Barbara Arrowsmith Young
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Barbara Arrowsmith Young (born November 28, 1951) is a Canadian author, entrepreneur and lecturer. She is the founder of the Arrowsmith School in Toronto and the controversial Arrowsmith Program which forms the basis of the school's teaching method. In 2012 she published ''The Woman Who Changed Her Brain'' which combines an autobiographical account of her own severe learning disabilities and the method she developed to overcome them with case studies of learning disabled children who she claims overcame similar problems by using her method.


Early life

Arrowsmith Young was born in
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
on November 28, 1951, to Jack and Barbara Young. Her father was an electrical engineer who worked for
Canadian General Electric GE Canada (or General Electric Canada) is the wholly-owned Canadian unit of General Electric, manufacturing various consumer and industrial electrical products all over Canada. GE Canada was preceded by the company Canadian General Electric (CGE ...
. Her mother was a teacher. As a child she had exceptional
visual The visual system is the physiological basis of visual perception (the ability to detect and process light). The system detects, transduces and interprets information concerning light within the visible range to construct an image and buil ...
and
auditory memory Echoic memory is the sensory memory that registers specific to auditory information (sounds). Once an auditory stimulus is heard, it is stored in memory so that it can be processed and understood. Unlike most visual memory, where a person can choo ...
, but it was coupled with several severe deficits in other areas, including
dyslexia Dyslexia (), previously known as word blindness, is a learning disability that affects either reading or writing. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, reading quickly, wri ...
,
dyscalculia Dyscalculia () is a learning disability resulting in difficulty learning or comprehending arithmetic, such as difficulty in understanding numbers, numeracy, learning how to manipulate numbers, performing mathematical calculations, and learning f ...
, and problems with spatial reasoning,
logic Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the study of deductively valid inferences or logical truths. It examines how conclusions follow from premises based on the structure o ...
, and kinesthetic perception. With the help of her mother she eventually achieved basic literacy and numeracy. However, she struggled throughout
elementary Elementary may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''Elementary'' (Cindy Morgan album), 2001 * ''Elementary'' (The End album), 2007 * ''Elementary'', a Melvin "Wah-Wah Watson" Ragin album, 1977 Other uses in arts, entertainment, an ...
and
high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...
. Doidge, Norman (2008)
Chapter 2: "Building Herself a Better Brain"
''The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science''. Penguin.


Education

Despite her learning difficulties, she graduated with a B.A.Sc in child studies from the
University of Guelph The University of Guelph (abbreviated U of G) is a comprehensive Public university, public research university in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. It was established in 1964 after the amalgamation of Ontario Agricultural College (1874), the MacDonald I ...
in 1974. After graduating she worked for two years as the head teacher of the university's laboratory
preschool A preschool (sometimes spelled as pre school or pre-school), also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, play school, is an school, educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they ...
before embarking on a master's degree in applied psychology at the University of Toronto's
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto (OISE/UT) is Canada's only all-graduate institute of teaching, learning and research. It is located at 252 Bloor Street West on the university's St. George campus in ...
(OISE). She completed her Masters dissertation, ''A follow up study of a clinical sample'', in 1982. It examined the progress of 62 students who had been previously assessed as learning disabled at the OISE's education clinic. In 1977 she had met Joshua Cohen, a PhD student at OISE who also had learning disabilities and ran a small clinic for learning disabled children. Cohen introduced her to the work of
Alexander Luria Alexander Romanovich Luria (; , ; 16 July 1902 – 14 August 1977) was a Soviet neuropsychology, neuropsychologist, often credited as a father of modern neuropsychology. He developed an extensive and original battery of neuropsychological ...
. According to Arrowsmith Young, Luria's 1971 book ''The Man with the Shattered World'' which documented the recovery under his treatment of the brain-injured soldier
Lev Zasetsky Lev Alexandrovich Zasetsky (9 August 1920 – 9 September 1993) was a patient who was treated by Soviet neuropsychologist Alexander Luria. Zasetsky suffered a severe brain injury, losing his ability to read, write, and speak (retrieving desire ...
was profoundly influential on her, as was the work of Mark Rosenzweig on
neuroplasticity Neuroplasticity, also known as neural plasticity or just plasticity, is the ability of neural networks in the brain to change through neurogenesis, growth and reorganization. Neuroplasticity refers to the brain's ability to reorganize and rewir ...
.Arrowsmith Young, Barbara (2012)
''The Woman Who Changed Her Brain''
pp. 7, 16, 139, 161–162, 187–188. Simon and Schuster.
Using the ideas of Luria and Rosenzweig, she began developing a series of exercises in 1978 which she states finally helped to overcome her learning disabilities.


Career

Arrowsmith Young and Cohen married in 1980 and opened the Arrowswmith School for learning disabled children in Toronto that same year. Its curriculum was based on the exercises which Arrowsmith Young had developed for herself and which came to be known as the Arrowsmith Program. She named the school after her paternal grandmother (born Louie May Arrowsmith in 1883), who as a young girl had been one of the pioneer settlers of
Creston, British Columbia Creston is a town in the Kootenays, Kootenay region of southeastern British Columbia, Canada. Time zones Settlements on the east shore of Kootenay Lake and along British Columbia Highway 3, BC Highway 3 from Creston to Yahk are among the few area ...
. The Toronto school gradually expanded and in 1991 she and Cohen opened a second school in
Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
. The Toronto branch was wound down and closed. However, the New York school folded a few years later, and in 1994, Arrowsmith Young and Cohen's marriage ended. She returned to Toronto and re-opened the original school. Cohen remained in New York and died there in 2000.


The Arrowsmith Program

The re-opened Arrowsmith School in Toronto attracted increasing numbers of students and eventually opened other branches. The Arrowsmith Program was also franchised to other private schools and in some public ones as well. In 2012 she published ''The Woman Who Changed Her Brain'', an autobiographical account of how she overcame her own severe learning disabilities combined with 30 case studies of learning disabled children who she says overcame similar problems by using her method.Barmak, Sarah (1 June 2012)
"Step by painful step, she built a better brain"
''
The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...
''. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
Eggertson, Laura (26 May 2012)
"''The Woman Who Changed Her Brain'' by Barbara Arrowsmith-Young: Review"
''
Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...
''. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
Her method, which was the subject of a 2008
CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...
documentary ''Fixing My Brain'', has proved controversial. Psychiatrist Norman Doidge devoted one of the chapters in his book, '' The Brain That Changes Itself'', to Arrowsmith Young and described her approach as "an important discovery". However, the Arrowsmith Program has been criticized by several neuroscientists, psychologists and cognitive scientists, including Anne Castles,
Max Coltheart Max Coltheart (born 16 April 1939) is an Australian cognitive scientist who specialises in cognitive neuropsychology and cognitive neuropsychiatry. Coltheart was born in Frankston, Victoria and grew up in Brisbane, Canberra and Bega. He commenc ...
, Pamela Snow, Emma Burrows and Linda Siegel, for basing its claims on
anecdotal evidence Anecdotal evidence (or anecdata) is evidence based on descriptions and reports of individual, personal experiences, or observations, collected in a non- systematic manner. The term ''anecdotal'' encompasses a variety of forms of evidence. This ...
. They have noted that there have been no peer-reviewed studies published or the use of
randomized controlled trial A randomized controlled trial (or randomized control trial; RCT) is a form of scientific experiment used to control factors not under direct experimental control. Examples of RCTs are clinical trials that compare the effects of drugs, surgical ...
s to evaluate whether it is actually more effective than any other "brain training" programs, such as the Dore Program and
Brain Gym Brain Gym is a proprietary brain training and body movement programme. It is widely considered to be pseudoscience. Organization "Brain Gym International" is the trade name of the Educational Kinesiology Foundation, a California nonprofit co ...
, which they have also criticized for the same reasons.Barmak, Sarah (25 January 2013)
"Can a controversial learning program transform brains?"
''
The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...
''. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
Han, Esther (15 May 2012)
"Proof hurdle for 'brain training'"
''
Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper in ...
.'' Retrieved 9 June 2015.
Additionally, other experts, including clinical psychologist and neuropsychologist Tim Hannan, speech pathologist Alison Clarke, and at least one human rights tribunal have made similar concerns, citing lack of evidence and improper tests on the program. Clarke even argues the program to be based on
pseudoscientific Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or unfalsifiable cl ...
methodology. Robert Shepard, a clinical psychologist with 25 years of private practice, forensic and family health team experience, as well as a critic of Norman Doidge and his work, makes a ten-point argument against the Arrowsmith Program. Explaining each point in short essay format, he argues that these are essential to marketing a product when no evidence exists that it actually works.


Notes


References


External links


Barbara Arrowsmith Young's official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arrowsmith Young, Barbara 1951 births Businesspeople from Toronto Canadian education writers Canadian educators Canadian women educators Canadian women non-fiction writers Living people Writers from Toronto