An individualistic, ultimately myopic vision for parent-centered structural change.
A well-known pediatric otolaryngologist advocates for large-scale changes to American social policy as it pertains to children.
Suskind founded the Thirty Million Words Initiative in the wake of a research study that revealed that during early childhood, children living in disadvantaged circumstances are exposed to 30 million fewer words than their more privileged peers. The research confirmed what the author observed in her hearing-impaired patients, who, after receiving cochlear implants, varied widely in their ability to learn speech. “My team and I developed evidence-based strategies to show parents the importance of talking to babies and young children,” writes the author. “Those strategies became the theme of TMW: Tune In, Talk More, and Take Turns, or what we call the 3Ts.” In this book, co-written with Scientific American contributing editor Denworth, Suskind makes a sensible case for the necessity of strengthening social services and for making pediatricians’ offices hubs where families can easily access these services, particularly when they are in distress. According to Suskind, these changes must be implemented so parents can take responsibility for their children. “Parent and caregiver talk and interaction is the key to building strong cognitive abilities,” she writes. That claim represents the book’s primary contradiction and main weakness: While Suskind convincingly argues for widespread societal change, her vision for equity rests on individual responsibility. Furthermore, the author fails to note the contributions of educators who have made these same arguments before, most notably the late Jean Anyon, author of Ghetto Schooling, Radical Possibilities, and other books; and the researchers behind the community schools movement. Suskind’s consistent surprise that America is not, in fact, a meritocracy—a fact that marginalized Americans know all too well—and her blithe dismissal of the exclusionary foundations of the American school system may not sit well with many educators.
An individualistic, ultimately myopic vision for parent-centered structural change.Pub Date: April 26, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-18560-5
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: Jan. 25, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
These are not hard and fast rules, but Meyer delivers important reading for those engaged in international business.
A helpful guide to working effectively with people from other cultures.
“The sad truth is that the vast majority of managers who conduct business internationally have little understanding about how culture is impacting their work,” writes Meyer, a professor at INSEAD, an international business school. Yet they face a wider array of work styles than ever before in dealing with clients, suppliers and colleagues from around the world. When is it best to speak or stay quiet? What is the role of the leader in the room? When working with foreign business people, failing to take cultural differences into account can lead to frustration, misunderstanding or worse. Based on research and her experiences teaching cross-cultural behaviors to executive students, the author examines a handful of key areas. Among others, they include communicating (Anglo-Saxons are explicit; Asians communicate implicitly, requiring listeners to read between the lines), developing a sense of trust (Brazilians do it over long lunches), and decision-making (Germans rely on consensus, Americans on one decider). In each area, the author provides a “culture map scale” that positions behaviors in more than 20 countries along a continuum, allowing readers to anticipate the preferences of individuals from a particular country: Do they like direct or indirect negative feedback? Are they rigid or flexible regarding deadlines? Do they favor verbal or written commitments? And so on. Meyer discusses managers who have faced perplexing situations, such as knowledgeable team members who fail to speak up in meetings or Indians who offer a puzzling half-shake, half-nod of the head. Cultural differences—not personality quirks—are the motivating factors behind many behavioral styles. Depending on our cultures, we understand the world in a particular way, find certain arguments persuasive or lacking merit, and consider some ways of making decisions or measuring time natural and others quite strange.
These are not hard and fast rules, but Meyer delivers important reading for those engaged in international business.Pub Date: May 27, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-61039-250-1
Page Count: 288
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Review Posted Online: April 15, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2014
An unflinching self-portrait.
The tumultuous life of a bisexual, autistic comic.
In her debut memoir, Scottish comedian Brady recounts the emotional turmoil of living with undiagnosed autism. “The public perception of autistics is so heavily based on the stereotype of men who love trains or science,” she writes, “that many women miss out on diagnosis and are thought of as studious instead.” She was nothing if not studious, obsessively focused on foreign languages, but she found it difficult to converse in her own language. From novels, she tried to gain “knowledge about people, about how they spoke to each other, learning turns of phrase and metaphor” that others found so familiar. Often frustrated and overwhelmed by sensory overload, she erupted in violent meltdowns. Her parents, dealing with behavior they didn’t understand—including self-cutting—sent her to “a high-security mental hospital” as a day patient. Even there, a diagnosis eluded her; she was not accurately diagnosed until she was 34. Although intimate friendships were difficult, she depicts her uninhibited sexuality and sometimes raucous affairs with both men and women. “I grew up confident about my queerness,” she writes, partly because of “autism’s lack of regard for social norms.” While at the University of Edinburgh, she supported herself as a stripper. “I liked that in a strip club men’s contempt of you was out in the open,” she admits. “In the outside world, misogyny was always hovering in your peripheral vision.” When she worked as a reporter for the university newspaper, she was assigned to try a stint as a stand-up comic and write about it; she found it was work she loved. After “about a thousand gigs in grim little pubs across England,” she landed an agent and embarked on a successful career. Although Brady hopes her memoir will “make things feel better for the next autistic or misfit girl,” her anger is as evident as her compassion.
An unflinching self-portrait.Pub Date: June 6, 2023
ISBN: 9780593582503
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Harmony
Review Posted Online: March 10, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2023
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