Scaffolding

Mitch Prinstein recently spoke to USA TODAY about how the movie Finding Dory shows ways to interact with children with developmental disabilities in thoughtful ways. “Dory has an obvious disability, but she finds out what her strengths are in her particular brain. For some people, those strengths are visible and for some might be hidden.”

Prinstein is the John Van Seters Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience in the College of Arts & Sciences, and a member of the Clinical Psychology Program. He loves teaching and has received several honors for his classroom instruction, like the UNC-Chapel Hill Tanner Award for Undergraduate Teaching, the Psi Chi Professor of the Year Award, and the Psychology Club Department Research Mentor Award.

Prinstein shared that Dory’s parents are “scaffolding” or providing a structure that allows kids to function within their abilities, then gradually removing that structure until they’re able to stand on their own. “Those are just really nice examples of being able to provide that kind of structure in a sensitive and thoughtful way.”

Read the complete Carolina Story from USA Today…

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