Quote:
Originally Posted by Hiddlebit
The jigsaw story is interesting, but I'd lay odds there's more to it than that.
A lot of kids with an ADHD diagnosis actually have autism, which would likely be a closer fit.
I work with a lot of families with autism.
Just as an aside, the comment about not seeing adults throwing themselves on the floor, etc. What about the large number of violent offenders in prison??
Kids in school in our day had autism, or at least a form of it, but it wasn't recognised. They coped better at school because the rules were clear and understandable. Example: we all had a desk we had to sit at. Kids with autism like stability and predictability. Go to a school now and be told "Sit where you want" - and see the autistic kid try to sit where they sat last time but someone else got there first...and watch things go wrong.
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Now you're talking about autism, a completely different kettle of fish.
As I said, there are genuine cases out there but filling up every other child with Ritalin and over-diagnosing when in many cases a short sharp shock would bring unruly children into line is symptomatic of a lazy society that simply wants to pass the blame onto someone else, usually the government.
The little boy I mentioned earlier has completely changed following that one incident and without wanting to sound egotistical I think that me giving him a damn good telling off in front of both his parents and the police has had a lot to do with it.
People are too scared to exercise discipline these days for fear of the reprisals so they whip their kids off to the doctors and get them ripped to the eyeballs on the latest wonder drug and a collection of meaningless acronyms. Kids know this and are remarkably surprised when they do get told off by strangers nowadays.
Another incident two months ago involved a boy of no more than 5 or 6 throwing a bottle at my car. One swift reverse park later and a public dressing down paralysed him with fear because he clearly wasn't expecting any reprisals and his mates were suddenly all very quick to point the finger. An even bigger shock came when I escorted him home to his stunned parents, something which was very obviously a new experience.
I'm from a time when neighbours would tell you off and you got dragged home for an even bigger telling off from mum and dad. I stand by my belief that at least half of today's 'problem children' would not be a problem if we had better standards of discipline in the home.