*** Be inspired, not afraid

An Ode to my dear inspirer, my change agent, and an indirect best friend, Sir Ken Robinson , I write with the support of your determination.

As I began brainstorming this blog, there were turns, changes, and pitfalls in what I thought my exact positioned argument was going to be. There are a lot of things to discuss. My boyfriend, God bless him, plays devil's advocate to all my arguments, just to push me a little more. So, like all other things in my life, please bare with me as you try to follow my ADHD-like transformation of thoughts.

This blog is about ADHD, or as I like to call it, A Dumb Hypothesized Disorder. But my issue isn't with the disease itself, or with doctors or the FDA that aide in the diagnosis of children (who are the victims in this blog that I am trying to save). I do think there are overly hyper kids, that they disrupt the classroom, that they cannot follow in the standard forms of education, and whose traits don't follow ideological norms. But, I don't believe, under any circumstances, that a child's natural, habitual, in-bred peculiarity should ever be stigmatized in a way that in turn, could cripple them of their God given right to develop into the individual they were born to be.

I graduated in a class of 25 my senior year of high school. Basically all my friends were diagnosed with some kind of attention deficit disorder, and it was only until my school, The Marin School in Marin County, California, that these kids felt any hope at all. From boarding schools, to home schooling, to mood-altering drugs, my friends, my best friends, had been told from early on that they were not good enough to function in a standardized system. I write in the name of my friends.

PARENTS!! This blog is for you too. I am here to tell you to not be scared. To not be afraid that your child's hyperactivity is a clear reflection of how you did as parents, nor too scary to accept. Do not be afraid of what your children represent according to other people. Do not listen to doctors, to teachers, to the principals at their schools. Your child has a purpose, so do not be fooled into thinking that Ritallin, Adderall, Focallin or Concerta, or any other of these drugs, are going to fix what other people say about your kids. That is NOT your concern.

I beg you, in this overstimulated society, do not give up your duty of nurturing and acceptance and replace it with classification, emotional distance and the acceptance that a drug will be good for your child who is "diagnosed" with A Dumb Hypothesized Disorder.

During the course of this blog, I will evaluate, and re-evaluate my issues with ADHD within this over-diagnosed country.

Meanwhile, meet Sir Ken Robinson, an inspirer, an innovator, a fearless Brit who "challenges the way we're educating our children." He is my change agent, and says "Students with restless minds and bodies -- far from being cultivated for their energy and curiosity -- are ignored or even stigmatized, with terrible consequences. 'We are educating people out of their creativity,' Robinson says." -Ted.com

Please watch this video in its entirety. You will be inspired as we begin this journey together.

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html

Much Love,

Rain