The "democratisation" of medical terminology has clearly.had a doubly negative impact: not only has it diluted the terms, so many people misunderstand them; but it has also promoted (unwittingly) self-created symptom/illness epidemics. The idea was good but clearly not well thought out.
People used to keep their personal business to themselves. Then in the 80s and 90s, TV shows, like Oprah and Phil Donahue, started having people reveal every detail. Then social media created a platform for everyone to whine about every small issue that crossed their mind in order to get attention.
Yes. In the states, they spend way too much on "mental health" at the expense of teaching. That's clear even from looking at the number of psychologists versus teachers at schools.
None of that should be in the school. Academics and a nurse. Everything else should be referrals for outside entities. If the child seems like they need something extra (beyond the scope of education), provide the info to parents and let them decide. Schools are suffering from serious mission creep.
Oh God yes - and it is so "feminised" that it is revolting - you are literally FORCED to talk about your "feelings" ON THEIR SCHEDULE!!! Leave me alone till I have processed and am willing to talk - and in MY style!!!
Get all of those services out of the school. I’m sure they are beholden to the district. No good. If a kid needs or seems to need services, provide the parents with that information and let them decide. Get everything except academics out of public schools.
This is so good. I do wish there was a champion for ADD/ADHD. I am 59 and I was diagnosed in 1999. I've been on drugs and therapy ever since and I'm worse off now!
Part of the problem is that society in general,and education in partricular,has a reduced toerance for those who are non-academic,slow or a bit wonky. There is no other option for such kids...who,when I was in school in the 60s and 70s jogged along until leaving age then left to work for their dads or as manual workers or whatever...the only option for them now is to pursue a medical route to avoid harsher consequences. You creat an option...don't be surprised if people take it.
I think there´s a fairly pragmatic aspect to diagnosis in these cases. When it comes to autism, there´s a very wide range of behaviours. At one end, you have people who can´t really clothe themselves, or easily interact with other people at all, at the other, you have people who wouldn´t particularly stand out, i.e they have slightly obsessive interests, but you wouldn´t really think of them as needing much help. And of course, you have a lot in between those two extremes, and autism can manifest itself in different ways. Some people with autism don´t need much help with socialising, but they do with organising themselves. I think as Temple Grandin says, it´s important to be very particular, what is this child´s particular problem and can we find a relatively easy fix for it? Also, it´s important to focus on strengths, i.e autistic people can do some work much better than neurotypical people, i..e jobs that require long periods of concentration.
Hmm I agree and disagree. There’s a need to be very careful in this area as people with mental illness already have trouble enough getting people to believe that they do genuinely have issues that may warrant greater attention.
Having worked in mental health for over 12 years what a breath of fresh air.
Excellent plain speaking.
Very good for mental hygiene.
The "democratisation" of medical terminology has clearly.had a doubly negative impact: not only has it diluted the terms, so many people misunderstand them; but it has also promoted (unwittingly) self-created symptom/illness epidemics.
The idea was good but clearly not well thought out.
People used to keep their personal business to themselves. Then in the 80s and 90s, TV shows, like Oprah and Phil Donahue, started having people reveal every detail. Then social media created a platform for everyone to whine about every small issue that crossed their mind in order to get attention.
Yes. In the states, they spend way too much on "mental health" at the expense of teaching. That's clear even from looking at the number of psychologists versus teachers at schools.
None of that should be in the school. Academics and a nurse. Everything else should be referrals for outside entities. If the child seems like they need something extra (beyond the scope of education), provide the info to parents and let them decide. Schools are suffering from serious mission creep.
Oh God yes - and it is so "feminised" that it is revolting - you are literally FORCED to talk about your "feelings" ON THEIR SCHEDULE!!! Leave me alone till I have processed and am willing to talk - and in MY style!!!
Get all of those services out of the school. I’m sure they are beholden to the district. No good. If a kid needs or seems to need services, provide the parents with that information and let them decide. Get everything except academics out of public schools.
This is so good. I do wish there was a champion for ADD/ADHD. I am 59 and I was diagnosed in 1999. I've been on drugs and therapy ever since and I'm worse off now!
Part of the problem is that society in general,and education in partricular,has a reduced toerance for those who are non-academic,slow or a bit wonky.
There is no other option for such kids...who,when I was in school in the 60s and 70s jogged along until leaving age then left to work for their dads or as manual workers or whatever...the only option for them now is to pursue a medical route to avoid harsher consequences.
You creat an option...don't be surprised if people take it.
I think there´s a fairly pragmatic aspect to diagnosis in these cases. When it comes to autism, there´s a very wide range of behaviours. At one end, you have people who can´t really clothe themselves, or easily interact with other people at all, at the other, you have people who wouldn´t particularly stand out, i.e they have slightly obsessive interests, but you wouldn´t really think of them as needing much help.
And of course, you have a lot in between those two extremes, and autism can manifest itself in different ways. Some people with autism don´t need much help with socialising, but they do with organising themselves.
I think as Temple Grandin says, it´s important to be very particular, what is this child´s particular problem and can we find a relatively easy fix for it? Also, it´s important to focus on strengths, i.e autistic people can do some work much better than neurotypical people, i..e jobs that require long periods of concentration.
Hmm I agree and disagree.
There’s a need to be very careful in this area as people with mental illness already have trouble enough getting people to believe that they do genuinely have issues that may warrant greater attention.