Power of being different pdf

If you know or are related people who fall into these areas this book would be very help Dr. If you know or are related people who fall into these areas this book would be very helpful to you. A great read for anyone in the education arena. Mar 12, Jeffrey Hatcher rated it it was amazing Shelves: reviews-for-mental-health. People having various neurological or psychiatric disorders frequently enrich society by virtue of having a distinctly different perspective on life due to nature's allotments.

In The Power of Different, Dr. Gail Saltz lays out various case studies in which altered abilities in some mental functions give way to enhanced abilities in others. Saltz makes a successful bid to sensitize her readers to the complexity of human thought and capability. She also demonstrates the potential costs incurred b People having various neurological or psychiatric disorders frequently enrich society by virtue of having a distinctly different perspective on life due to nature's allotments.

She also demonstrates the potential costs incurred by society if it is dismissive of people whose cognitive abilities or tendencies lay away from the 'norm'. The Power of Different could not appear more timely in America for the waning of social sophistication and compassion in our present-day government. Yet we see it used exclusively time and again. Saltz rectifies this deficiency by presenting a clearer description of several forms - dyslexia, ADD, anxiety disorders, depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and autism she categorizes them in a more sophisticated manner that also includes more disorders than I refer to here.

She allocates a chapter for each disorder, making it concise and readable to anyone. She also points out that disorders can and do overlap as would be expected for a networked bodily organ. Her chapters are grouped by symptomatology. She also makes the key point that psychiatric counseling is about the treatment of symptoms - classifying conditions is done for insurance purposes rather than treament purposes.

Within each chapter, Saltz explores creative potentials that can be enhanced by the condition s described. She also stimulates productive thought as she discusses "work arounds". She proposes behavioral changes that people, or their associates, can make to cope with differences in abilities and thus enhance the strengths which people possess as a result of these differences.

The book does walk a fine and contentious line on the topic of semantics. What social repercussions do labels have?

The book occasionally comes across as muddled regarding these questions - muddled for its realism primarily but not exclusively. For example, she refers to dyslexia as a 'difference' as opposed to a disorder. Referring to a condition simply as a 'difference' puts it at risk for lowered medical research and might jeopardize insurance coverage. Saltz discusses dyslexia as a 'learning difference' and she gives the reader a lucid description of how someone with the condition is predisposed to think when reading.

But she also tells of some people describing their experience as seeing letters "moving or vibrating on a page. Dyslexia frequently afflicts a person concurrently i. Her sampling is openly and also appropriately biased: "I have interviewed multiple successful and supremely creative individuals with brain differences for this book, and in each case I have asked them if, given the choice, they would eliminate their brain difference.

To a person - and no matter how much pain their difference has caused them - they said that they would not. Each of my interviewees couldn't imagine separating their strengths from their weaknesses.

She does not refer to people who lack supreme creativity. Therefore, using the term "brain differences", as opposed to "disabilities" or "disorders" runs a danger of overcompensating for historically negative views of some people. She points out her focus on exceptional people repeatedly. However, when a reader fails to attend to her disclaimers, they might lose sight of the possibility that not-so-creative persons might find themselves in misery.

The fact that her interviewees would retain their conditions could reflect their status as exceptional people more than their status as people with a recognized medical issue. Nevertheless, Saltz carefully avoids romanticizing any condition. In America, at least, her agenda is imperative. I have my own biases as I write this critique. I have temporal lobe epilepsy. The history of the disease includes a pendulous swing in status within the psychiatric community, and this volatile status can have high costs for the patient.

Decades ago, epilepsy was front and center among mental illnesses. The illness was oddly both comorbid with and caused by seizures. When anticonvulsant drugs became highly effective at reducing or eliminating outward seizures, the disease mysteriously became non-mental.

Yet, I can pick out various mental symptoms from multiple disorders that Saltz describes and show them to also be comorbid with temporal lobe epilepsy. Saltz quotes a young woman with dyslexia, "I do better with abstract concepts and ideas as opposed to solid things that require huge amounts of knowledge stored.

I also appreciate points that Saltz makes regarding attentional difficulties and creativity. Saltz emphasizes the power of disinhibited thoughts - the amnesia with which I am too familiar has similar powers when you cynically assume that you'll be wrong most of the time, you cannot be bothered to intellectually police yourself.

Epileptic activity can gyrate a person's focus. Paradoxically, it can make a person hyperfocused as well. Epilepsy, however, is very pathological, frequently melodramatic, and even if it did bring me great success and creativity, I would never pause a moment to be rid of it. But then again, I am not supremely creative either.

Psychiatrists could be routinely treating epilepsy symptoms - as Saltz points out, treating symptoms is what psychiatrists are here to do. Unfortunately, treating the psychiatric symptoms by doctors and receiving reasonable accomodation in the work place has been greatly complicated by the "purging" of the mental illness out of the disease. That misperception creates social problems.

Semantics matter greatly, and the reader needs to critically examine any comment which suggests that a change in terminology is being made for any reason other than a coldly biological one. Such a comment may be very wise, but it needs introspection before quick acceptance. Having a mental disorder can incur stigmatization, but falsely not having one precludes the best care. For that reason, my own attitude is to work to purge the stigma from terms like "disability" or "mental illness" rather than change or discard the terms themselves.

Despite our disagreement, Saltz's highlighting of the refinements of other abilities, brought about because of disorders, benefits people with either viewpoint. A person optimally focused on abstract thoughts can make great contributions to an intellectual endeavor, just as Saltz points out. Saltz tackles supremely complicated issues, facilitating finding bones of contention.

However, what Saltz accomplishes with her writing overshadows the points of contention that I raise. Of numerous accomplishments, she a humanizes mental challenges in a systematic and comprehensive manner; b provides a text-book knowledgebase that fosters empathy as it informs; and c poignantly lays in evidence what society stands to lose when we become insensitive to the human potential in anyone.

The Power of Different needs to be in every college library. Sep 28, Roslyn rated it liked it. This was an easy, fun read. I loved it for what it was attempting and for its sheer, delightful ridiculousness. Would have been a fun one page theory. And there is a grain of something interesting there. Which is: Humans have long known that insanity and genius are linked.

We don't need any researchers to tell us that, we have known and been pondering this since antiquity. And despite our impressive new words surrounding the subject, we are no closer to answering the question than Plato was.

Salt This was an easy, fun read. If these brain "differences" I laugh every time I type that didn't serve human survival in some way, they wouldn't exist by now. Note that these people with different brains just had certain personality traits until school became widespread and compulsory. The ADD brain that can't settle down to learn what the teacher wants it to learn but absolutely can learn anything it feels passionate about, that brain was just fine to have It is the box that is school that makes half the population have "successful" brains and the other half have such "abnormal" brains that they need to be medicated to deal with it.

Some of interesting connections Saltz made: ADD makes you less able to focus on what bores you, but better able to focus passionately on what doesn't bore you. It makes you the "absent minded professor. People with anxiety have all these little voices in their brain that drive them nuts, and they spend half their time just wanting them to shut up so they have some peace But at the same time all those extra voices offer a lot of extra information that other people don't get to have.

Anxious people perceive more than "normal" people. If you shut up the voices, you lose your edge. And the sad, melancholy types? They empathize better than people, which is another form of heightened perception. They have mood swings and days when they have to drag themselves out of bed, but when they are out of bed their creative output is higher than that of "normal" people.

Despite that Saltz sets out to show that the people with "different" brains have super powers that people with normal brains envy, that no genius ever changed the world without learning first how to deal with his special brain, she is endlessly pushing meds like any good steward of the industry who has been through med-pushing school.

They are most likely pushing drugs that they themselves take, desperate to help others become more like them, desperate to remove the stigma that it would serve them to remove But I can't think rationally about medication because I have watched so many fascinating and interesting friends turn into zombies on the stuff.

The high IQ enables the person to find a way to deal with their brain and tap into its strengths. So maybe we as a society benefit from the high IQ crazy people not being on medication and they most likely won't be anyway because they value their heightened abilities too much and the rest of the population that decides to take the meds, well, maybe it's better than being a drain? The key would be not medicating the half the population that is different until they are old enough to know whether they want their differences or not.

Or give them IQ tests before. Would be tragic to drug the crazy geniuses in childhood. Anyway, I can't say that Saltz has more to add to the conversation about the connection between genius and insanity than most of the great philosophers who were all either anxious, depressed, or ADD, or something even more fun. But as I normally read philosophy, it was good to familiarize myself with how the white coats talk about these things.

Read The Myth of Psychotherapy by Thomas Szasz instead of this book, or first, then read this book and enjoy the juxtaposition of brilliant, clear thinking and shallow ridiculousness. After hearing several podcast interviews with the author, I wasn't able to resist buying the book. I love the idea of bringing attention to the positive aspects of mental disorders, both to give hope to those afflicted and to enable them and society to harness strengths that might otherwise go unnoticed.

Unfortunately, the book felt more like a collection of anecdotes and examples of brilliant people who became successful despite having a mental disorder rather than a presentation of the upside After hearing several podcast interviews with the author, I wasn't able to resist buying the book.

Unfortunately, the book felt more like a collection of anecdotes and examples of brilliant people who became successful despite having a mental disorder rather than a presentation of the upside of those brain differences. Personally, I would have preferred more science on potential benefits of the specific disorders and less focus on afflicted yet successful individuals. Nonetheless, it was an enjoyable and interesting read. In my view, there is too much research on the detrimental effects of these kinds of disorders and too little on how to help those suffering from them make the most of their strengths.

View 1 comment. Jun 23, Chelsea Arata rated it it was amazing Shelves: audiobook-reads , professional-development-books , A beautiful read on why I love working with the mentally ill- because they have different brain structures that produce such excellent insights.

Thank you, Dr. Saltz, for believing in the power of your patients just as much as I believe in mine! Jul 07, Rebecca Grace rated it really liked it Shelves: parenting , health-care , psychology , education , self-help.

This is a great read for anyone who has recently been diagnosed with a learning disability or mental illness, as well as for parents who suspect that a child might meet diagnostic criteria for these conditions. Although largely anectdotal, this format works well for illustrating the way that a brain difference is merely one aspect of an individual's life and need not be a defining -- or limiting -- characteristic.

It was fascinating and empowering to read about how scientists are beginning to see dependent links in brain structure between brain differences that are seen as deficits with brain differences that we refer to as giftedness or even genius. What really makes this book important is that, by destigmatizing these brain differences and helping readers to understand how their strengths and weaknesses may be two sides of the same coin, the author is able to encourage readers to seek treatment and intervention early, which can make all the difference in whether they or their child are able to overcome those weaknesses and capitalize on their unique gifts.

May 10, Kris - My Novelesque Life rated it really liked it. I read the full synopsis and it sounded like an interesting read. I have always been interested in knowing the different ways in which people think and function. It is nice to read a book that looks at a disorder and sees where the positive is and how to use i RATING: 4 STARS Review Not on Blog "A powerful and inspiring examination of the connection between potential for great talent and conditions commonly thought to be 'disabilities'" From Publisher I picked up this book with no expectations.

It is nice to read a book that looks at a disorder and sees where the positive is and how to use it for every day life. Saltz takes away some of the stigma. I would recommend this book to everyone as it helps us understand those around us.

Feb 13, Travis rated it it was amazing. Disclaimer: This book was a Goodreads giveaway prize. Fascinating insight. We can all hope that through knowledge and understanding, the stigmatized barriers surrounding brain differences can be torn down. I was especially appreciative that this book was written in a way that made it very easy to understand. I loathed myself. The body I had at twelve years old remained the body I would have for the rest of my life—extremely skinny and no curves.

Skinny girls are not pretty. Then, a boy came my way. Marcus was gay. We were teenagers, and our self-esteem was determined by the acceptance of society. He knew how I felt for being different and not being able to fit in. I had a different mindset and he had a different sexual orientation. It was in our differences where we found a unity that forged a beautiful friendship.

He lost many friends but made new ones and could be entirely himself around them. There was no more pretending. He found acceptance within his heart, even if the world around him shamed him. He became comfortable within his own skin, and that to him was happiness. In their mind, their way of thinking and acting was right, so anything that navigated away from that was wrong. Our problem came from the fact that we had given them the power to control our self-esteem instead of finding that acceptance and love within ourselves.

I came to forgive and love myself because I was never ugly, stupid, antisocial, or psychotic, as the world saw me. I felt like that because I was looking at myself through their eyes instead of my own.

Even through university I had to deal with the stigma of being considered stupid by my peers, for having bad grammar and spelling mistakes. To them my intellectual capacity was determined by my writing skills instead of the content of my writing. Fortunately, professors admired the intellectual content of my papers and the different perspective I had for connecting the dots and analyzing issues.

I am selective with my friends, not antisocial. I am not a troublemaker, but I refuse to stand by while I see any injustice being done. I am not rebellious; I just refuse to follow rules that go against my values. Although, the general power of attorney is no longer valid if the principal becomes mentally incompetent. Download: Adobe PDF. Limited Power of Attorney — For any non-medical power.

Revocation Power of Attorney — To cancel or void a power of attorney document. Especially for a durable power of attorney , the agent selected should be someone you have trusted most of your life. After completing, you and the Agent s selected will need to check the bottom of the form for the requirements for authorization. In most cases, a Notary Public will need to be used or Two 2 Witnesses. It is important for all parties involved to have copies of their form.

A power of attorney does not need to be recorded with any government office and is primarily held by the Principal and Agent s. A Principal may terminate this arrangement by signing a Revocation Form. Otherwise, it will only cancel upon the death of the Principal.

Accidents happen.