Of labels and being a kid

Spring break is over...man oh man. It went FAST. I did get away for a few days, but man oh man. It went FAST. (Did I already say that?)

So I'm off and running tomorrow. A staffing first thing in the morning. Testing testing testing testing, Monday afternoon, Tuesday afternoon, Wednesday morning. Staffing Thursday. Testing Thursday afternoon. Testing all day Friday. It's crunch time for school psychs. Wonder how many times I'll be giving that WISC-IV between now and the end of the year? More times than I'd like to think about.

I have ordered a book about mental retardation, especially written for parents. If it's as good as I think it is, I will give it to a mom and dad I've been working with. Over the summer I'd like to acquire an organized listing of resources - for you new psychs who read this blog, do you have difficulty putting your hands on things which could be helpful for parents and teachers? I think I have good resources, but because I'm at two schools, I've got resources at both places on both desktop computers, and on my laptop, and at home on both computers. Somehow I need to do some consolidation.

Here's a comment from a friend of mine who reads my blogs on a regular basis but who doesn't make public comments. I thought though, that this was worth printing: "After reading your most recent blog (20th), I had a thought...It really saddens me to think we now live in a world where a child cannot just go to school and "be a kid" anymore. It appears each one now has to find which "box" they fit in and then deal with the "label" on that box, and heaven help them if there is no right "box" for them to fit in. How very sad...Just Me"

Well, Just Me, welcome to the world of special education, where parents absolve themselves of responsibility and blame the schools when their kids can't read. Welcome to the world of NCLB, where EVERY child, regardless of ability, WILL pass state and local assessments, achieving a gold standard put in place by politicians, not educators. Welcome to the world of school psychologists, who are pressured to find labels to fit so that desperate children can receive help - when actually, had the child's parents read to the child, exposed the child to stimulating environments, and monitored video game and TV and movie viewing - perhaps, just perhaps no label would ever be needed. The kid could just be a kid. But sadly, the little 4th grade guy who plays "Mortal Kombat" with his uncle and who has seen guns and drugs sold from his home is not alone. It happens all the time. I just want to grab parents by the collars and scream at them to WAKE UP.

Then, when you hear on the news when some one has been arrested for some sort of high profile crime, his mother/sister/aunt/father
/grandmother /cousin will be interviewed. "I just can't understand this! He is not like this!" Really. Let's look at his school records. Did you go to parent teacher conferences? Did you meet his teacher? Drop in and visit his school? Volunteer at his school? Get to know his friends? Monitor his homework, but teach him responsibility? Protect him from violence and evil? Take him to church? Give him chores to do? Get him to bed at a decent hour? Provide apples and oranges instead of an everyday diet of candy? Make responsible parent decisions? Set a good example?

I dunno. You tell me. Am I nuts?