Wednesday, March 28, 2001
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Wednesday, March 28, 2001 |
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Bright but different kids fare badly in public schools After 6-year-old Alva had attended first grade for just a few weeks at an expensive private school, Alva's parents were asked to meet with the school's principal education expert, and teachers on "a matter of grave concern." At the meeting, Alva's parents were gently advised by the education experts that their sweet dreamy son seemed so sweet and otherworldly because he was hopelessly retarded and that Al should be removed from their school and institutionalized in a home for the feebleminded as soon as possible. Alva's parents did remove him from the expensive private school, but they started home-schooling Al with a combination of hands-on vocational and academic instruction using area craftsmen to teach vocations and themselves and tutors to teach academics. After much expense, time and effort, Al's parents succeeded. The child who was diagnosed by the education experts as hopelessly retarded went on to become the world-renowned inventor and businessman, Thomas Alva Edison. We've learned so much more about psychology, early childhood development and different learning styles since the time of young Mr. Edison. Education experts and orthopsychiatrists of our enlightened age would not make such a glaring misdiagnosis of mental acuity and drug or institutionalize genius in a facility for children with special needs. Right? A few years ago my co-worker, Larry, sent his bright, eager-to-learn little boy to a government elementary school in Henry County, Ga. The first week was great, but everyday thereafter the joy to learn was disappearing and he was growing moody and temperamental. By the third week, their young scholar refused to go to school except under duress. Larry called the Henry County elementary school and was advised that Larry's son had been diagnosed as "mentally deficient with strong anti-social behavioral tendencies" and that he'd been placed in a "class for children with special needs" i.e., a class for feeble-minded troublemakers. This diagnosis and placement had occurred without Larry or his wife being notified by the school authorities. Larry and his wife were understandably angry and demanded to have a conference with the principal, their child's teacher and the psychologist or psychiatrist who'd diagnosed their son as mentally retarded, etc. A conference was arranged. At the conference were Larry, his wife and their son versus the principal, two teachers and the psychiatrist who'd made the mentally deficient diagnosis. Round One: The school authorities strenuously objected to the presence at the conference of Larry's son, saying that irreparable psychological damage could be done to the boy's psyche and self-esteem. After a few minutes of verbal sparring, Larry's son was grudgingly allowed to stay. Round Two: The teachers cited the child's small size, poor coordination and anti-social behavior which had prompted their recommending that the boy be psychologically evaluated. Round Three: The psychiatrist affirmed the teachers' observations and begged Larry to remove the boy from the conference because the worst was yet to come. Larry refused. The government psychiatrist then revealed the horrendous symptom which had caused Larry's son to be diagnosed as mentally deficient: "The child looks goofy." Therefore, the child must be goofy!? (Larry's son did have the disconcerting ability that allowed each eye to independently follow two different objects at the same time. For instance, if you were talking with the boy, one eye might be focused intenfly on you, but, the other eye could be rapidly moving as it tracked the flight of a butterfly.) Final Round: Larry advised the education experts that while his son did look different and was physically uncoordinated, mentally, the boy was advanced. Larry asked the experts to select any magazine or newspaper in the office for his son to read. The experts refused, again citing their concern about damage to the boy's self-esteem. Larry then handed his son that day's Atlanta Constitution, asked his son to turn to the editorial page and read aloud something at random. The boy started reading from a column from the editorial page and the experts exclaimed: "He can read!(?)" That day, Larry and his wife removed their darling son from the clutches of the Henry County Government School System and placed him in a private Montessori style school. How many other brilliant but "different" kids are now in classes for feeble-minded or are in juvenile prisons because their type of learning did not fit with the government school's one-size-fits-all style of education. I submit that our government schools are "goofy." Bill Bryan Peachtree City
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