The Pre K Workshop

I attended a seminar for preK teachers today. I got a lot out of a few of the classes, but one left me feeling very angry.

The class was about at risk kids- warning signs and how to deal with them, etc. Obviously this had my interest because I have an at risk child, plus I have always been intrigued by behavior. The presenter focused on sensory integration, ADD/ADHD, Anxiety and stress disorders and Autism. She presented ADD/ADHD as kids are over diagnosed and medicated because parents complain and want a quick fix rather than actually parenting the child (this is true to a degree, but the comment is NOT providing teachers with a bank of ideas on HOW to deal with those children in class). It went down hill from there. She got to the Anxiety disorder portion and started with the phrase "shame on America for what we are doing to these children." She went on to paint a portrait of your typical child with anxiety disorder as the victim of over scheduling, parental pressure, and lack of nurturing and down time. She said that those were the ones whose parent could afford a diagnosis. The rest were in poor homes where there was substance abuse, neglect and abuse. Their stress is rewiring their brains and causing brain damage. That our classrooms were the only loving safe haven these children have..... WTH? Kids with undiagnosed ADHD go on to have conduct disorders- which she claimed was "prophecy". Better yet, how about the fact that they are untreated means there are no skills being taught to compensate and they are not able to function and cope, resulting in a defiant child with low self esteem?

So the fact that my child began have symptoms at 2 1/2 was caused by over scheduling and pressure to perform? Or by my poverty and drug problem? That the on going issues we have are rewiring her brain? Really. Or could it be that her brain is already "wired" differently? That her perception is different than reality. Her poor executive function skills cause a great deal of her stress, not her parents.

To do a short snippet on a soap box regarding these issues is not fair to the children or their parents. Now these teachers who are unfamiliar with these children and their needs will go back school and look at these families differently. How tragic.......