's not an "officially recognized" diagnostic condition: its 15 minutes of DSM fame hasn't happened and may not for another 18 or so years. Unfortunately, this renders SPD unlikely to receive the research funding that might help kids, parents and clinicians sort it all out.

In the meantime, kids and parents are coping the best they can.

Treatment is highly individualized, but much of it involves guiding the kids to do more of the things they don't do easily and respond less to the things they can't abide.

Provided the hypersensitivity to sensory input isn't part of an already-recognized condition, I think the idea of formal medical recognition and funding research sound.

But it's this idea of hypersensitivity that got my attention. Normally, when I think of hypersensitivity, I think of allergies. An allergy is nothing more than a hypersensitivity to an environmental substance that effects the immune system. SPD, if I'm understanding it accurately, is also a hypersensitivity. But it's a sensitivity to information, not a substance. And the system affected is the sensory motor one, not the immune system.

Could there be some ties between conditions like SPD and the idea of inaccurate brain maps? Could be a good research topic.