“Ongoing Themes: #Dyslexia #ADHD #LD Discrepancy #504 #Parenting”
Those of you following this blog for some time know there are some recurring themes in these posts (that mostly irritate me).
For others newer to these posts, I will help to bring you up to speed with some of the predominant ones.
- The LD-Discrepancy Model: Easily the number one issue that gets under my skin is the LD-Discrepancy model used in many states (New Jersey being one) to classify children in special education as learning disabled. I discussed it in my recent blog post (https://shutdownlearner.com/ineffective-inefficient-irrational-immoral-and-indefensible/), but if If you need a primer on the LD-Discrepancy model, this is a great overview: (https://www.understood.org/en/articles/the-discrepancy-model-what-you-need-to-know).
- Pathologizing Childhood: Not all child problems are neurobiological (i.e., “brain-based”) disabilities. Some issues are just kids being kids. (Please see my blog on boy executive function deficits: https://shutdownlearner.com/?s=hypothetical ). Also, sometimes the material being given to them is inappropriate to their level of reading ability. That is not an “in the head” problem. It’s a curriculum issue.
- “Diagnosing” ADHD Based on Small Data: Checking a few items (e.g., “Easily distractible….Inattentive, etc.”) on a rating scale like the Vanderbilt given in the pediatrician’s office is not enough. There are a multitude of factors that could be producing the distractibility. Many of these factors should be understood before putting a child on medication for ADHD.
- “We can’t diagnose dyslexia – you need to see a neurologist.” Parents are reflexively told this by the school when they raise concerns of dyslexia. Seriously, how many neurologists or pediatricians that you know give a battery of reading, spelling and writing tests that are necessary to assess dyslexia? At its core, dyslexia is a reading disability. How can this be determined without a battery of reading measures? Stop telling parents it is a medical condition.
- “This or That Thinking:” “I just want to get to the bottom of it,” parents will say. “I just don’t know if it’s ADD or laziness.” The problem as I see it is that there rarely is a bottom. The truth is it’s almost never, “this or that.” With most kids it’s almost always, “this and that and that.”
- Overplaying 504 Plans: Listen up, gang. The reality of 504 Plans is that they do not do that much. 504s do not offer services, but basic accommodations (e.g., extended time).
- “Hey, Bud” Parenting: I hate to break the news to parents out there, but they are your children. You don’t set limits with your buddies. You set limits with children.
- Screen Addicts: I get it. Times change. I don’t get the newspaper delivered any more. I have my phone with me most of the time and am in a froth when I can’t locate it. With that said, kids care about little else than their screen time. They are becoming addicted. We’re not facing it.
Takeaway Point: I understand that some may think that I am just saying these things because I am at the “get off my lawn” stage of life. Maybe it’s compounded by that fact, but I have been repeating these theme to parents for many years.
Perhaps getting it off my chest helps – it’s still cheaper than real therapy!!!
Feel free to make comment below.
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Copyright, Richard Selznick, Ph.D. 2023, www.shutdownlearner.com.