Probably one of the greatest "classic" books written about kids with "issues" is Alphabet Kids: From ADD to Zellweger Syndrome, written by Robbie Woliver back in 2009. The book serves as a guide to the developmental, neurobiological, and psychological disorders (of children) for parents and professionals. As Woliver explains, alphabet kids have disorders that are often concurrent, interconnected, or mistaken for one another. He uses as an example the frequent combination of ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) with OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder), APD (Auditory Processing Disorder), SID (Sensory Integration Disorder), and ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder). "If a doctor only diagnoses one condition, he or she may have missed others." Woliver covers more than 70 different childhood disorders in his book, providing information on causes, cures, treatments, and prognoses.
As a mental health clinician, it is one thing to be given the opportunity to screen, test for, and then treat a child with one or more diagnosed disorders. The bigger issue I have noticed are the number of parents who I will never meet...because they have chosen to ignore and/or deny their child's physical, emotional, and/or behavioral symptoms. This is a bigger problem in my own professional opinion, than the disorder(s) themselves.
As an LLP psychologist and parent, it continues to astound me as to the lengths parents will go to in avoiding what cannot be avoided indefinitely. One of the great truths with ANY childhood disorder is to obtain professional intervention as EARLY as possible. Without it, it is too easy for both the parents and child involved to develop bad habits that work against the child's ability to be successfully treated and managed by the appropriate professionals. Kind of like the child with GAD (generalized anxiety disorder) who may have made it through driving lessons, but is now terrified to drive any further than a mile or two from home. Eventually, and without proper intervention, this child will end up being that adult who doesn't drive at all. Untreated anxiety issues, as just one example, can lead to all sorts of self-imposed limitations that are harder to break as time passes by.
I am reminded of a sunny Saturday afternoon when I was at a local strip mall some 30 years ago. I witnessed a boy about eleven years old jump out of a car just as it parked---then run blindly across the parking lot making unintelligible and extremely loud noises. This can be typical of nonverbal and cognitively impaired children who have been diagnosed with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) and are known to be "runners". (Children with ASD who have the habit of running without warning and self-awareness of the danger involved.) Yet this can also be true of a child who has a hearing impairment, who hasn't been appropriately treated for it, who also has ADHD (attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder), and who may be actively abused and/or neglected at home. Without proper and early intervention, and then the ongoing professional intervention necessary to treat and/or manage the child....crisis, chaos, and mayhem may become comfortably familiar companions. Which is not a good plan.
Nobody wants to imagine their child as having a condition or disorder that isn't going to go away on its own. We are not wired as people to quickly accept difficult challenges we would rather not face. Denial is a protective device, but parents in denial about their child(ren)'s developmental, neurobiological, and/or psychological disorders do their kids more harm than good.
That is why Woliver's book is such a valuable resource. Alphabet Kids: From ADD to Zellweger Syndrome by Robbie Woliver. At the very least, reading the book may be a first step---in the right direction ---in helping your child get the right help he or she needs.
Until next post...
As a mental health clinician, it is one thing to be given the opportunity to screen, test for, and then treat a child with one or more diagnosed disorders. The bigger issue I have noticed are the number of parents who I will never meet...because they have chosen to ignore and/or deny their child's physical, emotional, and/or behavioral symptoms. This is a bigger problem in my own professional opinion, than the disorder(s) themselves.
As an LLP psychologist and parent, it continues to astound me as to the lengths parents will go to in avoiding what cannot be avoided indefinitely. One of the great truths with ANY childhood disorder is to obtain professional intervention as EARLY as possible. Without it, it is too easy for both the parents and child involved to develop bad habits that work against the child's ability to be successfully treated and managed by the appropriate professionals. Kind of like the child with GAD (generalized anxiety disorder) who may have made it through driving lessons, but is now terrified to drive any further than a mile or two from home. Eventually, and without proper intervention, this child will end up being that adult who doesn't drive at all. Untreated anxiety issues, as just one example, can lead to all sorts of self-imposed limitations that are harder to break as time passes by.
I am reminded of a sunny Saturday afternoon when I was at a local strip mall some 30 years ago. I witnessed a boy about eleven years old jump out of a car just as it parked---then run blindly across the parking lot making unintelligible and extremely loud noises. This can be typical of nonverbal and cognitively impaired children who have been diagnosed with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) and are known to be "runners". (Children with ASD who have the habit of running without warning and self-awareness of the danger involved.) Yet this can also be true of a child who has a hearing impairment, who hasn't been appropriately treated for it, who also has ADHD (attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder), and who may be actively abused and/or neglected at home. Without proper and early intervention, and then the ongoing professional intervention necessary to treat and/or manage the child....crisis, chaos, and mayhem may become comfortably familiar companions. Which is not a good plan.
Nobody wants to imagine their child as having a condition or disorder that isn't going to go away on its own. We are not wired as people to quickly accept difficult challenges we would rather not face. Denial is a protective device, but parents in denial about their child(ren)'s developmental, neurobiological, and/or psychological disorders do their kids more harm than good.
That is why Woliver's book is such a valuable resource. Alphabet Kids: From ADD to Zellweger Syndrome by Robbie Woliver. At the very least, reading the book may be a first step---in the right direction ---in helping your child get the right help he or she needs.
Until next post...