May 4, published in Perigee Bookmarks: Improving Your World One Book at a Time

In my (gulp) twenty years as an editor of nonfiction, I’ve learned countless things from the authors I’ve worked with. Thanks to these amazingly varied and knowledgeable writers, I can hold my own in cocktail-party conversations about the differences between cirrus and stratocumulus clouds, how to carve a pumpkin using a power saw, the history of the phone book, and how to pop a Champagne cork with a sword — among many other topics (I could go on, and I often do, especially after a whiskey smash or two).

But one of the most fascinating things I’ve learned comes from what also happens to be the first book I edited when I came to Penguin in the summer of 2004 — the revised edition of a special-needs bible called The Out-of-Sync Child, which has sold more than 750,000 copies to date.

Here’s what I learned: We have seven senses, not five.

Sure, we’ve got sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste. But we also have a sense of what our body is doing, even when we can’t see it (the proprioceptive sense), and a sense of balance (the vestibular sense). When the brain isn’t processing sensory information efficiently, these two senses, along with the others, can be a bit “out-of-sync.”

Working with an author like Carol Kranowitz – whose book has been translated into a dozen languages and has touched countless special-needs parents, educators, therapists, and of course kids – is truly a privilege, and a learning experience.

Now, twelve years after The Out-of-Sync Child was first published, I have the added privilege of working with Carol and her talented new co-author, perceptual motor therapist Joye Newman, on book that, we all hope, will touch an even wider audience.

The Out-of-Sync Child takes the principles of the first book to a new level, because it turns out that ALL kids, not just those with special needs, need to run, jump, roll, skip, and balance on their tip-toes. Why? Because these movements help the brain develop as it’s supposed to.

So take your kids to the park. And let’s go out for a cocktail sometime (but only one, or else my seven senses will start to get a little foggy).