When we speak of medicalization of childhood, we tend to associate the phrase with ADHD, the plague experts in the medical profession have unleashed upon today’s children. However, that’s only the tip of the iceberg and even if you don’t believe in ADHD or don’t identify your child as the disruptive type, unable to focus on homework, according to ‘experts’, your child might be affected by a myriad of medical conditions you’ve never heard of. Few people have, but don’t you worry, armies of experts are busy making up new conditions which might require your child needing professional help. Talk about learning disabilities became mainstream in the 1980s and in 2013 the term was added to the dreaded Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), under a very broad definition, so basically if a child struggles with something - be it in school or some developmental milestone - that child can be said to have a mental disorder.
Let’s assume you have a wonderful little boy, who likes to read, has no problem learning a poem and is good at math. You’re probably very proud of your little boy and don’t think much about him not being very good at catching ball. That only goes to show you’re not quite educated and possibly neglecting the boy’s medical problem. OK, maybe 50 years ago we used to put it down to the kid not being good at sports, but in the 21st century we know that’s a sign of dyspraxia and with adequate professional help the child could overcome his disability.
I walked into this subject after reading a thread about a child being bullied in school because of his dyslexia. That’s easy, I’ve heard of that one. But, if you look up ‘learning difficulties’, you’ll enter a minefield, full of very nuanced so-called conditions, that can be used to diagnose virtually every child with a problem.
As my son heard me laughing out loud as I was reading about ‘symptoms and warning signs’, he came over to see what’s so funny. He quickly read the page on my screen, which put my mind at ease - at least he’s not dyslexic. Judging by the ease with which he can add up how much three bags of chips would cost, I know he doesn’t have dyscalculia either. And yet, I’m not so sure about dyspraxia - which refers to problems involving different types of movement.
From the example above, the one with catching ball, you might think dyspraxia is about being clumsy, but, no, there are many sub-categories with fancy names. Going over the symptoms - from the toddler period up to high-school there’s no way you won’t find your child exhibits at least one of them - maybe he was potty trained later, maybe he’s a bit forgetful or sometimes bumps into things. You might have thought that’s just the way he is, but an expert will have no trouble making a diagnostic and putting a label on your child.
My boy, for instance, does exhibit symptoms of ‘ideomotor dyspraxia’, which has to do with ‘single-step motor tasks’ - like combing your hair or waving goodbye. Almost every time we go out, we run into the ‘comb-your-hair’ argument.I’ve always thought he was just being stubborn and using the ‘I-like-my-hair-as-it-is’ argument as an excuse. How was I to know the poor child was suffering from ‘ideomotor dyspraxia’?
Than there’s the question of ‘ideational dyspraxia’, something completely different, although I struggle to see the difference between brushing your hair and brushing your teeth - but, hey, I’m not an expert, am I? Fortunately, my child has no problem with brushing his teeth, but he does struggle with the whole ‘make your bed’ concept, also a sypmtom of ideational dyspraxia. Being such an uneducated parent, I sometimes pressure the child with my ‘mommy’s very pissed’ tone of voice, stupidly assuming he’s lazy when all the while he’s been struggling with a medical condition.
What’s even worse is that I’m probably to blame for his dyspraxia, as it can be a genetic predisposition. Basically, dyspraxia runs in the family, as none of us has ever been good at sports and we all did whatever it took to be excused from PE classes and nobody even suspected that was a medical condition.
I could go on and on about the various symptoms of various conditions or I could quote their definitions, which are mind-numbing. I guess that’s the whole point - tell an ordinary parent their child suffers from ‘oromotor dyspraxia’ and you’ll condemn them to the living hell of trying to make sense of an intricate scientifically-sounding definition, which will leave them feeling small and stupid. All the ‘papers’ on ‘learning disabilities’ sound so fancy and complicated, so full of psycho mumbo-jumbo, most parents won’t have it in them to say ‘that’s crap’.
What’s the point of coming up with made-up conditions? Well, there's money to be made, what else? Going from one professional to another for a diagnostic, taking the child to an occupational therapist or, I don’t know, the teeth-brushing expert - they all make money, don’t they?
The schools make money, too, as having pupils with ‘learning disabilities’ enables them to access special funding. And, don’t worry, Big Pharma’s in it, too, because, as the experts warn, these disabilities tend to go hand in hand with ADHD, so you might want to see an expert on that, too. As I was researching this post I could not immediately see how could ADHD medication help with all these conditions, but it does.
Take for instance a child diagnosed with dysgraphia, whose handwriting is often illegible. It’s not only that, though, - a child complaining his hand hurts the moment he has to sit down and do the homework is also dysgraphic. By complaining and moaning, the child is obviously trying to get out of the homework business and go play. This is where the ADHD medication comes in as it helps the child focus on the task at hand, popularly known as doing as he’s told and not being a bother. The senses dulled by medication, the natural sense of rebelliousness crushed, the child will try to write as best he can. Everybody wins - the parent proud of the kid’s better grades, the teacher spared of all the moaning in class, the various professionals who continuously monitor the child’s progress, Big Pharma gaining another stable customer. Well,I don’t know what the child actually wins, but who cares about children anyway?
There's a lot of irony in my post, a lot of poking fun at all this mumbo-jumbo, yet I am fully aware this is not a laughing matter. Your child struggling with shoelaces is not just a mere annoyance, the 'experts' see it as dyspraxia, which is a learning disability, which is a mental disorder. Let that sink in! Give it a few more years and the experts might force you to have that child on medication.
