A young man came in to try his first class the other day. He was recommended to us specifically by his doctor because I have a good reputation of working with kids that have learning issues. When I looked over his intro sheet, I saw that he was ADHD, ODD and had several other letters in his medical history. I asked his mother if there was anything else I needed to know about like diabetes, asthma or anything physical. “No, he just has a huge alphabet of learning disabilities.” She told me. I laughed. “Yeah, we call that the Alphabet Soup!” She smiled. “So, I take it you have seen this before?” She asked. “Are you kidding? I see it all the time.” I said as I put down the clip board and started walking to the mats. “If anyone knows what your son is going through it’s me. Back in my day they had only two letters. L and D. I got this!”
Later in class I was working with this young man on the first half of the White belt form. Every time I would try to add a move, he protesting that I was going too fast when, in fact, I wasn’t. I looked at him and said “I am not going too fast. You need to just try and do what I am doing. Around here, effort is everything. You don’t have to get it right. You just have to try!” “But I am ADHD.” He protested. “You have to show me stuff a little at a time.” At this moment I understood what was holding him back, more than anything, was HIS belief in HIS diagnosis. I looked at him and said “BULL! ADHD makes it hard to learn stuff in a boring classroom while sitting on your butt! Around here that means you are GIFTED!” He looked at me with a funny expression. “Look, when it comes to being physical and doing something on these mats, you are gifted! So shut up and do what I tell you!”
His eyes bugged out of his head when he realized some crazy old man wasn’t playing ‘the alphabet game’ and he started doing what I told him to do. Within 3 or 4 repetitions he was doing the first half of his form with ease and precision. An accomplishment most at his age could not do. Afterward, I gave him a high five and told him “Around here we have only two labels. Kids that try hard and kids that don’t. Try hard and you will be fine. Got that?” He smiled and said “Yes SIR!” For the rest of the day, his label was gone.
While I am flattered that this boy’s doctor recommended me by name, I really don’t do anything special for my “alphabet soup” kids other than understand their frustration that most of their day is spent doing the one thing they are least talented at, sitting in a classroom. However, I never let them use it as a crutch or and excuse on the mats because their condition has little relevance to either what we are doing or how we are teaching it. In fact, most kids with difficulties in school are the best kids on the mats.
Before you think that this is going to be an article about how we shouldn’t label kids, you couldn’t be more wrong. The alphabet soup the kids have today is important. I tell parents to have their kids evaluated all the time so they can get the help they need to be as successful as possible in the classroom. I have seen far too many parents resist having their kid “labeled;” thus making their child’s experiences at school a nightmare. The alphabet soup helps teachers know what teaching stimulus will work with each student so they get the most out of their formal education. So if you aren’t sure, have your child tested.
At the same time, however, that alphabet soup does not define who we are as people or what we can achieve; especially OUTSIDE of the classroom. That diagnosis only tells people who do not know us well how we are wired and what stimulus we handle best. I went through it myself when I was diagnosed with dyslexia back in the days when they couldn’t be more specific. People will, because it is human nature, try and tell kids with a diagnosis what they can and cannot do. THEY ARE WRONG! Anyone with a diagnosis can do whatever they desire so long as they are willing to put in the time and effort. Unfortunately too many people, particularly kids, fall into the trap of believing the diagnosis is who they can become. For all of you with a label, or for parents of a kid with a label, do not fall for that trap.
Moreover, what many without a diagnosis don’t understand is that outside of the classroom our wiring has given us gifts that don’t translate to academia. For instance, with my form of dyslexia I can see things in three dimensions from a drawing with ease. I can also look at something that requires assembly and can see how it goes together with little instruction. Give me a 3D puzzle and you will be amazed how fast I solve it. Most of my ADHD kids tend to be very good at judging space, timing and angles. That, and they live in the moment, makes them some of the best sparer’s on the floor.
I could go on, but the point I want to make is that our diagnosis may say we aren’t the ideal student IN the classroom. But last time I checked, life doesn’t happen in a classroom. Life happens OUTSIDE of it.
(P.S. – There are also diagnosis’s and letters in the alphabet soup that make kids perfect for academia who have severe issues outside of school. Yes, we work really well with them too! But that is a different article for a different day.)
MrDue's View from the Mats 