Re: Toronto Star – Mom Fights for School Supports for Son

[Anonymous]

Oh dear God, for the love of all that is good in this world I hope the mother wins. I also hope this has an impact that reaches outside of Ontario classrooms. I know that we need this disorder to be recognised for the impact that it has in Alberta as well.

In the current system, while ADD does get coded, there is absolutely no funding attached to the diagnosis. The teacher just knows what they are trying to accommodate, though they get absolutely no help in doing so. There are teachers out there with a flare for reaching out to these kids but even the best could use at least a little help. What a lot of teachers end up doing is pushing to have these children assessed so that they can be diagnosed as having Oppositional Defiant Disorder or Conduct Disorder or some other severe Emotional/Behavioural Disorder so that they can get the funding they need as well as an aide in the classroom. A lot of these children are misdiagnosed because a teacher can provide plenty of classroom evidence of what is actually a teacher mishandling the child’s needs but comes out as being the child’s fault. It is positively deplorable, but these poor men and women are desperate. The article says that Alberta offers extensive support, but funding for ADD support was cut in the early 2000’s and now the disorder receives ZERO FUND. So the article is incorrect in that respect.

The only reason my brother was given any special help in school was because his ADD was co-morbid with several learning disabilities as well as fine and gross motor skills difficulties, almost to the point of Developmental Coordination Disorder. He originally received help for his ADD as well, but the funding that gave him access to that funding was cut in 2000.

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