I was just gonna comment on how excellently "Meet the Robinsons" looked. Kinduva train wreck of a film, but man... it sure looked great. I have to wonder how much Disney raided from the minds of Pixar on this one.
Wow... does a lot of what you say sound like familiar territory. I have an eight year old who exhibits several of those behaviors, although not quite as profoundly.
I had similar experiences with a preschool, out from which I and my wife pulled him because upon returning him after a few days of absence due to illness, one of the teachers, while speaking with another parent, cast a glance at my son running into the classroom and muttered, "... Well.... we _were_ going to have a good day."
Experiences with his grammar school were less than good for about two years, and then we just decided that that was enough. In a nutshell, he was very much like his peers except every now and then it was as if some of the wires in his brain shorted out and he would do something inexplicable or stupid. And his behavior would frustrate his classmates and teachers alike.
After several years of this, we decided to meet with a support group for parents of childen with special need. Finally, we asked the school to recommended observation and diagnosis by a neuropsychologist. He was diagnosed with a form of pervasive development disorder, PDD NOS.
Although I am loathe to put all my proverbial eggs in this basket by thinking that "Hey... PDD is it!!!", having this diagnosis was/is at least a starting point. Up to that point last year, the school was just thrashing in terms of its choices of strategies to teach and manage our son, like trying to shoot at a moving target. Since then, their methods have been more focused and he _has_ made great progress, although I do get the sense that the school allocates minimal resources to him and presumably the other children with similar needs.
And not surprisingly, it all boils down to money-- the city and all its schools do their best to control budget and spend the least that they possibly can to satisfy minimum requirements. We have to keep the school in check all the time to insure that our son gets what he needs, and we indeed meet with them once a month and keep in close communication with them daily.
And it is a constant struggle outside the school as well. His pediatricians have frequently suggested that he be medicated; we have always been _very_ apprehensive about this and refuse to do so. He has difficulty making friends and attempts at playing baseball and soccer have failed miserably. My approach to this has been to be extemely patient with him, and constantly seek out new things to spark his interest.
As for the future, I am concerned. I think I want him re-evaluated as I am sure that no one single diagnosis is sufficient, especially one made at such a young age and regarding something as complex and fragile as the brain. And it really is hard to know what to think or do in the noise that has been made about this alphabet soup, whether or not to medicate, whether or not you really have been a good parent, yadda yadda yadda.
Slashdot Mirror
I was just gonna comment on how excellently "Meet the Robinsons" looked. Kinduva train wreck of a film, but man... it sure looked great. I have to wonder how much Disney raided from the minds of Pixar on this one.
Well... this guy liked Episode 1, although he pointed out its many flaws, and did not like Episode II at all:
Review of Episode I
Review of Episode II
IMHO, John Boonstra is even better than Ebert. Both are excellent writers, although I find Boonstra's tastes are more aligned with mine.
Wow... does a lot of what you say sound like familiar territory. I have an eight year old who exhibits several of those behaviors, although not quite as profoundly.
I had similar experiences with a preschool, out from which I and my wife pulled him because upon returning him after a few days of absence due to illness, one of the teachers, while speaking with another parent, cast a glance at my son running into the classroom and muttered, "... Well.... we _were_ going to have a good day."
Experiences with his grammar school were less than good for about two years, and then we just decided that that was enough. In a nutshell, he was very much like his peers except every now and then it was as if some of the wires in his brain shorted out and he would do something inexplicable or stupid. And his behavior would frustrate his classmates and teachers alike.
After several years of this, we decided to meet with a support group for parents of childen with special need. Finally, we asked the school to recommended observation and diagnosis by a neuropsychologist. He was diagnosed with a form of pervasive development disorder, PDD NOS.
Although I am loathe to put all my proverbial eggs in this basket by thinking that "Hey... PDD is it!!!", having this diagnosis was/is at least a starting point. Up to that point last year, the school was just thrashing in terms of its choices of strategies to teach and manage our son, like trying to shoot at a moving target. Since then, their methods have been more focused and he _has_ made great progress, although I do get the sense that the school allocates minimal resources to him and presumably the other children with similar needs.
And not surprisingly, it all boils down to money-- the city and all its schools do their best to control budget and spend the least that they possibly can to satisfy minimum requirements. We have to keep the school in check all the time to insure that our son gets what he needs, and we indeed meet with them once a month and keep in close communication with them daily.
And it is a constant struggle outside the school as well. His pediatricians have frequently suggested that he be medicated; we have always been _very_ apprehensive about this and refuse to do so. He has difficulty making friends and attempts at playing baseball and soccer have failed miserably. My approach to this has been to be extemely patient with him, and constantly seek out new things to spark his interest.
As for the future, I am concerned. I think I want him re-evaluated as I am sure that no one single diagnosis is sufficient, especially one made at such a young age and regarding something as complex and fragile as the brain. And it really is hard to know what to think or do in the noise that has been made about this alphabet soup, whether or not to medicate, whether or not you really have been a good parent, yadda yadda yadda.