Special Education

Problem Children

Diagnosing Problems

Teachers have very little training in spotting problems or dealing with them. In fact, they may misdiagnose problems entirely. They also could be the source of a problem or allow many problems to escalate to the point that they get out of hand. Sad to say, there are some teachers who have a very low tolerance for problems and problem children.

In any case, parents must be sufficiently vigilant to spot problems and persist in pursuing a solution in order to avoid long-term problems for a child. Aside from a family physician, there are usually many resources to provide help. Some are available through community service agencies and others may be found through the local health department or hospitals.

ADD/ADHD

Hyperactive children can be a challenge for any educator. However, it is very important obtain an accurate diagnosis. Unfortunately, many teachers, especially those who have no children of their own, mistake normal rambunctious behavior in children (especially boys) for ADD/ADHD. Since they are not able to maintain order in the class, these children are "labeled" as ADD/ADHD problems or other behavior problem cases.

In fact, according to a study, at least one researcher has begun to question the reasons that 80% of the claimed cases of ADD/ADHD, are boys. Her conclusion is that there are a lot of misdiagnosed cases. The simple fact is that once you head down the medical investigation path, they will find something wrong.

Ritalin is the drug of choice for ADD/ADHD. Thousands of children are now taking it daily. However, studies involving long-term use of this drug now raise serious concerns about health and emotional problems in children later on.

Vision and Hearing

Possibly the number one reason for early lack of progress in school are undetected vision and hearing impairments. Sometimes, these problems are the result of ear infections or other health problems. Get your children checked early by a medical specialist and/or Speech and Language therapist and have their eyes checked by an ophthalmologist.

Dyslexia and other perception or processing problems

These are the hardest problems to spot since there are many different manifestations of symptoms and many causes. A child may have been written off by a teacher as "slow". Get a professional opinion. Many children can be helped if problems can be identified early. This may involve some effort, time and expense to do a proper assessment.

Special Education

Special Education may be a need for your child. If so, check out the availability of an appropriate resource and work with them to provide for your child's needs - even if you are homeschooling already.

Unfortunately, many boards of education have either cut special ed. entirely or reduced it to a state where it is not useful. Again, your best alternative may be to take your child out of school and either provide education at home or  bring in the necessary resources to help. 

Nutrition, Lifestyle and General Health

Many, many problems with learning are simply a lack of good general health and/or sufficient sleep. This problem is now recognized by the school system but is a problem that could have been foreseen given the nature of modern schooling and family life.

Large numbers of children are getting up too early due to  school schedules or the parent's commuting time. The amount of time needed to bus children to a school adds to the lead time required. Therefore, children are getting up each day as early as 5:30 AM tired. They frequently don't get a good breakfast or any breakfast at all before they get on the school bus.

Busing was mandated as a result of concerns about the safety of children and the recent phenomenon of building large regional schools rather than neighborhood schools.

Throughout the day, they get no exercise many schools have eliminated sports due to insurance or labor problems. They may not get a good lunch since they either fail to eat good food from the cafeteria or throw out the "good parts" of the lunch prepared for them.

They arrive home exhausted; usually to an empty house. Unsupervised, they will snack on junk food and watch TV or play video games until the parents arrive home early in the evening. If there is a good meal provided (frequently it is fast food), the children are not hungry due to the snacking they have done earlier. Then, the children do their homework and watch TV until late in the evening, usually getting to bed after 9:00 PM. That's too late even for some teens.

The vicious cycle continues and the bad habits persist even through the weekend. Tired, sedentary and unhealthy children do not make good learners.

Homeschoolers are usually able to avoid most of these problems because they are home under parental supervision. All the parents have to do is ensure that their children maintain good and eating sleeping habits and that they engage in daily sports or other physical activity.

It makes you wonder if Ward and June Cleaver (Leave It to Beaver – a favorite target for liberal criticism) were so hopelessly out of step. Maybe they had it right all along.   

Bullies and other social problems

There are huge social and social dynamic problems in schools. Large school populations create anonymity for victims and perpetrators. Peer pressure is enormous and large amounts of time are spent on fashion and time wasting conversation about television programs rather than intellectual pursuits. Even if there are no bullies or problem children, there would still be a problem with the distractions that impact learning from the "normal" kids.

Drugs, sex and criminal activities

In many ways, modern schools resemble penitentiaries – the way they look and how they are administered. Most of students have experimented with drugs and have had sex with multiple partners. Many are also involved in gangs that regularly engage in criminal activities either as a rite of initiation or as a "charter" activity. Many are also involved in gang warfare with serious weapons (knives, guns etc.) The research is available for anyone to view. If it were not a problem, why do many schools now have a permanent office staffed with police officers?  Needless to say, few students – especially those who really want to learn will remain unaffected by these activities.

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Last modified: November 06, 2005