Diagnosis

My students have a lot of diagnoses.  In my class of 6, one can find the labels of Asperger’s Syndrome, ADHD, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, learning disability, and ADHD (again)–not to mention deaf and hard-of-hearing and limited English proficient.

Come to think of it, their teacher has a lot of “labels,” too.  I’m a lactose-intolerant vegetarian afflicted with acid reflux.  I have clinical depression and anxiety.  My list of allergies is insanely long (so long, in fact, that the joke in the elementary hallway is that if I had a piece of medical-alert jewelry with a full listing, it would need to be a Flava Flav-sized locket with an accordion folded list).

This weekend’s daylight savings time-change brought to mind another of my diagnoses: Seasonal Affective Disorder.  Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a mood disorder “in which people who have normal mental health throughout most of the year experience depressive symptoms in the winter.” For me it boils down to this: if it’s dark, I sleep.  And by sleep, I mean hibernate.  For up to 12 hours a day.  As I struggled to stay awake last night at 7:00, I realized: 100 years ago, SAD didn’t exist.  One hundred years ago, I would not have struggled to keep going after the sun went down.  When my ancestors were settling their homesteads in North Dakota, the bulk of the work occurred between the months of May and October.  There were still animals to feed and chores to do during the winter months, but the grueling field work of planting, weeding, and harvesting occurred when there was substantial daylight.  There was less work to do during the winter.  Plus, there was no artificial lighting.  So when it was dark, they listened to their bodies and slept.  Light=awake.  Dark=asleep.  Our brains are designed that way.

Now, artificial means of lighting are just a part of life, both indoors and outdoors.  North Dakota and states at similar latitudes have the highest per-capita diagnoses of depression and seasonal mood disorders.  One hundred years ago, I would have been expected to listen to my body as it slowed down during the winter months and to my brain as it cried out for more sleep.  Now, because I live in a culture that “burns the midnight oil,” my brain is labeled defective.  My ailment is not one of brain or body dysfunction, but of unrealistic cultural expectations.

How many of my students’ labels signify a similar cultural disease?  Boys are more likely than girls to be labeled with ADHD.  Why?  Boys are generally more physical and need time to run around and be boys.  I will grant that there are cases of legitimate ADHD that warrants medication—one such kiddo is in my class, and it’s like electricity runs through his skin.  He even described it once by saying, “My brain is on fire.”  But for many of our overly-medicated kids, all they need is recess and physical education.  The problem is not that they cannot sit still, but that a diseased school culture expects them to do so for inordinate amounts of time.  I have heard of schools eliminating recess to make room for more class time.  I can tell you that the best decision I made for my schedule was to have 3 recesses.  The kids come back awake, refreshed, and ready to learn.  I may not have as much class time, but my class time is more productive.

I am not throwing out the legitimacy of my students’ diagnoses.  But instead of looking at the label and seeing a “defective” student, I need to look at the expectations of my classroom culture.  Are my expectations reasonable to facilitate student success?

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