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Offices in Ann Arbor, Michigan • phone: (734) 383-3223 • fax: (734) 913-8111 • info@childmindmatters.com
Evaluation & Testing Treatments & Strategies Childhood Struggles Neuropsychological Perspectives For Professionals
One way to understand human achievement is to study the gaps between our talents and
vulnerabilities. Each of us has a space between our cognitive strengths (talents) and cognitive
weaknesses (vulnerabilities). Such space, whether we realize it or not, has guided us during
our growth and development – most often toward doing things that demonstrate our talents
and make us feel creative or alive.
Similarly, most of us naturally tend to avoid activities (or school subjects!) that depend upon
our particular weaknesses. Chances are the job you are in or the subjects you favored most in
school tap into your talents and minimize the expression of your vulnerabilities. All of this
occurs, in most of us, with only small gaps between our strengths and weaknesses. Not so in
children battling a neuropsychological obstacle.
In fact, children who are struggling with school or friendships often have very large gaps
between their talents and vulnerabilities, usually 4 to 8 times the average size. It is incredibly
motivating for children with large gaps to do things that express only their talents, making
them feel as if they were a superhero! But those same children can become highly frustrated
and confused about their abilities when asked to do things that suddenly make them feel like
the slowest kid in class. There is a huge drive among these children to avoid activities – at all
costs – that tap into their weaknesses when such a big gap is present.
For example, the child with a verbal IQ of 94 and a nonverbal IQ of 92 experiences typical likes
and dislikes of various school subjects, while the child with a 140 verbal IQ and a 120
nonverbal IQ might truly struggle with or resist writing assignments, organizational skills, and
even friendships. Clearly, gaps do affect our development and achievement! Identifying and
then isolating areas of weakness is therefore a vital first step in helping a child’s caregivers and
educators plan for his or her success.