Seven Kinds of Smart: Identifying and Developing Your Many Intelligences [Paperback]

Thomas Armstrong (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 1993

A leading author on parenting provides fifty strategies for getting at the root of a child's attention and behavior problems other than using medication or behavior modification techniques. Original."

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Thomas Armstrong, Ph.D., is the author of seven books, including The Myth of the A.D.D. Child (Plume), In Their Own Way, and Awakening Your Child's Natural Genius. A former special- education teacher, he has written frequently on parenting and education issues for publications such as Ladies' Home Journal and Family Circle. He lives in Sonoma County, California. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Plume; 1st Printing, March 1993 edition (March 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0452268192
• ISBN-13: 978-0452268197
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,710,960 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I've been a writer and speaker for twenty-five years, focusing on the diversity of ways in which people learn and grow. I like to read (my favorite writer is Jorge Luis Borges), paint, meditate (I do mindfulness meditation), and play Scrabble (even though my wife usually beats me). I'm particularly excited about my new book (out in May 2010) called Neurodiversity: Discovering the Extraordinary Gifts of Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia, and Other Brain Differences. It suggests that we think about brain diversity in the same way we think about biodiversity and cultural diversity. I used to work as a learning disability specialist and was disheartened by the negative labels we throw at children. I believe we need to honor and celebrate the uniqueness of each learner. My book Neurodiversity focuses on the strengths and abilities of people with mental health labels, including autism, dyslexia, ADHD, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, and intellectual disabilities. I hope that you buy Neurodiversity, and tell other people about it!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

64 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Refreshingly optimistic and straightforward, May 27, 2000

By 

Mr Mondo - See all my reviews

This review is from: 7 (Seven) Kinds of Smart: Identifying and Developing Your Multiple Intelligences (Paperback)

There's literally a little something for everyone in this book, which popularizes the cognitive psychological work of Howard Gardner, whom Armstrong goes out of his way to credit with developing the theory of multiple intelligences.

That little something should be a comfort to all of us -- we each are smart in our own way. Gardner has identified seven specific types of intelligence that all human beings have access to in varying degrees. Armstrong's very welcome addition is to help lay readers understand what qualities are embodied in each intelligence and how to gauge our own specific level in each category.

He also explains that we need not be limited by those intelligences that are least developed in us. It is never too late to take up activities that will help us cultivate each of the seven primary intelligences and, in the process, have fun, experience personal growth and enjoy life.

Gardner is, from what I've read, still tinkering with adding more types of intelligences to his original list of seven. This edition of Armstrong's book lists two new possibilities -- naturalistic intelligence and existential intelligence -- and explains Gardner's criteria for identifying intelligences that can be added to the list.

This is not a feel-good, self-help book. The theory of multiple intelligences could be a major breakthrough in cognitive psychology and certainly warrants further research. Armstrong's gift is to make those of us who don't toil in the groves of psychological academe aware of Howard Gardner's work and its potential impact on our individual lives.

Buy the book, read it and think about the intelligences you have most developed. Think about others around you and their hierarchy of developed intelligences. It doesn't take long to realize that everyone -- from a king to a pauper -- can lay valid claim to a unique genius composed of their levels of development in the various identified intelligences, their life experiences and the choices they make. If nothing else, multiple intelligences should remind us forcefully that everyone deserves our respect as human beings.

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What They Don't Teach You At College, July 31, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Seven Kinds of Smart: Identifying and Developing Your Many Intelligences (Paperback)

For people interested in learning more about multiple intelligences without the lengthy sentences and academic verbosity, this is a great book. Not only is it simple in its text, but it's also fun to read because of the exercises and tests included for each intelligence. You learn that in real life there is no one true way to label a "smart" person, and for the more unconventional and unusual among us this is good news! You can realize and apply your talents to everyday life, and try to develop the intelligences in which you are not as strong. So when you look at your old high school report cards or college transcripts and groan loudly in disgust, throw them in the trash and read this book

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Forget about IQ, EQ, etc. There are at least 7 intelligences, January 6, 2001

By 

Rune Antonsen (Norway) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 7 (Seven) Kinds of Smart: Identifying and Developing Your Multiple Intelligences (Paperback)

Ever wondered why some are good at sports and others not? We say that they have a "talent". Armstrong tells us that this is in fact an intelligence, and we have seven of them. Some people are good at maths, others at music and some with a ball. Think about what this means! There are no losers; only people which are more gifted in one area than another.

Now the great thing is that you if you're not "talented" in an area you can still learn how to develop that intelligence. Maybe you always wanted to play the piano but because you were dismissed as a musicians in your early years by a notorious music teacher, you have always been very reluctant to start learning. You know, you still can do it!

As your seven intelligences are set at different levels, you can choose which ones that are important to you and develop these. I have even started to categorize things I do into these intelligences to see what kind of improvements I make.