what does everybody else don’t that I don’t?

Posted on October 11th, 2010 at 11:16 am by admin

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What Does Everybody Else Know that I Don’t? is a book my Michele Novotni. Dr. Novotni works with ADHD adults. She wrote the book to describe the holes in social knowledge that ADHD adults typically have.

The title raises an interesting question for Asperger adults too. What does everybody else know? How can you learn what everybody else knows? How important is it?

And how come they all know it but you don’t?

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that what everybody else knows is something called common sense. It’s common because they all learned it.

But common sense is not a bundle of rules and facts. That’s why it’s hard to learn as an adult. Kids learn these things by observing over long periods of time, while they’re still learning the rules of the universe. These common sense ideas just blend in with those other rules (like: Things fall when you drop them. Moms get mad when you break things. People notice you when you yell loud.).

A year ago, I set out to write a book about common sense. My plan was to write it entirely in cartoons, comics, and diagrams.

It was hard to write, especially because so little has ever been written about common sense. I had to start by figuring out what it is.

I developed comics and cartoons to illustrate the concepts and make them real (and funny). But I had to stop short of turning it into a comic book. First, I’m not that good an artist. And second, it’s hard to read a book entirely in illustrations.

The end result is a hybrid. Of the 200 pages, there are 308 cartoons and comics, all original. The book is divided in 7 chapters, each explaining one basic concept of common sense. In the margin, there are tip boxes for What to do, You can predict, You can prioritize, What people expect, and What people assume. I’ve also included anecdotes (many taken from real life), quiz boxes, and tables.

It’s a fun book. And it will be available for sale within a couple of weeks.