Let's talk today about the relationship that the school has with the increase in ADHD diagnoses and especially about his responsibility in the problem, taking into account that not the educational system we have is not very respectful of children and their natural needs.
There is a risk that ADHD is being overdiagnosed, there are even those who point out that it does not really exist as a disorder but as a symptom of an inappropriate world for the child.
Is in the school where it usually happens that children are marked as hyperactive. It is not always that way, but when the problem occurs at home while the child is in school, I think it is important to find out if it can happen that it is in the home where the frustration of a very directive and controlling school environment.
The school cannot diagnose ADHD
In my opinion teachers should not to venture that a diagnosis of hyperactivity is necessary, much less if the school environment is not really suitable for a child. They are usually the ones who call attention to the behavior of a child and this would not be bad, if it were not because they can be three-year-old children who are supposed to be sitting doing chips. Or four. Or six.
What children really need is to move freely in appropriate environments and to play as much as they want. And, if we talk about formal learning, we should only propose it if they are interested, not as an obligation or as a basis to decide if a child does not concentrate.
Could the education system cause symptoms compatible with ADHD?
And of course a child of three, five or seven years is not biologically prepared to spend several hours sitting learning things vertically and repetitively.
It is absurd and it is harmful. It does not make the slightest sense to have the little ones filling out drawings without getting out or insisting that they recognize a few letters as if it might depend on them to be good readers in the future or develop their cognitive abilities. Could the educational system cause symptoms compatible with ADHD?
And it is so absurd and harmful that, in my opinion, forcing young children to be doing supposed learning activities contrary to their biological program can be so disruptive that it would cause in them lack of concentration and hyperactivity by refusing to concentrate on what interests them and forcing them to do something bored, and depriving them, in addition, of the necessary free play and unregulated psychomotor development.
My question is this: if the education system does not respect the natural needs of child development could it cause symptoms that we might consider of hyperactivity and attention deficit?
Each child has their own rhythm
We forget that each child is different and we demand that everyone reach certain goals at the same age, being also a clearly premature age for some things, such as reading or removing the diaper. But each child has its own rhythmPressing can only cause tension. And deny them their natural development, force them and make them feel inadequate if they do not reach the marked age, leave, sure, sequels on their self-esteem and their own regulation.
Among the homeschoolers children with whom I have dealt with over the years, none of them needed medication or were classified as hyperactive. And some, I'm sure, would have been in school. Simply, being able to learn and spend your day more freely, learning at your own pace and with a lot of outdoor play, changed your previous behavior, being able, once the educational environment was improved, to assimilate knowledge, to focus on what interested you and live your childhood more flexibly.
When children with a ADHD diagnosis they leave school and begin to be educated at home their character is calmed or, rather, their need for movement and flexible learning, they are no longer a problem for anyone and they can grow up happy. After a year without school, most have overcome their problems and deploy their activity in a much more organized way.
I know that homeschooling is not an option that most families can or want to take, but I think it is a fact that helps us understand that many times the problem is not the child, but the school in which it is. We can look for educational alternatives in active and flexible schools that adapt to our child and his particular needs before medicating.
High Capabilities and Double Exceptionality
Finally, I must mention the question of High Capacity children, the great misunderstood of the school. Their need to learn in a passionate, non-repetitive, fast and intense way, their special emotional sensitivity and their difficulty in adapting to incomprehensible or unfair norms make them appear at school as distracted, have very bad results or become wayward.
And within High Capacity children we must not forget that we may encounter a Double Exceptionality, in which intellectual giftedness is presented together with a possible ADHD. Nor should we forget that High Capabilities can lend themselves to learning difficulties that mask it, such as dyslexia, dysgraphia or dyscalculia. For children with double exceptionality, the school generally harms by not recognizing their needs or knowing, in case of seeing them, attending them correctly.
It is necessary to assess this issue before looking for the cause of their behavior in a disorder, because many times, both in your case and in many others, let's not forget, hyperactivity or lack of concentration can be a symptom of something else, not the basic problem and could have a relationship with the school If the system is not appropriate to the needs and pace of the child.
