This is one of those lazy posts that was an answer to a post about children with special needs and the stigma placed on stay at home parents.
I was told when my son was in the 5th grade that he either had to be medicated "for ADHD" or leave the school. I pulled him out of the school. What was he doing? "Fidgeting in class." The teacher was keeping him in from lunches and by the time she let him go get lunch, well after the other kids had gone, there was often nothing left. She wouldn't let him go out for recess. She said to me "well! We have to discipline him. We don't want him to grow up to be a waitress like his mother!" When I talked to the principal he backed the teacher.
This "incorrigible" child merely needed a) recess to help get rid of his pent-up excess energy and b) to eat lunch, for fuck's sake! He was hypoglycemic.
I don't know that he'll ever invent anything as world-changing as electric lighting, but he is currently taking two very difficult science based classes and already understands much more about anatomy and physiology than I ever did. I have no doubt that he will become a pharmacist, as is his goal.
I wish I'd been able to be at home with him more but I was a single parent and didn't have the choice to do anything but work.
I once worked briefly with a woman who had to make the choice to go back on welfare because without it she couldn't afford the medical bills for her severely handicapped son. Once she started working, the medicaid stopped.
Hell of a thing to have to make that choice.
And after that rant I will simply say I agree with you that there is no right or wrong answer.
4 comments:
I might try to participate in Alphabet Thursday, which is where the post's creator got her inspiration except for a) they require the posts to be PG, and I have a very hard time being PG
and b) I've learned my lesson about participating in things that a bunch of "normals" tend to participate in. These people are afraid of me and my cuh-razeeness1
Thank you for the thought provoking comment Cie, it's a perfect example of how many perfectly fine kids can fall through the cracks if they don't have a parent like you to defend them.
I don't see why you can't put up a link to your post, most are ok with a few swear words.
You have just as much right to participate as everyone else. In fact, that's my new mantra.
You are fucking kidding! They actually said that?? That is just amazingly rude, insulting, and pretty much just really really crappy.
OMG - he fidgets in class - well stop the presses. At the risk of sounding like an old fart, when I was a kid, fidgeting was called "being a kid".
Amanda: A lot of kids don't do well within the traditional education but begin to excel when put in smaller classes where the teachers can begin to see what their strengths and weaknesses really are. When M was in public school, he was failing, and I knew it wasn't because he was stupid. Once he got into private school the kids actually helped each other with a child with a particular strength tutoring one who was weak in that area. Suddenly he went from getting D's and F's to getting A's and B's.
David: Yeah, it was pretty insufferable. In fact I said to the teacher following that remark "Lady, I'm going to leave now before I do something that you'll really regret." I was steaming. But I have gotten revenge on her several times. The first was when my son started to excel in school. Then when he graduated high school. And now when he has finally figured out what he wants to study and is working to become a pharmacist. No easy feat. Granted, she didn't know about any of this stuff, but whenever I think of her I have to smirk at just how wrong she was. However, I can't help but wonder how many other kids lives she messed up with her bullcrap.
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