FYI
Nowell Neuropsychological Services, Inc. - David D. Nowell, Ph.D.
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Recent Posts

Experience Auditory Processing Disorder for Yourself!
Catching up with the conversation about DSM-5
Procrastination: Inquiring Students Want to Know...
"Walk Me Up" app makes you get up and move in the morning
"Shot Note" app - digitize and organize handwritten notes

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FYI

May 2012

My Desert Island Diagnostic Tool

As a neuropsychologist, I spend a lot of my time administering and scoring and generally trying to make sense of standardized tests of cognitive and emotional functioning.  And I love it!  I love watching my clients as they solve problems and formulate verbal responses to questions they might not have considered before.   I love the diagnostic process of "connecting the dots" among my data sources.  Looking at inkblots, putting red-and-white blocks together, and copying complex geometric figures.

Little Miss Pumpkin 1992

My sisters and I share dozens of stories.  While most of them are silly, some are rich with meaning.  
 
One story in particular takes place at an annual county-wide Pumpkin Festival which features a Little Miss Pumpkin - selected for beauty, poise, talent, and representativeness of the values of the Festival.  
 
For a brief period (the Festival lasts several days), the outgoing Little Miss Pumpkin and this year's newly elected monarch overlap in their duties and responsibilities.

My child won't stop wiggling!

In response to a recent media inquiry aboutwiggling(I love that word), I offered the following responses.  I'm sharing them here because most of what I've learned on the topic has come from the many wise parents and clinicians who've attended myworkshopsand shared with me.  Thanks!
What do you know about a parent's frustration with wiggly kids?  
When a child - or any person for that matter- is moving near me and i can hear or see or feel that movement, it distracts me and as a parent I worry it will distract others.

Marry Well and Get a Crackerjack Assistant at Work

To Love and to Work
Sigmund Freud suggested that in order to be happy, adults need “lieben und arbeiten” – to love and to work! And that’s exactly where adults with ADD/ADHD may have their greatest challenges.   

Because ADHD may have its biggest impact in "love and work," I often recommend  that adults with the condition "marry well and get a crackerjack assistant at work."  And what follows is the content I will share tonight with a Boston area ADHD support group

Ongoing Changes in DSM Revision Process

As reported inNatureon Wednesday, then CBSand other outlets yesterday, some important decisions have been made towards shaping what will become our next standard diagnostic manual, the DSM-5.  

Specifically, "attenuated psychosis syndrome" and "mixed anxiety/depression disorder" have been excluded from that revision.  DSM panel members report that despite possible clinical utility of these categories, there appears to be a lack of empirical support.

Many of my colleagues and

Please stop saying "The prefrontal cortex is the CEO of the human brain"

Well they did it again.  They referred to the prefrontal cortex as the"CEO" of the brain.  Makes me crazy, it's a pet peeve of mine.  Someonedid it here, too.  Andhere.

The reason this irritates me is that the CEO metaphor completely misses the point and purpose of brain-based executive functioning.  The Chief Executive Officer's role in an organization is to say things like "Steve do you have that 2nd quarter report?"  and "Let's ship out 20% more tablets to the Asian market this fiscal year.