Practically everyday I hear a story about how parents have tried to help their child and the difficulties they have faced.
This is my story for today.
I have become friendly with the couple who run the local Canada Post store – they saw a lot of me when I used their photocopying machines for my research!- and, as I was waiting for a fax to go through I told them about the work I was doing with parents.
I got the kind of reaction that I am getting used to! “I wish you were around when my son was in school!”.
This families youngest son had been diagnosed with ADHD and was difficult to teach and to parent. The family struggled to get him the help he needed for four years and the boy nearly dropped out of school.
When everyone was at their wit’s end about what to do the family decided to send the boy back to India to live with his Grandparents and to go to school there. They hoped that the complete change of environment would give him a new start and would get him away from all the negativity that surrounded him.
The boy went from a liberal school with an open-ended learning environment to a school that was very structured and had severe restrictions on what students could do. Suddenly he started learning and began to thrive. It was difficult for him at first because he had a lot to learn but now he is well on the way to qualifying for a college place and his innate ability is being recognized and respected.
The issue is not that one school is better than another or that one system is better than another – the issue is that until this boy found a system that met his needs he struggled to learn.
The sad part is that the family struggled through four years of hell until they found the help he needed, the good part is that, in the end, the boy has got the support he needs and will probably do very well as a result.
Do you have any “If only …” stories? Please share them here and let other parents know that there is hope.
