Rating: 
Summary: You can't go faster if the motor's wired wrong
Review: As a career coach I deal with clients who feel embarrassed about their own lack of motivation. And there's a lot of hype these days about "assessments" that are one step away from witchcraft. Here's the Real Deal.Levine argues that most people want to learn and succeed in their lives. What holds them back often is the way their brains are wired. (Okay, he's a lot more scientific.) I can personally relate to some of his examples. I've always had trouble controlling pieces of paper and my desk always looks as though I'd dumped a wastebasket upside down. Throughout my life people have sighed, "You've got to get organized!" Yet I've learned to accomplish a lot by compensating -- once I realized it was a cognitive deficit. And, as Levine points out, adults have an easier time than children. We don't have to excel in so many different areas. Levine acknowledges his own quirks. Don't give me anything you want back, he says, and if you want me to sign something, stand there till you get my signature! I can relate to those too. The lesson is that nearly everyone has strengths as well as functional deficits. If a child doesn't have the coordination for basketball or baseball, he or she can try another sport, like weight-lifting or wrestling. Levine presents knowledge in the form of case studies, which are both educational and easy to follow. He's honest: there are few Cinderella stories and happy endings. That's the part of the book that's most difficult to deal with. His center provides some of the best testing and counseling in the world, yet not everyone will be responsive. It's not enough to receive a diagnosis: you also need a supportive environment, especially if you're a child. I didn't care for Levine's chapter on "what might have happened."
I'd rather have seen composite cases or cases with details disguised, with stories of "real" endings. And people need to be aware of non-psychiatric settings that allow people to make progress. I've taken well-designed, non-competitive exercise classes that helped everyone's coordination -- including some who could barely shuffle into the class when they started. However, Levine deserves credit for not succumbing to the simplicities of the self-help genre. You won't find self-diagnostic tests or "ten things you can do..." here. He's
drawn the line in the sand: he's writing as a physician and scientist. Perhaps the greatest contribution of this book will be to alert teachers, managers, parents and everyone to the great variety of learning skills and the possibility for cognitive deficits. Too many children are ridiculed and even punished for "laziness" and worse, and even adults can be hassled by ignorant bosses, spouses and friends.
Rating: 
Summary: High hopes dashed
Review: As a teacher, I had high hopes for this book -- that is, until I read Dr. Levine's opinion that grade retention should be avoided because it deals a serious blow to a child's self-esteem and that a child should not be punished because the school does not understand his or her learning breakdowns. In my work at a community college, I see far too many teenagers who are the product of this sort of attitude. These students do poorly on exams and then protest their failing grades by telling me (for example) that they are visual learners and cannot absorb material from spoken lectures. Somehow, the onus for their education has been shifted to my shoulders, not their own. Had I read the blurb on the back cover, I would have known immediately that this book was not for me: "Every kid would prefer to do his homework and be praised for its quality.... Therefore, when someone's output is too low, we shouldn't accuse or blame that individual. Instead, we should wonder what could be thwarting that person's output...." (news flash: every kid would NOT prefer to do his homework.) Like too many other books on education in this day and age, this book focuses on how teachers and parents should change their standards to accommodate students, not on the work the students themselves need to do to adapt to the educational system. Dr. Levine creates a laundry list of ways in which teachers should reduce the expectations they have for "lazy" children, including asking them questions that only require "yes" or "no" answers rather than detailed responses (I don't know how a teacher is then supposed to evaluate the child's capacity for complex thought), not requiring them to solve problems on the board in front of other students, not penalizing them for spelling and handwriting, allowing them to give oral reports instead of written ones, letting them use calculators during math tests, and giving them extended time (or fewer questions) on tests. These may all be appropriate responses -- but not for the regular classroom. With today's overfull class sizes, a teacher could well end up with five or six children in a class, all of whom require different special accommodations. This is an impossible situation for a teacher. These children need to be in some sort of special education program, working one-on-one with someone who is trained in this area, and the onus needs to be on the student to learn to adapt to the discipline of the classroom, not on the teacher to relax the standards of the program (which will of course also adversely impact the education of the other students in the class). After all, the discipline of the classroom is intended to prepare students for that of the real world -- students should not be taught that the world of jobs, mortgages, and tax forms will make accommodations for them.
Rating:
Summary: Strategies to help children reach their potential.
Review: Dr. Mel Levine, founder of "All Kinds of Minds Institute" and the Director of "The Center for Development and Learning," debunks "The Myth of Laziness." Levine maintains that everyone longs to be productive and useful, and that some children who are called lazy by their parents, teachers or peers, may in reality be suffering from "output failure." Dr. Levine maintains that a whole spectrum of neuro-development dysfunctions may prevent children from reaching their potential. Examples of such dysfunctions are difficulty expressing oneself orally or in writing, an inability to organize one's time, workspace or materials, or a problem as basic as "graphomotor breakdown." This means that a student's writing is sabotaged by movement problems that prevent his or her fingers from capturing ideas and putting them down on paper. In his specialty as a developmental-behavioral pediatrician, Levine has spent thirty years working with children who have had difficulty living up to the expectations of their parents, their schools and themselves. Levine has strategies for helping these children, starting with specific tests to diagnose which area of memory, language, attention, or motor function is causing the problem. He also suggests ways that that children can compensate for their deficits and make better use of their strengths. "The Myth of Laziness" is an informative look at some of the obstacles that many kids face during their school years. Readers should be warned, however, that the book contains hard-to-follow psychological and educational jargon. Fortunately, many case studies help clarify Levine's ideas for the reader who is not familiar with the language of developmental psychology. Principals, teachers, and parents should read this book and consider how they can incorporate some of its ideas in both public and private school programs. Perhaps, if kids with "output failures" receive skilled help at an early age, they may succeed in school and in life instead of falling through the cracks.
Rating: 
Summary: Great book but often repetitive
Review: First of all let me say that this is a very good book and the only reason I gave it 4 stars is because at least half of information in this book has already been covered in Dr. Levine's previous book "A Mind at a Time". If you have not read it this book is a great choice. If you have you might find "The Myth of Laziness" redundant at times. The central message of the book is exactly the same as in "A Mind at A Time" namely that academic non-performance is a result of many distinct factors and cannot be adequately addressed as long as people trivialize it as "laziness" or "dumbness". Levine identifies several specific cognitive deficiencies that can result in non-performance: attention, memory, language, spatial ordering, sequential ordering, motor, higher thinking, and social thinking. Armed with correct diagnosis of the underlying causes the teacher can tailor an effective individual approach to help a student who would otherwise be doomed to languish in remedial education classes with all the stigma of retardation that's attached to it. If you are just curious about the research in this field you would probably be better off with "A Mind At A Time". If you are a practicing education professional you might benefit from reading both books.
Rating:
Summary: Dr. Levine Does It Again !!
Review: Follwing on his wonderful book "A Mind at a Time" -- Dr. Levine now tackles one particular group of individual learners, those kids who get labeled 'lazy' & etc.. I hope teachers and school psychologists and school administrators and professors of teacher certification courses are paying attention to Dr. Levine. American education can be improved if these ideas make it into the mainstream of the education establishment.
Rating:
Summary: You'll be able to relate to this book!
Review: Heard the taped version of THE MYTH OF LAZINESS, written and
read by Dr. Mel Levine--a professor of pediatrics at the University of
North Carolina Medical School. Levine persuasively makes the point that children and adults
aren't really lazy when they can be seen not working up to their
potential . . . rather, he contends that "everybody yearns to be
productive" . . . and what happens is that they are simply
experiencing "output failure" due to different neuro-developmental weaknesses. While the aforementioned may come across as gobbledygook, it
really isn't because of Levine's use of case studies . . . you'll
be able to relate to the seven children and adults profiled, either
because you will see yourself and/or others you know. I liked the last few chapters best because they were devoted
to concrete suggestions for what can be done to help supposedly
lazy folks . . . tips on how to cultivate writing skills, as well as
how to set up an organized home office, are presented . . . also,
teachers are urged to take into account the individuality of their
students' learning skills. Furthermore, I found several worksheets in the book version (that I
skimmed after listening to the tapes) that can be most helpful
to help students plan their stories and reports.
Rating:
Summary: A "must read" for any parent of a child struggling in school
Review: Hello. I recently purchased several of Dr. Levine's books after my 5 year old was diagnosed with fine motor and graphomotor dysfunction. This book has enlightened me as to my son's condition and has made me better capable of helping my son. I am also prepared to speak with his teachers from the very start of school about his condition and now I will be certain not to allow the school system to fail my son for a condition over which he has no control. All I can say is "Thank you Dr. Levine. My boy's ok." I also thank Amazon for publishing reader's reviews which prompted me to purchase this wonderful book.
Rating:
Summary: a pediatrician's view
Review: I bought this book because I took several courses with Dr. Levine while he was at Boston Children's and because of the children in my practice. It is superb. I have started recommending it to the parents in my practice. It explains very succintly and precisely various types of learning issues and how to handle them. It also helps parents be their children's advocate. Children should not be kept back unless the teachers know what is happening to that particular child. Children are starting school too late and too much is required of them when developmentally they are not able. Why is it that teachers accept differences in their colleagues but not among children. It is time that we stop putting round pegs in square holes. It is time that teachers teach better with more compassion and understanding. This is what Dr. Levine has been trying to do for years.
Rating:
Summary: a pediatrician's view
Review: I bought this book because I took several courses with Dr. Levine while he was at Boston Children's and because of the children in my practice. It is superb. I have started recommending it to the parents in my practice. It explains very succintly and precisely various types of learning issues and how to handle them. It also helps parents be their children's advocate. Children should not be kept back unless the teachers know what is happening to that particular child. Children are starting school too late and too much is required of them when developmentally they are not able. Why is it that teachers accept differences in their colleagues but not among children. It is time that we stop putting round pegs in square holes. It is time that teachers teach better with more compassion and understanding. This is what Dr. Levine has been trying to do for years.
Rating:
Summary: Myth of Laziness
Review: I was so grateful to discover this book. I am a homeschooling mom of 4 and since I work closely with my kids on a daily basis I was able to recongnize some real frustrations in my 10 year old son. It had been suggested that I have him tested for ADD but this just didn't seem right to me. When I read Dr. Levine's profile of the child in Ch. 2, it was as if I were reading about my own child, with a few exceptions. I am confident I have found the source of his frustrations. I am recommending this book to every pediatrician, physician and school teacher I know. I am grateful that my son will have the chance to put this information to use for his benefit from such a young age. It makes me grieve for the countless number of intelligent school children and adults that have been accused of being "lazy" or not "living up to their full potential." Shame on us for not taking the time to understand them.
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