Summary
You feel like the luckiest person alive: your seven-year-old is a bright, social, athletic child with countless friends. His potential seems unlimited, his future success unquestionable. Then one day a teacher calls you to tell you that your child can't read.
That is one scenario presented in Misunderstood Minds, a deeply moving and personal look into the lives of five children and their families as they deal with the puzzling mysteries presented by their unique learning differences. See how bright, articulate Nathan masked his inability to read by memorizing. Find out why Lauren's social isolation provided experts with vital clues about her learning problem. See how undiagnosed learning problems led Adam on a downward spiral towards drugs, alcohol, and crime.
As many as one in five families are coping with children who struggle to learn. Many of these children don't fit any clinical diagnosis, but for some reason, they aren't learning. Though these children may be suffering from debilitating learning problems, they are often mistakenly called "lazy" or "stupid" by teachers, classmates, and even by their families. But learning specialists believe that they now possess a key that will ultimately help struggling students, their parents, and teachers better identify and manage learning problems -- each mind works differently and has its own unique strengths and weaknesses. Misunderstood Minds illustrates the emerging view that specific identification and customized management of learning problems is the key to success for the millions of children struggling in school. Misunderstood Minds features leading experts in the field of learning problems, including Mel Levine, M.D., G. Reid Lyon, Ph.D., Edward M. Hallowell, M.D. and Richard D. Lavoie, M.A. M.Ed.
Based on the pioneering educational framework of Dr. Mel Levine, renowned developmental-behavioral pediatrician, professor and author, and his colleagues at the All Kinds of Minds Institute. Produced and directed by renowned Frontline filmmaker Michael Kirk