There has been a lot written about those who have ADHD and ADD but what about those who have hidden disabilities? Who will speak for these people?
They appear normal to those around them but upon closer inspection you can sense they are not.
My son, for example, started out with no signs of there being a problem with his thought process. He excelled in grade school.
It was not till he reach grade 5 that I began to notice a problem.
His grades started slipping and his teachers started to complain about his lack of attention in certain classes.
I tried explaining to his teachers that I felt that he has some form of learning problem and if there was a way he could be
tested.
I might as well beat my head against the wall for all the good
it did me.
The teachers felt that as his mother I was making excuses for
his behaviour.
When he was in grade six, during one of the parent teacher
meetings, I suggested, after listening to her complain about his acting up in class, that I attend school with him for the day.
She agreed as did all his other teachers.
So the next day I went to school with my son.
I watched him closely and although I did notice his lack of attention during some of his classes, I also noticed other students who were more disruptive as to behaviour than my son.
During lunch period, I pointed this out to his teacher and suggested that since my son seem to pay more attention when not
seated so close to certain students, she agreed to move him.
Now this did not correct the problem of his lack of attention during classes.
The one thing I did notice with my son and a few others in his class that when it came time to work on computers, the most inattentive child paid attention.
The battle between myself and my son's teachers continue right through to Grade 9, at which time my son became totally frustrated with school, by this time he had reached the age where I could no longer force him to attend school, he quietly left the education system.
The strange thing is none of the teachers noticed that he was no longer with them. No one called or sent letters to find out what happen to this child.
It was not till my son reached the age of 19 that what I had known all along was true.
He has ADD and another problem.
The name is one I can not remember let alone spell but I have been told how it works.
His mind does not process information like mine or anyone else. Most of us can multi task, remembering a list of things
that they need to do in a run of a normal day.
My son can not function that way. He can remember details of any movie or game he has played.
Starting from the beginning to the end. He notices things you and I may not but when it comes to something as simple as cooking Kraft dinner, he needs to be told step by step.
Most people know when they should shower, change their clothes
but my son needs to be told when to do these things. I am not exposing my son so he can be made fun of but to try to educate others about cases such as his.
To meet him, he looks like there is nothing wrong with him but
once you get to know him, you quickly realize that he is easily led.
Trust me I know that there are those out there that take advantage of people like him.
This is wrong but it happens everyday. Then we have those who need
someone to take care of them. They are not a menace to themselves or others but are in danger of being harm because of actions that others may find threatening.
Those who become frustrated easily and seem to need to be noticed right away. There is one such case of a person. He was getting messages at a certain place here in town. Yes, he get frustrated easily and when that happens he is hard to understand. Well now he has been told that he can not use this place to receive messages for one year.
His parents refuses to have anything to do with him.
Where he lives, the super is taking care of him, which is not a part of her job but she knows he needs someone to do it.
She has been trying to find help for him but every agency she has
called have all said the same thing. Sorry its not our department.
The Red Cross will do it, but for a price, and they then come in for two hours a day to clean.
What happens the rest of the time? Who will be there to make
sure this person is being taken care of. In the perfect world he would be in a special needs home.
You may asked why he is not in one?
The answer is simple enough. He ran away from two that he had been in. This should tell you something of how his mind works but due to this his name is now at the bottom of a very long list to get into such a place.
So, Charles, this is my question to you. You protested about the use of drugs for ADHD and brought it to the attention of the misuse of the drug Ritalin.(Forgive me if I misspell that).
Now how about getting something started about those who have hidden problems?
As well as the elderly in this province?
Did you know that if an elderly person wishes to remain in
their home it next to impossible to get them help so they can? To even reach help from meals on wheels, they must have access to what the person in question has in the bank?
Nursing homes are slowly becoming over crowed. With too few
workers to care for the residents. In some nursing homes, the residents are not allowed to smoke.
Can you imagine what it must be like for some of those who find themselves unable to remain in their own home and are place in
a nursing home?
To be in a strange place among strangers? The few apartments
that have gone up especial for seniors, you basically have to have a lot of money to live there.
So, what do you say, Charles, think something can be done to help these groups of people?
You said to write the article and you would do something with it.
Now here it is. I know it may sound a bit rambling in places but hey, it like after 3 am in the morning and I have had very little sleep but I have been putting off doing this for far too long.
Now I will wait and see if what I wrote appears in your bloq or not.
3 comments:
That's a pretty tall order, about all Charles can do is post it. He's not exactly 'on the inside'. There are plenty of stories like this, and it's a political one. I heard it best elsewhere-people need to learn to be more vocal.
If you look at politics virtually the only party that even PRETENDS to address these issues are the NDP, and they are nowhere on the map. If fact people usually lash out. Personally, I think that's because of the Irving media, but that's not important.
There's a saying in politics, 'you're part of the road or your roadkill'. That's exactly right, if you sit quietly in your house and do and say nothing then nothing will be done. There are those in power who have enough work to do without coming looking for it. If people don't stand up, they will be overlooked. Those who get attention are those who not only stand up, they have paid lobbyists who come to see government every day.
There are Irvings who will walk in and basically say, 'if this doesn't get done, you don't get re-elected', and of course to do ANYTHING, you have to be re-elected.
The only thing more powerful than the massive amounts of money and lobbyists and corporations is PEOPLE. But when the people are silent, those with money and power run the show. The ONLY way to combat is by numbers, and by voice, that's been proven all over the world.
How much work does it take? Look at it this way, Charles has this blog as practically a full time job, and we still haven't even seen a STUDY on ritalin. I mean, how easy is it to do a study? They're done all the time. The government spent millions running around the province doing a 'study on legislative democracy' only to ignore it completely. Doing a study doesn't mean you do anything.
So can you imagine how tough it is to get your concerns looked at? Go join the liberal party, since they are the only alternative. Get your friends and anybody else with similar concerns to join and make sure Graham knows about it. Try with the conservative party and the NDP, whichever gives you the best answer, volunteer with them during the election.
The one thing that governments and industry DON"T want is people to be organized. They want you to sit and complain by yourself and think there is nothing you can do. There is, but you have to JOIN something.
The person who posted the comment at 6:16 pm missed the whole point of the story..the reason I emailed it to Charles is because he knows a number of the right people who may be able to be of some help. Or atleast help point those who need help in the right direction. I know Charles and I also know what he can do. Lord knows if he starts pushing for something to be done sooner or later it will be done.
This description sounded like my son. He was born premature, has cerebral palsy that delayed his walking and fine motor skills, however he overcame that and does not use any devices now. He also has ADD and the "short in the brain" that affects multi-tasking. He is 19 and well liked. To meet him you would never know he had a problem, until you started giving him several tasks, etc. to do. We ran into a very serious problem during a school co-op work problem with one of his placements. The school did not pass along to the workplace that he had CP or ADD. A young supervisor on more than one occassion accused my son of "smoking dope" before coming to work (because he could not multi-task). Despite this assumption, they allowed him to work heavy equipment. Sound responsible?? They did not contact his teacher, call the police or send him home...they only chose to degrade him...even when adamantly told by my son that he does not do drugs (and no, I am not naive, he does not do them...he also has a lung problem). When confronted the employer stated "we aren't set up to deal with people like him". Funny, they did not realize he was disabled until that point...the only accomodation he would have needed was to write down multiple tasks in a notebook to ensure he comppleted them. By the way...the employer was Zeller's Department in McAllister Place Mall. Needless to say I have not stepped one foot in that store since.
This is a prime example of "hidden disabilities". It is a known fact that males are less likely to advise that they have a disability. People have to remember that the disabled are not just in wheelchairs or on crutches, etc.
THe lesson that my son has had to learn is that he must tell a supervisor of the disability...that is only fair to the employer and himself both.
Post a Comment