Doc Meek

Posts Tagged ‘ADHD’

This is the fifth (5th) in a series of seven (7) articles showing all of us how to have more fun learning to run our very own brains more easily.

Illustration from Gray’s Anatomy; no higher resolution available. Image from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gray722.png

…………………………………………………………………………………………………….

They eyes don’t see–the brain sees

The classic case is that of eyewitnesses to any event. The same event can produce radically dissimilar accounts from different witnesses, even if these witnesses were all in near proximity to each other.

An example is the university professor who arranged for an intruder to enter his lecture classroom suddenly and demand the professor’s wallet and then flee. The moment the brief “heist” was over, the professor explained that it was a prearranged dramatic event to test their ability to describe events when they were under pressure.

The students heaved a great sigh of relief, laughed, and immediately wrote a short account of what they had witnessed. Accounts varied, except for one common description of the weapon that the “thief” had used. All the students described it as a gun, or pistol, or revolver, or handgun.

The “weapon” was a banana. 😮

It is the brain that learns to read

When I was working with client (helping children overcome learning difficulties), I would always tell the parents to get the student’s eyes checked before I started my work. “We want to make sure the ‘equipment” works,” I would tell them, “before we start with my investigation of what the brain is doing.”

The parents would often tell me that their child’s vision had been checked by a specialist and that the child was wearing the prescribed corrective lens, or had been told s/he had perfect vision. And then the parents would often add, “If s/he sees well, why can’t s/he read well?”

Sometimes, to emphasize the situation, I would say, “The eyes don’t see–the brain sees.”

This helped all of us emphasize the understanding that while vision is important–of course–it is the brain that learns how to read. The eyes may have perfect 20/20 vision, and the student may still not have an easy time mastering reading.

The brain directs the eye focusing and movement patterns

The eyes have to focus at a point, and then they have to move in coordinated saccades (or “jumps”) in order to take in words or phrases as they move along the line of print.

It is the brain that runs these eye movement patterns, and it is the brain that has the complex task of making meaning out of a bunch of little sequential black markings in a piece of paper.

How, and in what ways, does the brain do this?

One way is discussed in a previous article posted here on THE LEARNING CLINIC WORLDWIDE blog, April 22, 2010. To read that article, simply click on the title below:

“My son reads, closes the book, and looks blank.”

Here’s to reading comprehension!

Doc Meek, Fri, July 2, 2010, at Sherwood Park, Alberta, CANADA

(Updated Sat, Oct 20, 2012)

—

“What if you are smarter than you think?”

https://docmeek.com

THE LEARNING CLINIC WORLDWIDE, INC.

CANADA: Dr. Meek (587) 400-4707, Edmonton, AB

TONGA: Mele Taumoepeau, P.O. Box 81, Nuku’alofa

USA: Dr. Meek (801) 738-3763, South Jordan, Utah

For optimum brain health, get optimum heart health:

Tuesday, June 29, 2010, Sherwood Park, Alberta, CANADA

The brain can be likened to a multiple-drawer steel filing cabinet

– PICTURES in the top drawer of the brain

– SOUNDS in the middle drawer of the brain

– FEELINGS (tactile) in the bottom drawers

– FEELINGS (emotions) in the bottom drawers

This is part (4a) article in a series of 7 articles, designed to help us work with our very own brain more easily, and to encourage our children or our students to learn how to work with their very own brains more easily.

If you missed the Introduction to this series of 7 articles, or the first 3 articles , simply click on the titles below:

(Intro) Learning to run our brain: 10 minutes daily

(1) Learning to run our own brain: Fear of failure

(2) Learning to run our brain: Vital need for HOPE . . . always

(3) Learning to run our brain: What are qualifications for the daily “brain coach?”

…………………………………………………………………………………………

The brain can be likened to a vertical multiple-drawer filing cabinet

If we want to easily retrieve a specific file folder from the filing cabinet, we have to make sure we put that specific file folder securely in the filing cabinet in the first place. 😮

OK, if my brain is a “filing cabinet,” how do I get the needed stuff . . . in and out of it . . . easily . . . every day?

Well, for one thing, we might prefer a “softer,” simpler image of the brain-as-filing-cabinet analogy. How about this approach . . . this gentler image?

Our brain can be likened to a vertical 4-drawer wooden filing cabinet; photo at: hayneedle.com

To get stuff in and out of our filing cabinet (brain) easily, we need to remember two major things:

A. Our brain is immensely complex, with extensive storage capacity

B.  Our brain–despite enormous complexity–mainly does four (4) things

So what are the four (4) simple things my brain does?

(1) Our brain brings in information

(2) Our brain moves information around, organizes it

(3) Our brain stores information

(4) Our brain brings information back out, brings information to our attention

Can be more complicated in my private practice

The problem is that each of our brains is unique, and each of us does these four (4) things in thousands, perhaps millions, of different ways. 😮

However, that is my problem really, when I am working with a particular client in my private practice. Or, more accurately, it is a joint effort, a partnership between myself and my client.

As a learning specialist, when I am working with clients to help them overcome learning problems, we need to figure out, jointly and specifically, some of those thousands of ways in which their brain is working uniquely for them.

Less complicated in regular daily life

For our everyday purposes, knowing those four (4) simple things, and learning how to manage them more easily, is straightforward. Let’s check on some simple and easy things we can do with each of these four (4) processes our brain uses all the time.

(1) Our brain brings in information

Some people call this “registration.” In other words, how do we “put in” information when we first encounter it? Sometimes this is “done for us,” by the brain’s various subsystems, if the input is dramatic enough. Most of the time, however, this registration process is very much up to each of us, individually. Our personal choice entirely. All we have to do, really, is consciously think about what we want to input securely on the “first pass,” so to speak.

The classic example of remembering names will be presented in part (b) of this fourth (4th) article.

For a colorful review of ways to improve this process of “registration,” see my previous article. Just click on the title:

The learning brain needs “uprightness” for greatest efficiency

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

So, now that we’ve looked at brain “registration” or brain “inputs,” let’s move on to the second (2nd) of the four (4) macro processes the brain uses.

(2) Our brain moves information around, organizes it

The brain is doing this all the time, especially at night, while you are sleeping. This is one of the most important functions of our brain. And this is why it is imperative that you get a decent night’s rest. A “sleep-deprived” brain is not just going to have problems with registration and memory, it will produce all manner of dysfunctions: mental, emotional, social, physical, spiritual, etc.

Get enough sleep deprivation, and your brain is sure to find dis-ease, and follow up with disease. Not funny.

More about this aspect of our brains in future articles.

(3) Our brain stores information

Again, our brains are doing this all the time, especially when we sleep. Get a good night’s rest, eh? 😮

More on this in future articles.

(4) Our brain brings information back out, brings information to our attention

Ah . . . retrieval of the information we need . . . the bane of our existence . . . especially as we grow older, eh?

This is the “relax . . . and it will come out a lot easier” game. You know this. When you are tense, anxious, depressed or stressed, information is not as readily available to the “surface,” as when you relax . . . take it easy . . .  and let the brain’s subsystems dive deeply and easily for important things. More on this in future articles.

To having a fun run at managing our brain more easily!

Doc Meek, Tues, June 29, 2010, Sherwood Park, Alberta, CANADA

P.S. Hey, my writer friend, Richard Paul Evans, just told me:

“Today is GratiTuesday!” This is the day we can express gratitude for all those things for which we are grateful. The thing for which I am most grateful — besides my wife Jeannette of course 😮 — is that I am able to feel gratitude. This has not always been so, so I am doubly grateful. 😮

—

“What if you are smarter than you think?”

https://docmeek.com

THE LEARNING CLINIC WORLDWIDE, INC. 

CANADA: Dr. Meek (587) 400-4707, Edmonton, AB

TONGA: Mele Taumoepeau, P.O. Box 81, Nuku’alofa

USA: Dr. Meek (801) 738-3763, South Jordan, Utah

For optimum brain health, get optimum heart health:  

See full size image; HOPE image may be subject to copyright; image from: www.myspace.com/happy_roots

The vital priority of HOPE

This is the second (2nd) in a series of seven (7) articles on having fun learning how to run our very own brain, or if you like, learning how to manage our very own brain. If you missed the introduction or the first article, just click on the appropriate link below:

(Intro) Learning to run our brain: 10 minutes daily

(1) Learning to run our own brain: Fear of failure

Our brain is an incredibly wondrous part of ourselves, even when it is not working optimally. Think of how it helps you every day, minute-by-minute, second-by-second (your every breath and heartbeat, literally). 😮

Out of sight to flower bright

The point of the crocus photo above, for me, is not that every flower brings color and freshness and HOPE to each of us (which it does). Rather it is that when we look at a dark (hopeless) rotten piece of soil or other dark (hopeless) space, we have no no clue (no evidence) that out of that utter and complete darkness will spring life and color and fragrance and HOPE.

When our lives present us with dark spaces, we are tempted to give up HOPE. Indeed we may actually exercise the decision, based on the unavailable evidence before us, to actually give up HOPE.

Little do we know the huge price we may pay for that HOPE-less decision, for giving up our grip on the present, and our vital lifeline to our future.

We do need concrete reminders it seems

When I am working with clients who have given up HOPE, I ask them to develop their own meaningful image of something, or someone, that epitomizes HOPE for them, HOPE in capital letters. For some it would be a picture in their mind’s eye (their powerful visual brain) of sunshine, gentle soul-warming sunshine.

If they choose a person, I advise them to make sure the HOPE symbol person is “permanent” in some way, such as a dead hero, or dead ancestor. The problem with living HOPE symbols is that they may die, and your HOPE might die with them. Unless of course, they are permanently implanted in your brain as a living being image, or a living soul, whether they die or not.

An airplane would be my image of HOPE. Which seems unusual until you know that I love flying. When I was younger I flew little airplanes. Loved it. I still love flying in various aircraft, even when I am simply traveling on a commercial airliner.

I am always astounded when the weather is black and stormy here below, and I have lost my way mentally, so to speak, and the darkness seems total, I am able to draw on my flying experience.

The plane in storm darkness here below, as it departs the ground, and gains altitude, emerges gloriously into sunlight above. I am completely refreshed mentally, physically, and spiritually in a way not easy to describe.

HOPE is knowing sunshine is always above the clouds, no matter what my circumstances are here below.

“Mornin Sun” from: http://photobucket.com/images/%22mornin%20sun%22/ ………………………………………………………………………………………………

Why don’t I remember the glorious sunlight when I am in the darkness on the ground!?

My mental image of an airplane does actually bring that remembrance to mind, to my brain’s visual centre, when I need it. I have to practice remembering the airplane image and the sun above, however, for this to be effective for me.

My friend says that the sun is not always shining above the clouds. At night, it is the stars that are always shining above the clouds. And, says my friend, “The stars shine out HOPE for me far brighter than the brightest sun.”

Yes! Whatever image you create especially for you, for your very own brain, right?

“Hey, guy, HOPE fades,” say some

“So does bathing,” says Zig Ziglar, “that’s why we recommend doing it every day.” 😮

We all need to develop some simple way to refresh our HOPE image daily. A picture of HOPE on the fridge at home? A HOPE picture taped to a mirror at home? A small simple symbol of HOPE hanging from the rear-view mirror in our car? A HOPE reminder on our desk at work? An HOPE image in our back pack for school, or multiple HOPE images in our main study materials? A simple HOPE ditty we sing to ourselves anytime?

HOPE is more secure if you use an image that is “permanent,” like sun, moon, stars, nature, music, poetry, prose quotation, powerful story, etc.

Perhaps we could use a baby or a child, provided we don’t know them. The generic innocence of infancy, if you like, as a symbol of HOPE. If we know the baby or child, and they die, there may be a real risk that our HOPE might die with them. Unless of course our HOPE is pinned irrevocably on them as an eternal being, as an eternal “child of God,” for example. If that is unquestionably permanent for you, then is might be solid for your HOPE image.

“Beaming Sunshine,” from: http://photobucket.com/images/%22beaming%20sunshine%22/ …………………………………………………………………………….

What is  your concrete image of HOPE?

Every person will have a different picture of what means real HOPE to them.

For some, it is not a visual image of HOPE alone; for some it is a song of HOPE, or a piece of inspiring music of HOPE.

For some it is a poem of HOPE.

“INVICTUS”

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

– William Ernest Henley, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invictus

“INVICTUS” is particularly inspiring when we remember two things:

(1) This was no “armchair” exercise for William Ernest Henley; he suffered terribly and his poem of  HOPE sustained him. Among other things he had his leg amputated below the knee. [From Wikipedia: William Ernest Henley (1849–1903).]

(2) Even though Henley doesn’t say it explicitly in the poem, we all need to keep in mind, in the reality part of our brain, that we do not need to face the horrors alone. Help is often where we least expect to find it, and even when their is no obvious source of help or HOPE, the HOPE seed is implanted within the brain and heart and soul of each of us. Our HOPE is stronger than we think.

And still, we need to nourish it constantly, like a plant, so HOPE will flourish and flower always in us.

We just simply have to hang on to HOPE for dear life, no matter what!

To hidden strengths we don’t know we have!

Doc Meek, Sun, June 27, 2010, Sherwood Park, Alberta, CANADA

—

“What if you are smarter than you think?”

https://docmeek.com

THE LEARNING CLINIC WORLDWIDE, INC.

CANADA: Dr. Meek (587) 400-4707, Edmonton, AB

TONGA: Mele Taumoepeau, P.O. Box 81, Nuku’alofa

USA: Dr. Meek (801) 738-3763, South Jordan, Utah

For optimum brain health, ensure your heart health:

This is the introduction to a series of seven (7) articles on how to have fun learning to run (manage) our very own brain, more easily. This is a good idea, right? 😮

Photo from: www.workshopway.org

The “10 minutes a day” model

Just 10 minutes each day can produce miracles.

An hour or two on the weekend will NOT get the job done. 😮

Especially for kids.

Especially for kids with a short attention span (that’s all kids). 😮

And all adults too, in our “sound bite” over-scheduled culture, eh? 😮

Here are the topics I hope to start exploring in these upcoming seven (7) articles:

(1) Let’s look first at fear of failure

(2) Now let’s look at the vital need for hope

(3) What are the qualifications for your “brain coach?”

(4) Simple easy examples of how to proceed

(Hint: When teaching a child how to spell, use words like “smart” and “quick,” not words like “stupid” and “slow.”)

(5) “The eyes don’t see–the brain sees; the ears don’t hear–the brain hears.” – Doc Meek

(6) The role of the “back 90″and the “front 10”

(7) Where do the mothers come in?

Let’s hear it for the mothers!

Without them, the whole world of humankind would quickly fall apart.

Let’s face it, without them, there wouldn’t be any world of humankind. 😮

Doc Meek, Friday, June 25, 2010, Sherwood Park, Alberta, CANADA

“What if you are smarter than you think?”

https://docmeek.com

THE LEARNING CLINIC WORLDWIDE, INC.

CANADA: Dr. Meek (587) 400-4707, Edmonton, AB

TONGA: Mele Taumoepeau, P.O. Box 81, Nuku’alofa

USA: Dr. Meek (801) 738-3763, South Jordan, Utah

For optimum brain health, ensure your heart health:

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT), or 100% oxygen supplied under varying pressures in a tightly-sealed compression chamber, has proven to be an astounding help for a host of brain problems. Side effects are minimal to non-existent. You would think the mainstream medical community would quickly make it a solid adjunct to whatever else they are doing for the healing of toxin-damaged or older brains. In reality, other countries are far ahead of North America in this regard.

Horizontal lie-down HBOT one-person compression chamber; photo from www.adventisthealthnw.com/HM-HBOT.asp

Sit-up HBOT one-person compression chambers at Canadian Hyperbarics, at the General Hospital, in Edmonton, Alberta, CANADA; Link to Canadian Hyperbarics website:  http://www.canadianhyperbarics.com

Photo by Director Gordon Ward, Director, Canadian Hyperbarics, http://www.canadianhyperbarics.com

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Despite the wide array of problems for which HBOT is effective, our Canadian and US society has managed to keep this valuable and life-saving therapy in an ongoing controversial turmoil for decades. This may be because it appears to be expensive, and governments are fearful of incurring very large costs if large numbers of people realized how useful and effective it is.

In reality, the costs of HBOT pale in comparison with the huge costs associated with the ongoing and very expensive conventional treatments for heart disease, stroke, neurological problems, diabetes, MS, etc.

Part of the problem may simply be that the Undersea & Hyperbaric Medical Society (who devised the hodgepodge and limited list of conditions which government and insurance-approved facilities generally use to prevent access to this priceless therapy) is an ultra-conservative organization not prone to real leadership in HBOT.

Thank heaven for the private freestanding clinics that know that hyperbarics will heal a host of brain problems and other problems, and that provide genuine and much-needed leadership in HBOT.

One such is Canadian Hyperbarics at the General Hospital in Edmonton, Alberta, CANADA. They will help anyone who is up against the barriers of the highly-limited treatment provided by government or insurance-funded HBOT.

The Director of Canadian Hyperbarics is Gordon Ward, a personable and internationally-known expert in the HBOT field. Humorous and self-effacing, Mr. Ward has unfortunately often been obliged by forced circumstances to reluctantly demonstrate greater knowledge and expertise than many government or insurance-funded facilities staffed with hyperbaric physicians. More about Canadian Hyperbarics in future posts.

For more information about Canadian Hyperbarics and HBOT, please copy and paste the following URL into your computer’s browser line, the line you use when you want to get to a specific website on the internet:

http://canadianhyperbarics.com/index.html

Mitigation of  neurological problems, including memory problems

There are more than 75 million “baby boomers” in the United States, and millions more in Canada, who could use HBOT to ward off memory problems as they age, and this would require a huge outlay of public funds if HBOT were approved for this purpose:

WIKIPEDIA – The Free Encyclopedia, graphed the “baby boomer” cohort:

United States birth rate (births per 1000 population). The blue segment is the postwar baby boom.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………..

I am familiar with the mitigating effects of HBOT on neurodegenerative problems, Cerebral Palsy, LD (Learning Disabilities), ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder), ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), ODD (Oppositional Defiant Disorder), Autism, and a host of other brain problems and potential brain problems.

Governments typically only recognize the effectiveness of HBOT for a short list of ailments, such as carbon monoxide poisoning, gas gangrene, necrotizing tissue (“flesh-eating disease”), near drowning, decompression sickness (“the bends” to divers), crush injury, burns, exceptional blood loss (severe anemia), advanced wound care including diabetic wound care, and so on. It is a very narrow and short list of 13 conditions created by UHMS (Undersea & Hyperbaric Medical Society) and adopted by governments and insurance companies for treatments for reimbursement purposes. This protects governments and insurance companies from the large costs that would be incurred if all of the ailments that can be treated effectively were appropriately approved for coverage.

It must be said here that many countries in other parts of the world are far ahead of the United States and Canada when it comes to proper utilization of HBOT for a wide variety of conditions. For one thing, they have far more HBOT compression chambers than is the case in the US and Canada. Some countries even have mobile HBOT chambers for emergency use.

The prevailing philosophy in many countries worldwide  is to increase immediate access to a HBOT chamber in the case of heart attack and brain attack (stroke), as it has been proven beyond all reasonable doubt that immediate HBOT treatment makes a huge difference to outcomes for the victims of these common problems. HBOT is, literally, life-saving. More, it vastly increases the future quality of life of those it saves. And those it prevents from having serious brain problems.

To your brain health!

Doc Meek, May 8, 2010, at Sherwood Park, Alberta, CANADA

P.S.  If you wish to pursue this topic of HBOT further, Kathy Summers has written a top-notch article.

Thank you, Kathy! LINK: http://www.healthwriting.com/health/hbot/

I know a highly qualified MD who works with children who have been labeled ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) and ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). He affirms in his writings, and in his private practice, that the only effective method for treating ADD and ADHD is the use of pharmaceuticals. Many school personnel agree with his opinion.

Image courtesy of:  http://www.mychildourfuture.org

Since pharmaceuticals are all that he uses, and about 65% of his patients receive almost immediate help in the form of better attention and focus in the classroom, short-term, he feels he is right. So do the school personnel.

Are drugs really the only answer?

Let’s take a second look.

The help that drugs can provide to children labeled ADD or ADHD can be a “quick start” for some children if that is what you are after.

Long-term, the effects are seriously problematic if steps are not taken to capitalize on the “quick start” by also empowering these drugged children with personal strategies that will help them know they can develop self-managing patterns of behavior and thinking, pill or no pill.

I have been working with children labeled ADD, ADHD, ODD (Oppositional Defiant Disorder) and other attentional and learning problems for over 30 years, and I have always had success with children and parents who follow a multi-factor approach, and whose ultimate goal is permanent self-management (pill or no pill):

(1) If the child has not yet been drugged, we show her or him that s/he has the power to beat the “squirmies” for example. Or whatever else the presenting problem is.

(2) We also look at numerous confounding factors, all the way from nutritional deficiencies/needs through to allergies and toxic exposures, many of which are disguised as ADD, ADHD, ODD, Autism, etc.

(3) We engage the child at the level of taking responsibility for self-management and self-improvement, one baby step at a time.

(4) Progress not perfection.

(5) We show parents innovative ways to work with their child to avoid the “never-ending battle of wills.”

(6) “A pill for every ill” is not necessarily the only answer.

(7) If the child is already drugged, we work with the child and the parents to develop personal self-management strategies such that dosages may be reduced or even eliminated.

(8) Learning problems that have been transformed by labeling into seemingly intractable diseases are not as easy to treat as learning problems that are maintained at the level of personal problems to which personal solutions can be discovered with imagination and good will.

(9) It’s a great day when a child learns and knows: “Hey, I can do it!”

To hope and work and self-determination, and more than one single answer,

Doc Meek, May 6, 2010

At Sherwood Park, Alberta, CANADA; not at South Jordan, Utah, USA

• Parents are frequently pressured to put their children on Ritalin by school personnel and others. I am frequently asked for my opinion of this controversial subject. Here is a quick review.

Ritalin (or other stimulants, such as Adderal, and the latest of which is Concerta, which time releases increasing amounts throughout the school day) are being advocated for focus and attention. In the case of children, this would be for the school hours usually, and sometimes after school for the homework time.

Ritalin advocates say:

Relatively inexpensive, easy to administer, and often “effective” short-term (can help some children do schoolwork at school; can help adults balance their checkbooks, or do their taxes); probably the only psychotropic (mind altering) drug that can be taken as needed and stopped at will; almost all other psychotropic drugs must be taken continuously to benefit.

If stimulants are used with other approaches, can be helpful. The goal is to increase student self-management and reduce dosage of stimulant to zero if possible.

Ritalin opponents say:

Almost always problematic, chemically, psychologically, and physiologically; can stunt physical growth, suppress appetite, create insomnia, and generate the idea that we are not responsible for our own behavior–it’s the drugs that are responsible for our behavior.

Of course this works both ways; if the child believes he has a medical condition (ADD/ADHD) then of course, “I am not responsible for my own behavior; it’s the ADD, eh?” 😮

Recent reports are very disturbing. Ritalin has now been implicated in severe side effects beyond the ones usually acknowledged. Destruction of neurological circuits and death have been reported. It would appear that although some students settle right down to schoolwork on Ritalin, long-term it actually interferes with learning.

Ritalin has street drug value

Since Ritalin (and its variants) are stimulants, they have value as street drugs and are sought after for illegal purposes. Some students on Ritalin sell their medications to create income for themselves.

Not a pretty picture.

Conclusion:

If you decide to use Ritalin, start right away to develop adjunctive protocols, such that the medicated student is learning to self-manage better with a view to tapering off the Ritalin and eliminating it altogether. Of course, the student also needs to be checked for body/brain toxin overload and nutritional deficiencies, as these problems have sometimes been disguised as ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder).

I’ll address the brain’s nutritional needs and susceptibility to toxins in future posts.

Doc Meek, May 4, 2010

At Sherwood Park, Alberta, CANADA; not at South Jordan, Utah, USA

I mentioned to the Mom whose son had been labeled ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) that I was not fond of labels. I said that while a “private label” may be necessary for funding, insurance, or medical purposes, I hoped that in everyday life, neither she nor her son would take the label too seriously in terms of finding solutions for school problems.

I have found that when working with a child who has been labeled ADD, say in grade 4, that I would generally ignore the label and inquire: “Harold, the teacher tells me that you have the ‘squirmies’ in her class, that you are a bit restless, that you don’t find it easy to stay at your desk. Is that right?”

I have found that it is much easier to help the child find ways to overcome the “squirmies” than it is to overcome a label, which is, in the final analysis, really a description of the child’s behavior, not an eternal pronouncement carved in stone.

No one really knows what’s going on inside the child’s head, exactly. I would much rather work with a friendly mystery, than a dismal certitude, wouldn’t you? Besides success is greatly enhanced when you work with concrete behavior, not deterministic labels.

The same problem occurs with adults. Let’s say somebody has been labeled “alcoholic.” It is a lot easier for them to change their behavior when I work with them in overcoming their “drinking problems,” which is a set of concrete behaviors, with which we can work, piece by piece, as opposed to trying to refute a label that some think is stamped in their psyche “forever.” – Doc Meek, South Jordan, Utah

With the help of that great Mom, Mrs. Elmer, whom I mentioned in my first post (and the boy of course), all three of us got to the top of the mountain!

The first thing we did was ask Mrs. Elmer’s son Bob what he liked and what he was good at. He loved sports so we began talking in a silly fun way to that part of his brain that was so smart about baseball. Then we introduced the smart baseball part of his brain to the spelling part of his brain, which was not so smart, yet.

Turns out the two of them (the two parts of the brain) were able to team up and turn the spelling part into a great team player. Bob learned to spell words he had always avoided and began to think, to himself: “Hey, maybe I’m smarter than I thought!”

This was just the beginning. We taught young Bob how to make pictures in his mind’s eye so he didn’t have to try and struggle to remember. He just looked up at his special TV screen (projected from his mind out in front of him) and wrote down what he could see clearly. No more hurt and anger about not being able to remember stuff. “I just copy it off my secret screen,” he says.

His marks went up. Now he was seriously thinking, “Hey, I am smarter than I thought.”

After we helped Bob discover he was smarter than he thought, his teacher told us what he reported to her: “Boy, I had no idea I could read like this! After I went to Dr. Meek, I liked going to school instead of getting into fights all the time.”

– Doc Meek

Hi Everybody, Doc Meek here.

Learning is not easy for some of us.

I have been helping children overcome learning challenges for many years now.

I was reminded of Mrs. Elmer (not her real name) the other day. This great Mom came to see me at THE LEARNING CLINIC more than thirty years ago now. She brought her son Bob (not his real name) with her and said gently: “He’s in grade four, doesn’t read well, hates school, and fights on the playground all the time.” Bob nodded in somber agreement.

It was not easy for the three of us to get to the top of the mountain together. I’ll tell you how we got there in a future post.

– Doc Meek