No one tells parents that school districts aren’t qualified to diagnose disorders or disabilities.  so parents think the school evaluation is the “last word”.  The reality is that school districts are responsible for identifying problems of various sorts and responding to students with accommodations or special instruction and services. They do not diagnose disabilities.  Have you ever heard of a child diagnosed with dyslexia in a school evaluation?  Yet, reading disabilities (many of which would be called dyslexia) comprise 80% of all learning disabilities.

As a parent, you might ask, “Well, isn’t this all I care about – that my child gets what he/she needs in school?”   The answer should be “No, this isn’t enough.”  Schools only provide limited services.  There are many interventions, resources, and services available outside school if a child has a diagnosed disability.  Unlike the situation 30 years ago when a diagnosis or label was a disadvantage, a diagnosis today in the era of the Americans with Disabilities Act opens doors and opportunities.

How do you get your child a diagnosis and understand what the child’s real problems are?  You have to pay for a private evaluation by a child/developmental clinical psychologist.  There are a few school psychologists in private practice who will provide this type of evaluation, but many of these individuals have been trained in school systems and don’t have  experience diagnosing disabilities.  You have to consider this type of evaluation as an investment in your child’s future.  If you don’t accurately understand a child’s problem and can’t respond with as many interventions as possible, you may be jeopardizing that child’s future educational career and life.

Unfortunately, these commercials say more about the influence of the pharmaceutical companies and the media than about the true effectiveness of these medications.

Research findings on anti-depressants aren’t nearly as optimistic.  In arguably, one of the most comprehensive studies of these medications, only 1/3 of individuals’ depressions were improved following one medication.  A second medication relieved symptoms in about 25%   That means that only a little more than one-half of depressed individuals’ depression improved after two medications.  Moreover, each trial of medication took six weeks so it took 3 months for these 50% to feel significant relief.

Exercise, cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy, and meditation are just a few other interventions that have been shown to be as or more effective than medication.  And improvement typically comes considerably sooner.

This could happen to over one million American adults (and even more children) with Asperger’s Syndrome.

The American Psychiatric Association is considering eliminating this diagnosis in its next revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual to be published in 2013.

A primary reason is that researchers haven’t been able to distinguish differences between individuals with high functioning autism and Asperger’s Syndrome.  So the new diagnosis will simply be Autism Spectrum Disorder and individuals might be classified as low or high functioning on this continuum.

The problem this creates for the already diagnosed population of Asperger’s Syndrome individuals is that their diagnosis has given them an identity.  They call themselves “Aspies”.  They have community support groups and many more on web communities. Books and website are designed with their name. They fear they will be lost and lumped together with many other people.  Along with their identity, they’re concerned that support, treatment, and educational accommodations might vanish with the elimination of the diagnosis.

Some organizations supporting Asperger’s Syndrome have already begun to battle this proposal with petitions. We’ll have to await the verdict in 2013.

They’ve done it again.  A USA Today headline January 9, 2012 claims “Study: Healthy Eating May Help Children with ADHD.”  The first sentence states, “There’s limited evvidence that any particular diet or supplement helps kids with ADHD.” Later in the article, a pediatrician is quoted saying, “We don’t have data to suggest that there is little, if any, data to suggest dietary interventions are as effective as medications.”  The overall conclusion is that a healthy diet of rish, vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and fiber is better than a diet high in fat, salt, and refined sugars.  Duh.  What else is new?

Two days later, USA Today has another story, “ADHD: Diet Might Matter, but Less Than Many Parents  Think.”  This article summarizes the very same research showing minimal support for improvement in ADHD symptoms resulting from food diets or supplements.  Notice how this headline minimizes the effects of food on ADHD symptoms.

These two headlines illustrate the power of headlines.  The moral again:  Don’t believe simplistic headlines or sound bytes. Be an intelligent consumer and read the whole story.

1. Life is not fair; get used to it.

2. The world won’t care about your self-esteem.  The world will expect you to accomplish something before you feel good about yourself.

3. If you think your teacher is tough, wait until you get a boss.

4. Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity.  Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping; they called it opportunity.

5. If you screw up, it’s not your parents’ fault so don’t whine about your mistakes.  Learn from them.

6. Before you were born, your parents weren’t as boring as they are now.  They got that way paying your bills, clearning your room, and listening to how idealistic you are. So before you save the rain forest from the bloodsucking parasites of your parents’ generaltion, try delousing the closed in your own room.

7. Your school may have done away with winners and losers but life has not.  In some schools, they’ve abolished failing grades.  They’ll give you as many times as you want to get the right answer.  This, of course, bears not the slightest resemblance to anything in real life.

8. Life is not divided into semesters. You don’t get summers off, and very few employers are interested in helping you find yourself.  Do that on your own time.

9. Television is not real life. In real life, people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

10. Be nice to nerds. Chances are you’ll end up working for one.

Studies have found that expressing gratitude is linked to better health, sounder sleep, less anxiety and depression and kinder behavior towards others.

Another benefit of expressing gratitude is that it’s linked to reduced hostility.  A study at the University of Kentucky showed that individuals who were insulted expressed less hostility if they had previously written an essay about things for which they were grateful.  The researchers speculated that expressing gratitude increases empathy for others and thus, decreases hostility.

No one wants to experience anger, especially over the holidays. You can begin a weekly gratitude journal now by listing 5 things you’re thankful for.

Here’s an example of how this works on a daily basis.  In a restaurant, you’ll tend to order a $25 steak if there’s a $50 steak on the menu.  A $25 steak alone on the menu would seem too expensive.  This is called the anchoring effect.  The $50 steak anchors your expectations of what a steak should cost.  So you figure you’re getting a deal at $25.  Restaurant “menu engineers”  figured this out a long time ago.  Another secret of menu engineers:   listing less expensive items at the bottom or back of the menu.

After reading the article, I learned that this “new” finding was inaccurate.  The truth is the headline attempted to summarize a study that reviewed 10 prior studies using Omega-3 for ADHD children.  The conclusion was that only 2 of these studies showed improvement in symptoms compared to placebo groups.  The study’s author stated that “it was only when you combined the studies that the effect became significant to a small degree”.  Don’t bother trying to understand this statistical language.  Bottom line is that, in fact, the vast majority of children in these studies did not benefit from omega-3.

Later that same week, a TIME published an article, “A Yale Psychologist Calls for the End of Individual Psychotherapy“.  No, not exactly.  In fact, the Yale psychologist, Alan Kazdin, Ph.D. went on record to dispute the writer’s interpretation of his her interview with him.  He stated, “Lamentably, the headline and aspects of the story gave the impression that individual psychotherapy and those who provide such services are of little value.  This is exacerbated by a tone that can be seen as provocative and dismissive.  Thus, both content and style are opposite from my intent, my professional
and personal views, my demeanor, and the interview.” ( personal email communication 9/20/11)

We’ve always known not to judge a book by its cover.  In the new age of “journalism”, we should not come to conclusions based on headlines or soundbytes.

A recent study from Kent State University showed just how easy it is to practice gratitude.  Two groups wrote a 15 minute letter once a week for 3 weeks.  One group wrote a letter of gratitude to someone for something important that person had done.  The 3 letters were written to different people.  The other group wrote letters on some other topic.  After three weeks, the “gratitude” group felt happier, more satisfied, and among individuals with some depression, less depressed.

Learn more about gratitude and take a quiz to see how grateful you are.