Re: ADD and Ritalin - Matt's POV
Al West (awest@CLN.ETC.BC.CA)
Mon, 21 Mar 1994 18:00:19 -0800
>-On March 21 Byron said
>I asked if Matt found people labelling other behaviours as ADD when
>they weren't. So, are you saying that never happens? Or that ADD is
>not a learning disability?
>
>I'm sure you know more about it than I, but I have worked with children
>(and parents) who used the "label" ADD as an EXCUSE. Similarly, when
>my wife was working with special needs kids at her first school, the "in"
>thing was to lable ALL disruptive children as "autistic", which many of
>them were not.
As a public school teacher in Canada, I would say that we in B.C. are slow
to lable 'ADD', 'ADHD', 'FAS' or 'FAE' until after the third grade. By then
we see some trends and the child has demonstrated some of their
developmental patterns which will tend to be the way the child operates in
their world. I know that our district psychologist is very reticent to
label any child but rather to help teachers and parents find ways to help
the child learn. When faced with overwhelming evidence he will label a
child and then we have a new set of problems. In addition to the child's
specific learning disability the child gets treated differently. Pull-outs
for reading, spelling and sometimes math take the child out of the
classroom and away from their friends. There is no simple bandaid solution
for this but parents who advocate the best for their child and work at
understanding the nature of their child's challenge go a long way toward
making that child's education work for them.
On the other side of the fence, parents who throw their hands up don't help
anyone...
PS FAS/FAE are Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Fetal Alcohol Effect which is an
even darker tunnel to travel through.
Keep the light shining!
Al West, MacHand via internet
Taylor Elem.SD #60 awest@cln.etc.bc.ca
789-3323 School 'Chance favors
789-3618 Fax the prepared mind!'
Terry Howerton Sakima Group, Inc. SCOUTER Magazine Kansas City | 
