Learning outside the lines : two Ivy League students with learning disabilities and ADHD give you the tools for academic success and educational revolution

258 Pages·2008·1.54 MB·English

by  Jonathan Mooney

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Contents
Acknowledgments
Epigraph
Foreword by Edward M. Hallowell, M.D.
A Naked Introduction
Part I: Deviant Minds
Chapter 1 Jonathan
Chapter 2 David
Chapter 3 Institutionalized
Part II: Schooled
Chapter 4 Taking Notes Further
Chapter 5 Dominate Discussion
Chapter 6 Less Reading, More A’s
Chapter 7 Writing, Writing, Writing
Chapter 8 Cram Like a Pro
Chapter 9 Beating the Exam Game
Part III: Beyond Beating the System
Chapter 10 Living a Life Less Ordinary
Epilogue: Project Eye-to-Eye
Bibliography
Index
Acknowledgments
STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS: THANKS FROM JONATHAN
This book, and in many respects the course of my life, would never
have been possible if I hadn’t been lifted up by the arms of giants and
placed on their shoulders. The people who have helped me, inspired
me, and believed in me are the heroes in my life, and the following
thanks pale in the shadows of the heights they have achieved and will
continue to climb.
The first and the tallest among my life is my family, partners with
me in the birth of this book. Their lives are journeys of profound
personal courage and love. My sister Michelle dedicated her time to
working on my story, and her contributions raised my self-awareness
and elevated Chapter 1, my story, to a new level. My sister Kelly has
always been my mentor, and she dedicated her time (late into many
nights) to the Introduction and Chapters 1, 3, and 10. Her spirit
inspired those chapters and is traced throughout them. My brother,
Bill, and my sister-in-law, Lisa, supported me intellectually and
financially; without them, this project would have ended the summer
after my first year at Brown.
My mother. My mother is in every part of this book. She read
almost every word at least five times and gave me the courage to write
honestly. Most important, starting in my childhood she gave me my
voice. Without that gift, my mind would have died in the din of a
maddening dyslexic silence.
My father. In the last month and a half of the writing, my father
proofread every word of this manuscript twice, sometimes putting in
more than eight hours of work a day. I am moved to tears by his
sacrifice, empowered by his love, and overwhelmed by the beauty of
our relationship. This book would not have happened without him.
Throughout this process, I was also supported by the un-
conditional love of my girlfriend, Becky Golden. She has the biggest
heart I have seen and loves me whether I write or not. Like my family,
she read every chapter as an editor and proofreader. Her hand is in
every word, every idea, and her support helped give birth to this book.
Thanks also to her family, Linda and Jerome Golden. Linda taught
me the true power of the six degrees of separation, which led me to
Dr. Edward Hallowell, the coauthor of Driven to Distraction and
author of the Foreword to this book. I am also grateful for the week
spent in August 1998 finishing the book proposal in their basement,
eating their food, sleeping in their beds, and drinking their coffee.
I thank Dave’s family. They hosted me many times, took me out to
dinner, and believed in this project with all their heart.
I thank Ned Hallowell. Ned got a call from us in August 1998; we
hadn’t slept in eight days, holed up in Putney, Vermont, working on a
pipe dream we called this book. Ned listened graciously as two
undergraduates jacked up on coffee and Ritalin pitched some obscure
idea for a book. He believed in us. I stand in awe of his ability to have
faith in people and to take real personal and professional risks.
And there is Jill Kneerim, my agent. God knows what she was
thinking when she invited a dyslexic undergraduate to her office and
signed him as an author. In the beginning, she believed more in me
than I did, and her support, humor, and dedication to socially
relevant writing inspired and raised me above my personal doubt. She
made a childhood dream come true, and I am forever grateful and
indebted to her. Thank you, Jill!
In the end, people taking risks is what made this book possible. No
one took more risk than the folks at Simon & Schuster. Trish Todd
believed in this book enough to take a huge risk and buy it (go Brown
alums!). I would also like to thank Anne Bartholomew for her
editorial support and for believing in this book through thick and
thin. Thanks Anne! Most important, I thank my editor, Tricia
Medved. We worked together as partners until the end. She taught me
more about writing, collaboration, and partnership than any course
in the Ivy Tower. And thanks also to Lisa Considine, surrogate editor
and number one fan. She jumped on board late in the game to help us
light this thing up on the marketing front. Thanks Lisa!
Despite the criticism of the institution of education in this book, it
would never have been possible without Brown University, one of the
most progressive universities in the country. I thank the transfer
admission committee for the year ’97. They took a huge risk with my
admission (thanks, Dean Annie Cappuccino!). I also thank Peter
Hocking, boss, reader, mentor, and friend. I thank Walter Davis, who
sponsored a class that started it all, for better or worse. Finally, I
thank two of my most dedicated readers: Cynthia Garcia Coll, who
pored over Chapter 3, and Elizabeth Taylor, who helped me tell my
story. She read every word of this book twice.
Landmark College is one of the best institutions of alternative
learning. It gave us an office and room and board during the
summers of ’98 and ’99. Thanks to Frank Sopper, reader, friend, and
fellow soldier in the good fight; Linda Katz, president; and the entire
staff of the admissions department.
The Harry Truman Foundation supported this and my future work.
Thanks to Louis Blair, executive director; Mary Tolar; and all current
and future Truman Scholars committed to public service.
And for the people who do not quite fit into any neat category:
thanks to Gina Macris of the Providence Journal for great coverage;
Helaine Schupack for her support of Eye-to-Eye and lifelong
commitment to students with learning disabilities/attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder (LD/ADHD); John Green for his support of Eye-
to-Eye and for running one of the best LD/ADHD schools in the
country; the Royce Swearer and Echoing Green Fellowship for
strengthening my resolve and reminding me how important this work
is; David Eliot for steering me down the road to emotional clarity; the
Gateway School parents, Ellen Roseman and Dr. Sherwood; Malcolm
Taub for his legal services; all the parents across the country who
have written to me and supported my work; Karen Thomas of USA
Today for a courageous article; Eric Hunt for his support when the
book was just a dream; Ilise who met me when I was an intern at
Simon & Schuster (reading Moesha books all day) and gave her time
to help me develop the proposal; and kids who wrote to me and
shared their stories. They kept me going.
Finally, I thank all my friends at Brown. David Pinkowitz, my
roommate from day one, stuck with me throughout this whole
process (Peace, DP). Ben Holzer, who duped us all into living on 175
William Street, is a great friend; his comments on Chapter 1
profoundly affected the writing. David Flink and David Hyman,
friends, mentors, and peers, ran Eye-to-Eye at Brown. Their lives
inspire me, their maturity amazes me, and their passion and
commitment renew my faith in our ability to change the institutions
we learn in.
I also thank the Fox Point School; principal Mary Brennan runs the
school I wish I had had as a child. She took a huge risk by opening
her doors to Eye-to-Eye. I thank Maureen Kenner for her compassion,
her faith in the program, and for being a good teacher. Finally, I
thank all the Eye-to-Eye mentors. They volunteer their time on the
front lines of our fight. In the end, I am simply a bureaucrat, and they
are the true heroes of the work. Thanks with all my heart and love to
all Eye-to-Eye mentors, especially Clayton Rockefeller, Lisa
Goldschmidt, Aimee Pickett, Kent Roberts, Rachael Bibby, Sara Hill,
Sara Small, and Jeremy Flattau.
And lastly thanks to David Cole. His friendship gave birth to this
project, his journey inspired me to think outside the lines, and his
support and faith in this book helped me write it. May we grow old
and sit on a porch in Vermont together and laugh about the day this
book went just too damn far!
For my family, with love:
Whose journey inspires me,
Gives me courage;
And whose unconditional love
Heals the wounds of the past.
—Jonathan Mooney
For those of us (few yet in number, for the way is punishing), their kin and descendants,
who begin to emerge into more flowered and rewarded use of our selves in ways denied to
them;—and by our very achievement bearing witness to what was (and still is) being lost,
silenced.
Tillie Olsen, from Silences
Our hope for this book is that it will bear witness to what is oppressed and silenced
within our schools every single day. While the book is almost entirely authored and
written by Jonathan, David provided emotional and intellectual support, the
proofreading, and the value of his experience, represented in Chapter 2. We set out as a
team, hoping to raise each other, and our communities, out of silence. We also
remained independent, each of us recounting his own individual victories.
Together, this book, our lives, and our friendship bear witness to what can happen
when we refuse to be silenced, and when we fight this oppression with passion,
commitment, and courage.