Tasmanian Devil or Golden Retriever?
The following was written by Dr. Renee fuller, a specialist in neuro-psych evaluations:
Eight year old Erica came to my office for evaluation because her mother had been told that she was “hyperactive”. During my two hour evaluation of Erica there was no sign of any disturbance. What I had seen during the psychological-neurological examination was a lively, charming, and quite typical eight year old. Two hours was enough time to see that Erica had no problems paying attention, or staying with a task. Where had she gotten this label?
It came from her new classroom teacher who reported Erica as being noisy in class. Being a lively and charming youngster, her friends had joined her in the noise. The teacher was not amused and requested that Erica be evaluated.
Fortunately, the story of Erica had a happy ending. Rather than placing her on Ritalin, which the school had demanded, her parents switched schools. Her new homeroom teacher was a lively elderly woman who enjoyed a noisy classroom. As she grew older, Erica channeled her wonderful energy into helping her parents with their blossoming catering business. Upon graduating from high schoo,l she became a full-fledged partner in their business which her husband-to-be eventually joined.
Rather than reflecting the true pathology of hyperactivity, our squirming and wriggling youngsters resemble other young mammals of every size and shape. All baby mammals keep their mothers and sometimes fathers on constant alert. As a result, many adult mammals pool their energy resources and create nurseries.
A healthy youngster keeps going long after the exasperated adult collapses in exhaustion. Our children need this boundless energy to build a healthy body and to learn complex social interactions that occur during childhood play. To dampen this important work through the administration of drugs implies a lack of knowledge of our biology and its purposes. Unfortunately our schools seem to resent this totally normal and wonderful energy. Erica may have surpassed many other youngsters in her energy level but this served her well in her family business. It’s interesting to note that many highly successful individuals possess the same boundless energy.
I am so glad that Erica’s parents understood – that they did not heed the advice of her school, and perhaps destroy, or at least inhibit, the wonderful energetic and creative woman she came to be!
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ADD/ADHD and Brain Gym Workshop
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