Wednesday, August 18, 1999
Don't expect school officials to catch kids' problems
Parents can practice early intervention
BY SUE MacDONALD
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The gun-toting, trenchcoat-wearing, isolated, girlfriend-spurned teen-agers who were responsible for last school year's violent headlines had problems that, in retrospect, should have been apparent.
Some had learning disabilities. Some were being treated for depression or other mental problems. Some were chronically angry, sad or frustrated. Some didn't fit in socially with other teen-agers.
Why didn't someone notice in time?
It's a question that parents sometimes have to answer on their own because the money, experts, time and necessary channels to screen, test and identify troubled kids aren't always available at school.
So the burden often falls on parents — or, at least, those parents who choose to accept the burden — when children's grades, behavior, motivation, aptitude and emotional health begin to suffer.
“School psychologists are usually so overloaded with work,” says Dr. J. Renae Norton, a Montgomery psychologist who for 20 years treated children with attention deficit disorders and now is a business diversity consultant. “They have two peaks — the beginning and the end of the school year. It puts a lot of pressure on school systems, and they often can't handle it all.”
Often, a child may languish for months on a waiting list before school psychologists are able to do tests, make a diagnosis, talk with parents and develop a plan of action.
“A lot of children have fallen through the cracks, and it's really sad,” says Barb Smith, marketing director for Barbara DeSalvo Inc., an educational consultant and tutoring firm in Finneytown and Fairfield, where test results are delivered in 2-4 weeks. “People can go through the schools for free for comprehensive psycho-educational evaluation, but many people come to us because of long waiting lists in schools.”
Nancy Ike, independent educational consultant in Hyde Park, says many schools want proof that a child has legitimate learning or behavior problems before spending money on services or help.
Parents often spend hundreds or thousands of dollars to find out why their children learn or behave the way they do and to provide the necessary tutoring, therapy, guidance, advice or equipment to help them succeed.
“Some of the problems are obvious and some of them are not so obvious,” Dr. Norton says. “The hyperactive child is always easy to pick out, but it's the kid with a lot more subtle problems who's not so easy to pick out. That's why it's good for the parent to shop around and find out what kinds of services are available.”
For many children, grades begin to slip and behavior problems emerge around fourth or fifth grade, Dr. Norton says. The primary school years are spent learning to read. At about fourth or fifth grade, however, tasks become more challenging and school becomes a matter of reading to learn.
“That's when it all begins to fall apart for them, and that's when everybody gets a wakeup call that this kid is having a hard time,” she says.
For many children, poor grades are inevitably linked with other issues, including low self-esteem, learning disabilities, poor emotional health, family problems and the like, Ms. Ike says.
“There's usually something impeding the learning. It may be subtle or it may be significant,” she says. “We have to find those out before we say, "He's just not trying.'
“I'm convinced that a lot of behavioral problems stem from the fact that when kids realize they're not doing well in school, the first reason they jump to is, "I'm dumb,' ” she says. “Another rationale is, "I could do it if I really tried,' but a lot of times, trying isn't going to make any difference unless some intervention is made.”
Providing a tutor, counselor, therapist, behavior modification program, study skills class or other kind of service can help get the student's grades back up and boost self-esteem, Ms. Ike says.
Without help, undiagnosed and untreated students sometimes turn elsewhere — drug use, alcohol, antisocial behavior, befriending other “outcasts” who also feel alienated and unsuccessful.
Parents often feel confused and alone when trying to figure out a child's problems and to line up the help the child needs. Sometimes, they don't understand that children can have more than one problem at the same time, such as a learning disability and depression.
“My best advice is to learn as much as you can before you make a decision about what is going on with your child,” Dr. Norton says. “If you suspect it might be ADD (attention deficit disorder), go to the library, go to the bookstores, get some of the material that's been written about ADD and about depression, Tourette's syndrome, the potentially abused child — and educate yourself. Does that sound like your kid?”
Then, she says, ask about professionals' qualifications and expertise to find the specialists who can most help the child.
Talk to the professionals
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