Disabled? Extra-able!

DISABLED? EXTRA-ABLE! How schools can empower kids by recognizing their extra-abilities & what disabled kids can teach the world.

What if children and adults don't use all their skills and knowledge? Not because they didn't get the opportunity, but because they don't realize they have these skills and knowledge.

What if this isn't a question, but a hard and also exciting reality? Hard, because everyone now misses out on so many opportunities, and exciting because it is possible to change that.

In this publication you discover: 1) why not all of our skills and knowledge have been recognized yet 2) why recognizing these assets is relevant to all domains in society 3) why education plays a crucial role in this process 4) and the 6 steps you can take to help others (and yourself!)

It won't take you long to read all this. But it can positively change hundreds of future decisions in your personal and professional life.

So give it a try.

Looking forward to hearing your response and which opportunities you see after reading this magazine!

Haim Dror

Maya Lievegoed

haim@humints.com

maya@humints.com

Founder HUMINT Solutions

CEO HUMINT Solutions

Developer of the TINO methodology

EXTRA-ABLE EXPLAINED With our TINO methodology we claim that any person, team or organization has extra-abilities. These are capacities developed to counterbalance any below average situation.

This can be a physical disability but also any other type of challenging situation. An extra-ability is not a talent a child (or adult) has, despite his or her limitation. It's the skill he or she has because of it.

Have a look at the images on the right or watch the animation below to see this concept explained.

Because the compensation process happens naturally, children, adults and organizations are not aware of having these skills. As a result, they don't capitalize on their full potential. That's where education can be a game-changer.

Click on the image above to watch our animation about being extra-able

Everybody understands

she compensates for this

And when a boy is in a

that when a girl's left leg is

with her right leg.

wheelchair, he

weakened,

This makes her right leg

compensates his disabled

extra strong.

legs with his arms.

Because by trying to

Not only people with

We like to call these

bring disbalances back

physical disabilities

extra-abilities, because

to balance, we all create

have these extra-

it's the response to any

compensation skills.

abilities, everybody does.

type of disability.

.

By identifying your extra-

Groups even contain an

With TINO we identify

abilities, it becomes

aggregation of all the

extra-abilities, on a

possible to use them for

extra-abilities of the

personal, team and

other challenges as well.

individual workers.

business-level in order to unlock their full potential.

EXTRA-ABLE FOR EDUCATION Personal development is at the core of education.

An incomplete image of a child's capacities creates an unnecessary and unfortunate obstacle in this process. It prevents children from consciously using their full potential and creates false labelling. This is why we actively share the TINO concept of being 'Extra-Able' in this domain. We also believe it has the potential to prevent bullying because it gives any child with a 'left leg' a strong weapon to defend him- or herself. Which is: their extra-ability.

In the Netherlands, we already collaborate with many schools (primary/secondary schools and higher education) but also with municipalities, ministries and NGOs. We are looking forward to introducing the concept of left leg-right leg also to other countries.

In the next pages, you discover the 6 steps that can help you, or any (other) education professional, claim these right legs more.

The TINO concept of left leg-right leg immediately appealed to me, because we experience that in society, the 'left leg label' dominates. With the TINO approach I realized how we actually ignore the qualities that children and adults have, not despite but rather thanks to their disability (all types). That is why we have teamed up with HUMINT Solutions and, because of our anniversary year, we are offering the books of HUMINT Solutions and TINO workshops to schools as a gift. This way, we already familiarized hundreds of children, teachers and parents with this perspective and with their own right legs!

Dick van der Meer, chairman non-profit organization Stichting Leergeld

WHAT CAN YOU DO? Step 1: Become aware of it We have to become aware that our education system (and language) doesn't mention right legs. A term such as ‘disabled’ emphasizes the thing a person struggles with or can’t do well. It leaves out that he or she developed compensation skills precisely because of this challenge. When we name something, such as an extraability, we make each other aware of its existence and we get to see new possibilities.

Step 2: Don't replace, complete!

Recognizing right legs is not about ignoring left legs. By labelling someone ‘patient’, the doctor knows whom to treat. By testing calculating skills, we know better at what level a child is performing. Therefore, we’re not pleading to let go of existing labels, but to make society's identification process more complete. Let us add extra abilities to our vocabulary and school curriculum.

Step 3: It's a process Finding right legs is simple but challenging. First of all, it is natural to see what those in need lack. Not what they can offer. Second, you need a mixture of skills, such as empathy (what is someone else experiencing?), thinking by association (what could this person develop because of that?) and agile thinking (for what or whom is that relevant?). Nowadays, children and youngsters who mostly communicate through technological platforms, often find these interpersonal skills very challenging.

Additionally, from whom should they learn to recognize right legs if we as adults don’t do this either? We need to start showing them how to do it and schools are a great place in which to introduce the concept. In addition, children (and adults) with physical disabilities can demonstrate the mechanism. We often invite a person in a wheelchair to our workshops. Not to emphasize the problem with their legs but to show the strength of their arms. Although systematically finding right legs is challenging (that is why we developed the TINO method), explaining the concept is fairly simple. Kids easily get it and understand how you also develop right legs as a result of a mental, social or economic limitation you have to deal with.

Step 4 and 5: Start at the problem and seek out like-minded people In his book “Leading change”, John Kotter describes magnifying the problem as the first step towards change. So, do not brush it off or downplay it. A crisis, such as bullying or marginalization creates a sense of urgency. As Winston Churchill once said: ‘Never waste a good crisis’. At the same time, it’s hard to change an old mindset quickly. Even more so on your own. Therefore, if you want to raise awareness about right legs, you should seek out like-minded people and strive towards an environment in which everyone is on the same page. If your colleagues are excited about talking about right legs with your students but your management is not, you won’t move forward. And when the school sees unrecognized knowledge in pupils, but their parents do not, then it gets confusing for children.

Step 6: Help us spread the message!

Perhaps you're a parent who recognizes some right legs of his child, a teacher who understands how this approach could tackle bullying or a policy worker looking for ways to empower marginalized citizens? In order to spread the message, we want and need to collaborate with more schools, governments and other organizations. So we look forward to hearing from you. Let's make recognizing right legs as normal as helping any child (or adult) with a left leg!

Click on the image to watch our book trailer.

You can find the e-book here in Issuu.

You can also read and share our book 'The Gang of Extra-able', which you can find in Issuu as an e-book. In this book, together with the Tino character, the reader discovers how any disability (physical, mental or economic) actually creates an 'extra-ability'.

Do you like the book and its message? Become an ambassador (see next page)!

BECOME AN AMBASSADOR! We can't change the mindset without reaching many more minds. If you want to join our extra-able cause, you can help us by sharing our e-book with as many people as possible. You can also do this as an ambassador and earn 10% of each sale.

How does it work?

As an ambassador you decide who you want to tell about our book. Perhaps you're a student or teacher and suggest your school or university to include the book as course material. Maybe you are working for an NGO or as a policyworker at a municipality and believe your colleagues should be introduced to this way of thinking. Or you are the Minister of Education and are searching for ways to tackle bullying with less resources. You tell us who you want to share the book with and for each e-book we sell to your contacts, you earn 10% of the net price (after taxes). There are no strings attached and you can start and stop helping us anytime you like.

Free of charge workshop!

We normally combine selling books to groups with a (free of charge) workshop for the group members. For example, if a professor decides to use the book in his university course, and 30 students read the e-book, we provide a free of charge workshop. We do so, because we believe as many people as possible should understand the message and be able to tell others about it. In this workshop, participants get additional do's and don'ts about our right-leg approach.

We can also just provide the workshop, without purchasing books. (In that case we charge a basic fee.) However, we always recommend people to read the book, as it gives many fun examples of right legs that help the reader understand the left legright leg concept.

Curious to know more about becoming an ambassador?

Does becoming an ambassador sound interesting to you? Send a message to maya@humints.com and we will reply within 48 hours!

MORE INFORMATION Want to know more? Click on the images below to read & see more.

Our complete left leg - right leg

Our 'right leg project' curated to

publication, including our

former homeless people, sponsored

deliverables for companies, the

by the Dutch Ministry of Health.

public sector and schools.

Our video about we apply TINO as a

Our video of the TEDx presentation

research method as well, including

Maya gave about her personal

case studies from the business

background and TINO.

sector.

Our website, with more information

All our publications (English and

about our programs & our team.

Dutch) on Issuu.

About the authors and the TINO method Maya Lievegoed introduced the TINO method in The Netherlands. She leads various TINO programs for children, youngsters and adults in the public and private domain. The TINO method was developed by Haim Dror. Dror was a ‘human intelligence expert’ for the Israeli government, later he received his Master’s degree at Harvard Business school and then began developing and implementing the method.

WWW.HUMINTS.COM info@humints.com