Archive through August 19, 2002
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TV ClubHouse: Archive: Archives One: GERRY - what is your opinion???: Archive through August 19, 2002

Scarlett

Monday, August 19, 2002 - 05:41 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Can I ask a question totally UnBB related. I noticed all the middleschool teachers. I have a child they keep trying to label as ADD. He has also been identified as gifted. I have tested him in the temperment sorters. He is an ENP....one of the ones most likely to be mid-diagnosed as ADD. Gifted boys are also often misdiagnosed as ADD. Sometimes I feel like I am the lonely holdout in the fact that I am positive my child is not ADD.


This had been going on since kindergarten. The first time they mentioned this, I read up on everything I could. While he fit some profiles, others he did not. He fit the gifted boys profile exactly.

I do not want to keep him from medication if he needs it, but honestly I think they just want it because he is so argumentative when trying to get his way. He is the typical ENP type. He wants his way, and he uses vast verbal skills to get it. People who just meet him tell me he is the most polite child they have ever met. His has a vast vocabulary. But on the other end of the spectrum I literally have teachers telling me "I feel so sorry for you". Since I have hit onto a swarm of teachers...what say you?

Scifi_Writer00

Monday, August 19, 2002 - 05:56 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Scarlett, I wouldn't hesitate to pursue an anti-ADD diagnosis. I have no idea what ENP means. Personally, I think ADD has become a scapegoat diagnosis for America. I've seen it estimated that up to 20% of kids are being diagnosed as ADD. That is unreal...and unbeleivable. School and such use it because they they don't have rambunctious kids flying around. Instead they have 6yo sleepwalkers. I had 2 stepsons that were diagnosed as that. One I really thought was ADD, the other was not IMO. However, their mother (my ex-) believed it I think, primarily because it: 1-Gave her an excuse when they misbehaved, 2-allowed her to use medication and turn them into walking zombies. Even if a kid is ADD I think there are better ways of dealing with them then Ritalin. The best solution I found was giving the ADD kid LOTS of attention. Whenever I did this, he was very well behaved and non-confrontational. Final thought, if you don't like him on medication, don't use it. You have the final say on that, not the school.

Scarlett

Monday, August 19, 2002 - 06:05 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
SciFi

ENP is a temperment...much like the absent minded professor. They daydream a lot, and stay in the abstract. That is him to a T. His teachers had been insisting on medication. I was willing to fight till last year. I medicated him some of the year. They saw no improvement till I told him he had been medicated for some of the time. Suddenly they remembered he did respond a bit better.

Personally, I think he is just unbelievably stubborn. I hate to say this, but if I would compare him to a HG....he is like Roddy. He knows how to play each person he comes in contact with. To me, this is at odds with an ADD person. They would not have the foresight to predict consequences to their actions. He does. He just entered middle school. I just worry I am making the wrong judgement sometimes.

Willow_Woman

Monday, August 19, 2002 - 06:10 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Scarlett, first, who is trying to "label" your child ADHD? Any diagnostic testing should be done by: school psychologist, neurologist, or other doctor who specializes in this. This would be my first step, to have a qualified professional do diagnostic testing.

Does he display the symptoms of ADHD? Inability to focus, hyperactivity (not just the normal jumping around), impulsivity (this is a key one)? If so, how long has this been going on?

It is just possible that the child is gifted and therefore, blurts out answers, is bored with the work in the class and misbehaves. If he has been tested for gifted and qualifies, I would insist that he be put in a gifted program. Gifted teachers are specially trained to handle "gifted" behavior.

It could also be possible that the teachers he has had have not have good classroom management skills. There are ways of dealing with argumentative children where it is a win/win situation. Ask the teacher what his/her discipline plan is. How does he/she handle the disruptions. When do they occur? After lunch before? Sit in on his classes and observe for yourself.

Please do not rush onto the medication bandwagon. Make sure you have the answers you need to make an informed decision. Personally, I see far too many children on Ritilan who shouldn't be.

If he is not ADD or ADHD, and he is still havng a problem with nearly all of his teachers, then he needs to be taught social skills. He needs to understand what appropriate behavior looks like/what it sounds like. This is where you can help.

I would definitely visit the NIMH page.
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/adhd.cfm
I usually direct parents there first when they have questions.

Good Luck!

Willow_Woman

Monday, August 19, 2002 - 06:12 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Sorry this has gone off topic, but this is important. And, I'm sure Gerry wouldn't mind! :)

Earthmother

Monday, August 19, 2002 - 06:13 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Scarlett, I will put some information in your member folder.

Earthmother

Monday, August 19, 2002 - 06:17 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Scarlett, honey create a member folder..lol

Scarlett

Monday, August 19, 2002 - 06:18 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Wow Willow....thanks so much.

To give you an update...sorry if I bore some...he is in gifted classes. His real problem is social skills. If you put in a room with all adults, all you hear is adulation about how mature he is. If he is in a room of kids, he is the least mature of them.

I think he pushes the envelope far more than what the teachers are used too. He simply will not give in unless he is sure they wont give up their postion. I understand how this is very frustrating to them. Add that to the fact that he is always humming to himself, and in his own little world while they give lessons....I can only imagine how irritated they are with him. The sad thing is he measures beyond 130 IQ. That takes him to the upper 2 percentile at least. I am certain they just want him medicated to slow him down and make him more like the other children. The other part of me worries I am just being a "mommy".....know what I mean? The "I know nothing is wrong with my child syndrome". I hate this ADD epidemic.

Scarlett

Monday, August 19, 2002 - 06:20 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Earth...how do I do that?

Woodpecke®

Monday, August 19, 2002 - 06:21 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
I still have a big problem with Gerry's explanation for saving Marcellus at the beginning. His tearful nonsensical speech about blacks and gays made him an expert at the pandering game. If I throw that week out the window, I have to admit Gerry has shown a fine ability to play the game and stay alive while watching the others fight it out in the house. His lack of manners have not been enough to get him booted, and he is making himself valuable as an ally. I never would have thought he had any chance at all, but his odds of winning go up every time the others make glaring mistakes. He is very lucky when he needs to win competitions.

Crazydog

Monday, August 19, 2002 - 06:24 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
I agree Woodpecker. Gerry lost me with that ridiculous veto speech. It doesn't help that CBS is replaying it over and over again. He's never been able to get me back to liking him, and the same is probably true for the houseguests. I'd be willing to overlook his hygiene habits. But the one thing that really bothers me about him is the way he speaks to others like they are his students. I recognize he is a teacher and probably can't help it, but to me he comes across as pompous.

Woodpecke®

Monday, August 19, 2002 - 06:35 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Yeah, Crazydog, that speech was lacking any logic. It was childlike in its simplicity and delivery. He will never be able to overcome that speech, especially if CBS continues to replay it. Pompous is a good description.

Scifi_Writer00

Monday, August 19, 2002 - 06:37 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
It may be pompous, but cripes he's 58, probably been doing it for over 35 years now. Its just an ingrained part of him. I've been teaching for 9 years now. When I'm talking to people outside the classroom, I sometimes find that I go into way too much detail and explanation. Which is a product of my style of teaching (being prepared for every possible WHY? question the students may ask, though I still get tripped up plenty). Maybe it's because I'm also a teacher, but I don't find Gerry that way at all. He's simply teaching, asking them what they know, what they are learning, etc. And I'm sure with everything else they have to put up with (mainly the boredom), the HGs probably just don't give a ch*t anymore. Same as when Roddy begins one of his monologues. Even Chiara said she just tunes him out when he starts up.

Maris

Monday, August 19, 2002 - 06:42 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Its summer, School is out!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Please someone tell Gerry.

Kat

Monday, August 19, 2002 - 06:46 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
I am starting a fundraising campaign to raise funds for Gerry to take the cruise to nowhere with last years 50 something, Kent. If anyone wants to contribute, bang your head.

Earthmother

Monday, August 19, 2002 - 06:49 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Problem is Maris they have all been on summer break and only seem to have the intelligence to talk about music and movies. There is more to life. I see Roddy and Gerry bored with this group of uneducated children. They are so shallow that the only thing they really learned was how to give good head by practicing on corn.

Earthmother

Monday, August 19, 2002 - 06:54 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Sorry Scarlett I posted it and now it's not here..
Go to topics at top of the page in grey area.
then go to members room, put in your name and password and create a folder.

Maris

Monday, August 19, 2002 - 06:55 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
I have spent this summer going to movies, saw andrea bocelli and it was a good summer. There is more to life, you bet but I wouldnt want to spend my summer listening to some pompous so and so going on ad infinitum about the same and I mean the same shakespearean quote and the same quote from the bible. Get a new schtick.

Plus as far as I remember Gerry teachs shop. Tell me how to fix my car and maybe I would be interested.

Woodpecke®

Monday, August 19, 2002 - 06:56 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Roddy and Gerry have not inspired me at all. Their education has not made them ooze with intelligent ideas or theories. Dull and predictable with a dash of pompous. Roddy and Gerry are in love with the sound of their own voices.

Maris

Monday, August 19, 2002 - 07:00 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
OMG, Woodpecker I agree with you. I am going to take my temperature......................

Gina8642

Monday, August 19, 2002 - 07:00 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
I think their education is great. I still don't understand why there is this persistent picking on people with educations? I know they (G & R) can be condesending at times, but that has nothing to do with being educated, it only has to do with their personalities.

Earthmother

Monday, August 19, 2002 - 07:00 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Perhaps he should teach them how to remove the front seats of their cars so they will have more room in the backseat to do what they do best...lol

Squaredsc

Monday, August 19, 2002 - 07:04 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
wasn't sure where to post this and didn't want to start a new topic. but did gerry use the veto??

Maris

Monday, August 19, 2002 - 07:17 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Earthmother, I could see him doing that. He strikes me as being a voyeur and giving advice on titillating subjects.

Kitty54

Monday, August 19, 2002 - 07:17 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
no