This may sound biased of me but, in school I always had good grades (not that I tried, I just found school easy). But I elected to take “technical drawing” as I was still on the fence about becoming an architect (which I didn’t in the end). However there was a limited number of people taking that course and most of them were of the “woodworking” persuasion. Added that our school devided classes up by “main subjects” and this was the class I was put in. ie: IMHO, no offense, etc… the slower class.
My word this was a boooring experience… english class was my biggest trial: People struggling for minutes to finish reading a single sentence… for hours, and hours… zzzzzzzzzz… and BOOM! Teacher is standing over me pissed off that I’m not paying attention/sleeping. School sucks.
I was in an Afrikaans high school for matric (so I had to sit through English second language) I only attended english class about 5 times during my matric year, (just to get the test dates etc), sat quietly in the back, always scored well on the tests, assignments were always in on time, and nobody asked where I was when I was supposed to be in the frustrating English second language class, because nobody noticed that i was supposed to be there in the first place. If my grades had slipped, they would have checked up on me. School only sucks if you actually attend, and if you dont have to attend class in order to get good marks, I say: spare everyone the drama and just stay away…
The problem with these “conditions” and labels that goes with them, is that by the time the kid gets to high school, he has heard so many times that he’s not on par, he’s slow, he underperforms, blah,blah,blah. Its to be expected that they then play that role to perfection.
I was TOLD that my 8 year old will become rebellious with low self esteem and that I’m doing him a disservice. I in turn flipped my own bird to the powers that be and started praising the kid on everything he was brilliant in - and there was (is) a lot. He’s got an absolute passion for archeology and is an avid stargazer, stuff that he taught himself, with books I bought for him simply because he showed an interest. We project onto our kids, and what we expect is what we will get. I really dont understand why adults cannot see this?
School was stupid. Most of my teachers were incredibly dumb and the textbooks were full of blatant mistakes. I really hated it. Looking back on it, I really wish I’d been high at the time.
ADHD and the rest are conditions, its not related to personality type.
Yes, I did mention that right at the start:
of sensitivity for conditions such as AADD/AADHD.
You go on to mention:
In a typical remedial classroom, you’ll find a range of personalities with the same condition, you really cannot associate the two at all.
Superficially your observation may appear to be correct. However, there are 6 main types (and a host of subtypes) of this condition. Observation by an uninformed bystander can reveal differences in activity types/levels, behavioural differences etc. but it can not objectively distinguish between personality types. Common mistakes include confusing hyperactives with “outgoing” and inattentives with “withdrawn” personalities.
Your further comment
And personally speaking, all these conditions are a load of twak anyway, you find a couple kids that are different and now want to shove them into a box so that they can fit together. Its once again society that want conformity.
is not only insulting to ADDers but also shows the depth of your ignorance about a physiological condition which you as HR practitioner should take great care to hide.
Your comment that
Every single suspected ADD/ADHD child I’ve come across in the last odd 20 years (and it includes my own two sons)were children that tested highly intelligent in the more obscure areas.
reveals that you attach the “stigma” of a lower intelligence to ADDers, although you do go on to give a rather accurate description of the effect of the condition on individuals:
ALL of them found studying set work completely and utterly boring and uninteresting, which is what causes the problems at school.
Alas, you then blithely pronounce that
None of them were “slow” or “stupid”
again proclaiming your bias towards the general IQ-level of ADDers. To your credit you end the paragraph with another unexpectedly accurate insight, that
all of them were considered a “problem” simply because they couldnt (wouldnt) conform.
Perhaps your bias can be attributed to the “stigma” you (and others in this string) attach to remedial schools.
As a matter of fact, very few ADDers attend remedial school, the vast majority attend “normal” school, with or without medication and/or occupational therapy.
Your next observation
The problem with these “conditions” and labels that goes with them, is that by the time the kid gets to high school, he has heard so many times that he’s not on par, he’s slow, he underperforms, blah,blah,blah. Its to be expected that they then play that role to perfection.
is bereft of logic. Given the sometimes indescribable relief from symptoms that is the result of effective medication, most ADDers lose the labels in no time at all. In addition, the parent and/or ADDer’s own growing insight of the condition will enable them to deal with specific problems in a systematic, efficient way.
School sucks.