Show 109: Kevin Carroll – The Rules of the Red Rubber Ball
Welcome Back!
We took a bit of a haitus, in part due to construction going on at my house (recording would have sounded like I was living in traffic) and a brief trip overseas I took with my husband.
The good news is that I am back, rested, and have a ton of wonderful interviews to bring you in relatively rapid succession!
First up is our two part interview with Kevin Carroll. Kevin has written a new book, The Red Rubber Ball at Work, where he looks at what Dr. Stuart Brown would call play histories of successful adults. Surprisingly, much of what kids enjoyed and made them happy as kids finds its way into their work. And apparently, LEGO has some sort of magic, but listen to hear more!
In the first half of the interview, Kevin and I talk of his growing up outside of Philadelphia, and how a red rubber playground ball saved his life. Kevin’s had a remarkable life so far, and serves as a real inspiration. His book, The Rules of the Red Rubber Ball is one of my favorite gift books- the books I pass on to people I care about, and people who need it’s message of finding your own red rubber ball- that special thing, and then how to use it to build success in your life.
While our previous show was all about the importance of play, this show is about connecting the dots- and brings home the idea on many levels that our childhood and how we learn to create, what makes us excited, helps shape who we are and informs what we do as adults.
At the end of today’s show, we also have two minutes of out-takes, talking about the National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York, a place I often take my kids when we’re visiting my mom. The Strong Museum/National Museum of Play also publishes an academic journal about the importance of play, that educators really should take a look at, if they have not already.
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Show #108 Dr. Stuart Brown Part II- Success, Practice, and Grandparents
In today’s show, I talk a little bit about the importance of working memory, and then we hear the second part of the interview with Dr. Stuart Brown, as we finish our discussion about the importance of play and imagination in developing critical thinking and social skills.
I’ve also recently reworked my Guide for getting Good Grades into a PDF, available here for download.
The picture to the right is from our recent trip to the newly renovated Smithsonian Museum of American History, where they have a fantastic exhibit on science, invention and play. We have to remember that so much of an adult’s later success can depend on what interests they developed in childhood. Our children, even if they struggle in some aspect of school, have many talents and areas where they are special. We need to find these, but moreover, give our children the opportunity to find these things on their own- to try, to experiment, to fail and to try again on their own.
That’s what we can all learn from play, aside from the true joy it brings to our lives.
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Show #107- Dr. Stuart Brown- National Institute for Play
Dr. Stuart Brown is a physician and psychiatrist who has been studying the importance of play for many years, and is the founder of The National Institute for Play. He’s written a wonderful new book, entitled “Play: How it Shapes The Brain, opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul” which should be on every parent and teacher’s book shelf.
Over the course of his clinical career, he interviewed thousands of people to capture their play profiles. His cataloging of their profiles demonstrated the active presence of play in the accomplishments of the very successful and also identified negative consequences that inevitably accumulate in a play-deprived life.
The National Institute for Play includes a catalog of information and research on play in humans and animals; play profiles, and more. You can find out more by going to the website by clicking here. Dr. Brown and his work has been featured in articles in the New York Times (The 3 R’s, a Fourth is Crucial too- Recess) and numerous other publications. Dr. Brown founded the Institute back in 1989, and was surprised that much of the play-related research he reviewed was fragmented and lacked quantitative confirmation of factors readily observed clinically. A science and evidence-based way of understanding and suggesting how to improve play hygeine was and still is lacking. He turned to animal play research to gain insights into human play.
With the support of the National Geographic Society and Jane Goodall, he observed animal play in the wild. He became acquainted with the premier animal play experts in the world, and began to see play as a long evolved behavior important for the well being and survival of animals. He subsequently came to understand that humans are uniquely designed by nature to enjoy and participate in play throughout life.
Many of our kids, even in affluent homes, are often deprived of the free play and free time they need to develop skills in critical thinking they will need later in life. Play is fun, but it’s also a very serious subject for good emotional and social development in kids, and I think it’s one of the things we can often forget about when we try to help improve our kids who struggle in school. We may think extra work is the answer, but extra play might help even more.
In the first part of our interview, we talk about how play is important for kid’s development; in the second part, we discuss how Grandparents and play; how important hands on learning is for kids, and how this seemingly “wasteful” activity may be where most of their most important learning comes from. I know you’ll really enjoy Dr. Stuart Brown- his new book helped me think about play and how we incorporate it in our lives in a whole new way.
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Show #106- Dr. Russell Barkley :Understanding ADHD
This show features the second half of my conversation with Dr. Russell Barkley. We talk about many critical things parents and educators need to know about ADHD, but the most critical is this:
Kids with ADHD tend to be 30-40% delayed in developing executive functions, and if we can adjust our expectations of our children, setting expectations based not on their age but their developmental stage. By adjusting our expectations to what the child can actually do takes lots of stress, pain and unhappiness out of the often tense situation caused by ADHD and its performance problems.
Dr. Barkley is one of the most respected, internationally recognized experts in ADHD and is well known as the primary investigator in on of the longest continuous studies about ADHD known as the Milwaukee Study, following kids from childhood through age 28 (and the study continues to follow this cohort today.) Dr. Barkley’s full credentials can be found on his informative website -you can find it at www.russellbarkley.org.
I’ve excerpted part of his credentials here for you:
After serving in the United States Air Force Dr. Barkley obtained his Bachelor’s Degree with Honors in Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1973. He then attended Bowling Green State University in Ohio where he received his Masters Degree in 1975 and his Ph.D. in 1977 in Clinical Psychology, receiving the Distinguished Dissertation Award for his research on the effects of medication on children with ADHD. He then attended the Oregon Health Sciences University for internship training in developmental, learning, and behavioral disorders of children. Thereafter, in 1977, he joined the Department of Neurology at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCOW) and Milwaukee Children’s Hospital where he worked in the Child Neurology Division and eventually founded the Neuropsychology Service at MCOW. He served as its Chief and as Associate Professor of Neurology until 1985. Dr. Barkley then relocated to the University of Massachusetts Medical School, where he served as the Director of Psychology and as a Professor of Psychiatry and Neurology (1985-2002). While there, he established the research clinics for both child and adult Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders. In 2003, Dr. Barkley relocated to the Charleston, SC area where he became a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the Medical University of South Carolina. In 2005, he joined the faculty of the Department of Psychiatry at the SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, NY.
Dr. Barkley has been awarded a Diplomate (board certification) in three specialties, these being Clinical Psychology (ABPP), Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, and Clinical Neuropsychology (ABCN, ABPP). He is a clinical scientist, educator, and practitioner who has authored, co-authored, or co-edited 20 books and clinical manuals. He has published more than 200 scientific articles and book chapters related to the nature, assessment, and treatment of ADHD and related disorders (see Publications). In 1993, he founded a bimonthly newsletter for clinical professionals, The ADHD Report (Guilford Publications). He has created seven professional videotapes on ADHD and defiant children, three of which have won national awards, including the 1992 and 1994 Golden Apple Award for educational videos from the National Education Association. Dr. Barkley has served on the editorial boards of 11 scientific journals and as a reviewer for numerous others. He was the President of the Section of Clinical Child Psychology, Division 12, of the American Psychological Association (1988), and was President of the International Society for Research in Child and Adolescent Psychopathology (1991).
Also in today’s show:
Please check out the dysTalk website, a UK based website dealing with dyslexia and other learning disabilities. Donna, a listener, particularly recommends the video on the Emotional Side of Dyslexia, and I have to agree that it’s wonderful. Please send your recommendations, ideas and the like to us at LDpodcast@gmail.com and I’ll feature them on the show!
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