Syndromes and disorders...

[R1Geezer]

Can't spell? must be dyslexic. Unruly little brat? ADHD etc etc.
http://preview.tinyurl.com/38skezj
does this story add weight to the often proposed arguments that it's easier to have label than sort the real problem? Presumably real cases must be thoroughly angered by this.

[jno]

the thing is, ummmm, everyone wants a diagnosis. I go to the doc with symptoms, but I don't just want the symptoms treated in case they're hiding the real problem; I want to find out what I've got so that can be treated in full. Possibly unrealistic of me, but that's basically what everyone wants: to give a name to their problems. Like I said, the papers are full of stories about 'missed diagnoses' - 'I had cancer, the doctor just told me to take an aspirin' - that sort of thing.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7885241.stm

http://www.telegraph....outs-to-patients.html

http://www.newser.com...cancer-diagnosis.html

...and so on.

[ethandron]

sometimes a label/diagnosis is a good thing as it enables the child to get the help they need and wouldn't otherwise be entitled to.

[ummmm]

Yes...it also enables the child to live up to their label.

[ummmm]

Jno...I understand but we're talking about disorders not life threatening diseases.

[ethandron]

i'm sure that happens sometimes ummm, but i would suggest that there are many more children who benefit from having been diagnosed with one of these disorders.

[jno]

yes, those were more extreme examples, ummmm. But everyone wants to know what they've got. Quite why teachers are expected to tell them, I don't know.

[ummmm]

Don't forget that you can receive benefits when they are diagnosed.

[milly143]

I think similar things have been happening for years. When my brother (now 29) was very young my parents were told he had some form of autism based on the fact he barely spoke and had some personality traits which seemed not to fit quite in (I'm not sure exactly what as he is older than me and don't remember first hand).They were told to put him into a special needs school but refused to do so as to them he was just an arkward child sometimes. So off he went to mainstream school and you would never have guessed he had problems when he was younger. He is intelligent and considerate and now holds down a respectable job with a lovely wife and child. My parents have always felt if they sent him to a special needs school, things may have turned out very differently, and not in a good way.