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A friend sent me this. It is terrific. However some of the comments claim this is from a front group for Scientology and is against psychiatric diagnoses. I'm well aware there are some serious disorders affecting children but it seems to me it is too easy to label a kid at a very young age and it sticks like glue and changes their growth direction.
We were told one of our daughters had a border line IQ of 73. It was explained to us as a reason for her poor performance in school. That knowledge led us to make some drastic changes. We set up a special care trust fund for her because we worried about her future capability to be independent. We didn't push her as much in her studies because we thought she wasn't capable.
Two years later at another IEP meeting I brought this low IQ up and the leader of the meeting started shuffling in her papers and said "That simply is not true". Her IQ tested at 89 but I see one other test did come in at 73 but that has nothing to do with IQ. She is perfectly capable of doing great work but she might need a bit more time at tests." I burst into tears. How could such a terrible mistake be made? Why didn't I push for more or different testing? Did we put too much emphasis on this IQ number? Had we lost too much time to get her back on track?
The exact same thing happened when we our son came into our home as a foster child when he was three, He had serious delays due to his very neglectful bio mom and his older sister doing everything for him (including talking for him). and the social worker told us that his estimated IQ was in the low 70's, based on extensive testing at the local Children's Hospital. However, I simply did not believe it because at the age of three, he built a house complete to the point of having a kitchen sink and a bowl of flowers on the counter, all made entirely out of Legos! And when he finally started talking to the point where we could understand him, he would say things like (no kidding), "The tiny creature scurried" instead of "the little dog ran." At that point, I insisted that he be retested, after which they said his intelligence was normal, with him scoring "off the charts" for four-year-olds in vocabulary.
However, because of the earlier assessment, I worried about his intelligence until he was in the second grade and began to read Harry Potter books. (He later tested in the 91st percentile in vocabulary, aced algebra tests in high school without doing any homework, and tested in the 80-something percentile on the ASVAB, the military assessment test.)
So, so much for the opinion of experts! God only knows how many lives have been ruined (or at least very severely and negatively affected) by children being misdiagnosed by them.
I totally agree that IQ scores are often misinterpreted or even flat out wrong, along with other symptoms or tests.
The thing that gets me is that we put big groups of kids into classrooms based on age, as if most kids can and SHOULD learn all subjects in the same way at the same time, and if they don't, they get labeled as dysfunctional or flawed in some way.
I totally agree that IQ scores are often misinterpreted or even flat out wrong, along with other symptoms or tests.
The thing that gets me is that we put big groups of kids into classrooms based on age, as if most kids can and SHOULD learn all subjects in the same way at the same time, and if they don't, they get labeled as dysfunctional or flawed in some way.
Agree..... I have 3 kids in the K-4 grade range and knowing their friends, it is amazing the differences between kids of the same age. Each kid learns at a different rate and should not be stigmatized if they dont meet every goal at that young age.
Agree..... I have 3 kids in the K-4 grade range and knowing their friends, it is amazing the differences between kids of the same age. Each kid learns at a different rate and should not be stigmatized if they dont meet every goal at that young age.
Amen! I think one of the worst injustices we do to some kids is expecting them to learn at the same pace and by the same methods as 20 other kids from all walks of life and with 20 different personalities and 20 different sets of talents and challenges.
And then if they don't learn exactly like others, they're labeled as flawed rather than as individuals with different learning styles that should be respected.
And to clarify, I feel for teachers who have to try to keep 20 kids on the same sheet of music so to speak - this doesn't give them the time or flexibility to do much catering to the individual needs of kids, and that's got to be frustrating.
I will be a dissenting voice here - some of these disorders are not only very real, but affect how children learn and respond to the world. My grandson is autistic. Yes, it is a label, but that label allowed him to get the help he needed to work up to his potential.
We need to stop stigmatizing kids, but that does not mean that psychiatric help is not necessary for some kids. Ask a parent who is struggling with a child who has a mental disorder who isn't being helped by the system.
I agree that IQ is not the best indicator of anything, btw. IQ though is not what determines most mental disorders.
Labeling is a necessary evil in public schools. The SD won't shell out for any help unless your child has a label. That doesn't mean a parent shouldn't encourage their children to shoot for the stars. But they're mutually exclusive, IMHO.
Last edited by iluvmycuties; 04-08-2015 at 02:22 PM..
I will be a dissenting voice here - some of these disorders are not only very real, but affect how children learn and respond to the world. My grandson is autistic. Yes, it is a label, but that label allowed him to get the help he needed to work up to his potential.
We need to stop stigmatizing kids, but that does not mean that psychiatric help is not necessary for some kids. Ask a parent who is struggling with a child who has a mental disorder who isn't being helped by the system.
I agree that IQ is not the best indicator of anything, btw. IQ though is not what determines most mental disorders.
I see what you're saying, and you make some good points. But what I also think is that we are too quick to slap a label on behavior or learning styles that are not necessarily DISORDERS but are simply individual styles and personalities.
I have four kids. Two are very quick learners and were very good students. One is dyslexic and ADHD (yes, he really is) and has an IQ of 135. He was a very difficult student. One was an average student and a little bit of a discipline problem, but had no underlying mental illness or disorder - he was just a rowdy, mischievous boy.
My oldest daughter was always smart as a whip, even when she was an infant. Bright? Yes. Genius? No. She was so driven and such a fast learner though that in kindergarten or first grade, the school asked to test her IQ as part of their consideration about putting her in a gifted program. Her IQ score was 106. In spite of this very average score, they placed her in the gifted program and she fit right in and was a happy little camper.
We moved in the middle of her school year and somehow her IQ score was entered into her record incorrectly - as 86. I didn't know about this mistake, and so when I was enrolling her, I told the new school that she had been in the gifted program and had been doing well. The person enrolling her thumbed through her record and said, sarcastically in fact, "I somehow doubt that. I think you must mean some sort of remedial program." WHAT? I was shocked - and angry. I said, "Look, I am not mistaken about this - my gosh, she's been reading since she was about three and I know her IQ is average but she's been in the gifted program and she's been doing well." The woman literally snorted and said, "Highly unlikely - her IQ score is only 86."
So you can see how easily a child might be MIS labeled. I had to really get down and dirty with this woman - I had to insist that she contact the other school for clarification - while I sat there. I had to practically force her to look through the complete packet and to verify that she had indeed been excelling in the gifted program. I hate to think what would have happened if I hadn't been there to be sure she was correctly enrolled. Sheeze!
I see what you're saying, and you make some good points. But what I also think is that we are too quick to slap a label on behavior or learning styles that are not necessarily DISORDERS but are simply individual styles and personalities.
I have four kids. Two are very quick learners and were very good students. One is dyslexic and ADHD (yes, he really is) and has an IQ of 135. He was a very difficult student. One was an average student and a little bit of a discipline problem, but had no underlying mental illness or disorder - he was just a rowdy, mischievous boy.
My oldest daughter was always smart as a whip, even when she was an infant. Bright? Yes. Genius? No. She was so driven and such a fast learner though that in kindergarten or first grade, the school asked to test her IQ as part of their consideration about putting her in a gifted program. Her IQ score was 106. In spite of this very average score, they placed her in the gifted program and she fit right in and was a happy little camper.
We moved in the middle of her school year and somehow her IQ score was entered into her record incorrectly - as 86. I didn't know about this mistake, and so when I was enrolling her, I told the new school that she had been in the gifted program and had been doing well. The person enrolling her thumbed through her record and said, sarcastically in fact, "I somehow doubt that. I think you must mean some sort of remedial program." WHAT? I was shocked - and angry. I said, "Look, I am not mistaken about this - my gosh, she's been reading since she was about three and I know her IQ is average but she's been in the gifted program and she's been doing well." The woman literally snorted and said, "Highly unlikely - her IQ score is only 86."
So you can see how easily a child might be MIS labeled. I had to really get down and dirty with this woman - I had to insist that she contact the other school for clarification - while I sat there. I had to practically force her to look through the complete packet and to verify that she had indeed been excelling in the gifted program. I hate to think what would have happened if I hadn't been there to be sure she was correctly enrolled. Sheeze!
Your story makes this topic evolve into another issue regarding labeling, which is the public school system and how it fails students and parents. Now we are getting into red tape bs that is the public school system. It's very aggravating, to say the least.
Your story makes this topic evolve into another issue regarding labeling, which is the public school system and how it fails students and parents. Now we are getting into red tape bs that is the public school system. It's very aggravating, to say the least.
Oh well, I don't mean to hijack the thread. My son, who was CORRECTLY labeled by the public school system, received the extra attention he needed and overall, we were pleased with the effort that the public school system and most (not all) of his teachers gave him. I'd rate the whole experience as about a six or seven on a scale of ten - it could have been improved upon, but after all, he was a difficult student even in the best of circumstances.
Even so, I am very grateful that both my daughters have decided to home school their kids - and are both doing a great job of it. Their kids are really learning well and thriving. Not sure how long they'll do it but so far so good.
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