By Dr. Marlene Kushner
Sense of Direction
Sense of Direction offers a memoir, guidebook, and text to readers who intend to help students with unique patterns of learning. The title refers to the author’s navigational challenges as well as her decades long quest to understand herself and work with students whose differences were similar to those she experienced. Deception and misinformation were two building blocks of her identity.
The book presents the author’s life and follows the many challenges she encountered and overcame. The issues inherent in having an “invisible disorder” are explored. Resources for students, including protective legislation, supportive associations and assistive technology are detailed. Finally, a sample of current research in the field is included.
Understanding the importance and joy of books in my life, I ultimately dedicated my studies and career to those for whom traditional reading, as well as other language skills, are laborious. During my graduate education, I became aware, quite incidentally, that I too was a diverse learner. Determined to know all that I could, and to share this knowledge with my students, I sought admission to a doctoral program, and earned my degree in The Neuropsychology of Learning Disorders. I hope readers of Sense of Direction will draw upon my life’s journey for guidance, support and encouragement. You are not alone.
Marlene Kushner knows whereof she speaks when she talks about “invisible disabilities.” In Sense of Direction, she gives us a vivid autobiographical account of what it means to struggle in an educational and social world where something beyond the obvious prevents us from fitting in.
Her account is a gift both to those people close to us who have to live and work with such disabilities, and to the rest of us in helping to understand their interior world…
–Scott Spires, Author of Abandon All Hope
Marlene Koestenblatt Kushner’s life has been a relentless battle to seek justice for those with invisible dis-abilities, including herself. Determined to overcome all personal, domestic and professional obstacles, her uphill climb has brought her to the pinnacle of her profession in a field that is finally recognizing and validating learning differ-ences. This book is a model of self-determination, never losing its sense of direction. An engaging and inspiring read!
–Tracy K. Wood, Author of Our Dementia
Available at:
Available Online
Publisher
Auctus Publishers
auctuspublishers.com
Contact the author
mpkauthor@gmail.com