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Summary: The Einstein syndrome
Review: I found this book a fascinating read. I am the mother a very bright two year old boy who does not yet talk at all but understands everything I say. At 12 months old he figured how to open cupboards with child proof latches. He loves dismantling toys and putting them back together. His father is a technical whizz with computers, his uncle a civil engineer. My son displays all the characteristics described in Thomas Sowell's book except that he is an extremely socialable child, infact rather a comic, loves cuddles and has lots of friends. He is also very strong willed and refuses to hold my hand unless he chooses to! I will wait and see if I have a genius on my hands. I will also be extra careful about what, if any, speech therepy he receives in the future. I would recommend this book to anyone who has a late talking child.
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Summary: Lots of Stories, No Real Conclusions...
Review: I purchased this book because I am interested in the topic of language generally. I found Sowells book to be basically a collection of anecdotal information strung together without any real conclusions drawn from his "data." The sample study was incredibly small, which might explain his hesitancy to cast any general conclusions. But ideally *some* analysis could have been done.
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Summary: Einstein Syndrome...Bright Children Who Talk Late
Review: If you have a child that is late with speech development, seems frustrated with communications, strong willed & defiant, prone to tantrums, good at solving puzzles, loving but sometimes aloof, concentrates on some tasks, ignores requests to perform other tasks, not the least interested in potty training, exhibiting some autistic or PDD tendancies but having exceptional memory and suprising intelligence, then you need to get this book. Don't be put off by reviews of the professionals, the book has some information that will help concerned parents bypass those professional egos and cut to the main issue, how to best understand and help your child.
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Summary: A good book, although not what I expected
Review: It is more of a case study book than an informative book. I was looking for more of an overview of delay situations, but this book still has a lot of useful information.
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Summary: it made me feel a whole lot better....
Review: It made me feel a whole lot better that there are other parents out there experiencing the same problems and feelings that my husband and I are having. We are the parents of a bright three-year-old, who is speaking on a 1 1/2 year old level. He has a vocabulary of about thirty words right now, and he uses them correctly and in context. However, he is far behind his age group. My son and our families had many similarities to the children in Mr. Sowell's books, "Late-Talking Children" and "The Einstein Syndrome". However, I don't agree 100% with everything Mr. Sowell wrote, and I would never use one man's opinion as gospel. Use this book as advice to be listened to and judged by an informed mind and a parent's heart. Research, read, talk to professionals, but also listen to your gut where it concerns your child. Mr. Sowell makes a good argument for that.
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Summary: necessary but needs more rigorous treatment & more open mind
Review: Many people need a book like this and need to understand that the children, usually boys, as described by Thomas Sowell exist, but I'm happy that the baton of the work is being passed to Steven Camarata. In the meantime though, Sowell has attained a very high status among some parents who speak highly of him and their children who fit the "Sowell profile". I don't think it needs to end there though.Sowell became aware that there are many boys who are intelligent, who speak late (and who come from technical families, but that came later), after he mentioned his own son in his conservative column. Parents began writing to him about their own children and asked his help in finding someone to further their understanding of their children's speech issues. He sought specialists and researchers interested in compiling the data but couldn't find anyone who wanted to do it. Happily, from the data as it currently stands, these children will likely have excellent prognoses. Unfortunately, I found Sowell to be judgemental of "semi-professionals" and of parents who have to utilise school district services for therapy for their children. Sowell never fully defines a "professional" nor does he suggest how those of us with balking insurance will get all the coverage we need. He is, rightly, dismissive of physicians who quickly diagnose children with Pervasive Developmental disorders or autism based on short screenings. I appreciated the section that discusses brain allocation- how the brain might work on one task at a time to the lying by of working on other tasks. I would like to see a more scientific, rigorous approach to this as it relates to speech development. He is correct in suggesting that some children respond poorly to speech therapy, but I don't believe that dismissing all therapists because of this is the right path. I know that my later speaking children both responded to some therapists and disliked others. I like to think I trust the range of normal development and my ability to understand my children, but if a parent is worried, this book might be good resource for them. Hopefully, better work will be coming out in the next few years.
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Summary: A remarkable phenomenom - newly researched
Review: The Einstein Syndrome is an informative follow-up of Thomas Sowell's Late Talking Children. Since my daughter and I share all the characteristics that Thomas Sowell writes about, it is quite refreshing and supporting to read about his and Professor Stephen M. Camarata's research. Sowell is a much needed pioneer on the research of bright late-talking children that share various characteristics such as: outstanding analytical abilities, and/or musical abilities, outstanding memories, strong wills, delayed toilet training, close relatives in analytical occupations (ex. engineers) and/or musical abilities, and other interesting characteristics that he describes in his book. Sowell writes about the frustrations a parent can go through with professionals misdiagnosing, to friends and family unthoughtful comments, to schools mislabeling for their own funding purposes. Sowell gives insightful examples of late-talking children and adults who talked late. He goes on to discuss the controversy on early intervention for this particular group of children. He does suggest that a child be evaluated by two separate independent professionals, to skip the "free" school district evaluation, and at the same time be an advocate for your child. Thomas Sowell encourages research and studies on the Einstein syndrome as well as more inovative and challenging educational approaches for these children. My gratitude goes to Thomas Sowell for writing such a wonderful book and if everyone must have a label, my daughter and I will take the Einstein syndrome.
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Summary: Dangerous
Review: This author is dangerous to the general public. Yes, we all know of the many "Einstein" type children that didn't talk until after typical ages. But as an early intervention specialist that deals with parents on a daily basis, many who are not ready to deal with their child's diagnosis or accept that a delay is present, this is just allowing them to further refute the fact that their child may need intervention. What child has actually ever "suffered" from receiving speech/language therapy???? My own son had an articulation disorder (which was obvious) & during the evaluation, did not answer questions, therefore scored as a child with a severe language delay. I didn't believe this was the case as I was a special ed teacher, trained to determine expressive language delays & based on all the available data (Kindergarten teacher interview, standardized assessment score from K, the initial SLP that worked with him throughout K, psychologist who attempted to assess a VAD, etc... I knew he probably didn't have a language disorder.. To be sure however, I let him receive language therapy.....6 months after he was in the program, his test scores jumped to age equivalency. Did he suffer from this, NO, however he did benefit from learning to trust others to ANSWER questions in testing situations & not worry about being wrong.
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Summary: The book that saved us...
Review: This book changed the path our lives were on. Reading it, was like reading an autobiography of my son's life and mine. Had it not been for this book, both of our lives would probably look a lot differently. It is written beautifully, it is easy to understand, and it is a must for any person who has been told that their child is autistic, has PDD, apraxia, dyspraxia, hyperlexia, etc. and instinctively knows it's not true. This book is HONEST. It discusses the reality of the politics and business of therapists and special education that, in some cases, can hurt, rather than help these children.
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Summary: Thank God for this book!
Review: This book explained my son to me. He is 3 years and 9 months old and just beginning to speak conversationally. Our family fits the profile so well it's almost scary. _The Einstein Syndrome_ also gives practical advice and needed warnings to parents about dealing with the institutions and therapists who evaluate their children. Thomas Sowell reminds us parents that we are our children's best advocates and that our knowledge, feelings, and opinions about our children do count. Even if your child doesn't fit the profile, the book is worth the information on handling the professionals.
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