Dr. Mel Levine is a Professor of Pediatrics at the University of North Carolina Medical
School in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and the Director of the University's Clinical Center
for the Study of Development and Learning. Dr. Levine is also the founder of All Kinds of
Minds, a nonprofit Institute for the study of differences in learning, and co-chairs the
Institute's Board of Directors with Charles R. Schwab.
Over the past twenty-five years Dr. Levine has pioneered programs for the evaluation of
children and young adults with learning, development, and/or behavioral problems. In
1995, Dr. Levine received the C. Anderson Aldrich Award from the American Academy
of Pediatrics for outstanding contribution to the field of child development. Dr. Benjamin
Spock, Dr. T. Berry Brazelton and Dr. Jerome Kagan were also recipients of this
prestigious award in other years.
Dr. Levine graduated summa cum laude from Brown University and was a Rhodes
Scholar at Oxford in England. He later graduated from Harvard Medical School and
completed his pediatric training at The Children's Hospital in Boston. Dr. Levine
served for fourteen years as Chief of the Division of Ambulatory Pediatrics at The
Children's Hospital and was an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at The Harvard
Medical School before moving to North Carolina.
Dr. Levine's groundbreaking framework for understanding why children struggle in school
provides a straightforward, practical system for recognizing variations in the way children
learn and uses their strengths to become more successful students. Properly executed, this
model can change lives by radically improving prospects for success in and out of school.
Publications by Dr. Mel Levine include:
A Pediatric Approach to Learning Disorders
Developmental Variation and Learning Disorders (2nd Edition)
Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics (3rd Edition)
All Kinds of Minds
Educational Care
Keeping A Head In School
Jarvis Clutch--Social Spy
A Mind at a Time
The Myth of Laziness (Simon & Schuster, January 2003)
· On March 27, 2002, PBS broadcast Misunderstood Minds, a groundbreaking
documentary on learning differences and the impact these differences have on
individual children, their families and society as a whole, addressing many of the
issues Dr. Levine regularly discusses.
A Message from Dr. Mel Levine, Founder and Co-Chairman of "All Kinds of Minds"
Most children begin their educational careers as enthusiastic learners and energetic
thinkers. But before long, many of them begin to fall behind in traditional school programs
because of the way their brains are "wired".
Children who are struggling present a range of issues from severe breakdowns in
learning to the frustrations of those whose efforts in school far exceed their achievements.
Some have brains that are wired to handle a lot of information at once. Others can only
absorb and process a little information at a time. Still others must look at information many
times before grasping it. Some kids' brains can recall information and skills rapidly, while
others need more time to process and respond to a stimulus.
Fortunately, all kids' minds have the potential for great growth.
Too many kids struggle needlessly simply because the way in which they learn is
incompatible with the way they're being taught. Schools are filled with kids who have given
up on themselves and conclude that they are "stupid," It's tragic. It's also painful -painful
for the student, teacher, and parent.
All of these individuals may be unaware that the "wiring" of a child's brain simply is
not in sync with the demands of the situations at hand. Telling a student "You can do
better" doesn't help particularly when he has done his best to no avail. Criticizing him for
an inability to complete a particular task in a particular way, similarly, is ineffective -not to
mention inappropriate. And humiliating him inadvertently, in private or in public, for
circumstances beyond his control is simply hurtful and unnecessary.
Yet these types of responses to children with learning differences are all too
common. The fact is that these kids often have good minds with real and obvious
intellectual strengths. However, they suffer from what is often subtle dysfunction - patterns
of brain wiring that makes certain aspects of learning exceedingly difficult. These children
are highly vulnerable - and they're slipping through the cracks.
Can These Kids Succeed?
In general, kids have very little tolerance for humiliation or failure. One of a student's
most important goals is to make it through the day without embarrassment. Imagine
then, the frustration of children with differences in learning, who are at risk of growing up
deprived of experiencing success. Naturally, they compare themselves to their peers and
siblings. While some may see themselves as "different," many will feel inferior.
Unfortunately, these feelings are likely to endure. When they do, serious complications
can develop including plummeting self- esteem, behavior problems, excessive dependence
on peers, alienation from family, deep anxiety, and a loss of motivation. The sad reality is
that a difference in learning, not addressed as such, can lead to anti-social behavior,
substance abuse, dropping out, and other serious forms of maladjustment.
Success is a vitamin that every kid must take in order to thrive during his or her school
years. We, as teachers and parents, must make sure that this critical learning "supplement"
is available to all students. All Kinds of Minds believes that embracing the unique set of
ideas and practices that follow will increase our odds of succeeding at this essential task.
Dr. Mel Levine