In a recent article (link here), we learned how educators in the autism field were inspired by ideas from the theory of multipe intelligences. The author of the article, Mike Briggs, is President of Little Friends, an organization with a mission to empower people with autism and other developmental differences to thrive. While attending a recent conference on how best to support learners with autism, Briggs was struck by this quote attributed to Howard Gardner,
It is not how smart you are that matters. What really counts is how you’re smart.
Briggs understood that the goal for those working in autism education should be to recognize the strengths, or intelligences, of each person and to give them the tools to succeed in life. The presenter who quoted Gardner was from League School for Autism in Massachussets, a school founded in the 1960s to explore the most innovative educational approaches for children with autism.
We are very pleased to hear that the autism education community finds inspiration in Gardner’s work. MI theory has educational applications, not just for children with autism, but all learners through individuation and pluralization. Education should be personalized as far as possible so that individuals can learn to the best of their ability using their own unique balance of intelligences; and students should be taught using different methods to take advantage of different intelligences.
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