YOU'LL KNOW YOU'VE BECOME AN ACTIVIST WHEN -

[Guest guest]

I found this on the compuserve forum thought I would share:)Kathleen

YOU'LL KNOW YOU'VE BECOME AN ACTIVIST WHEN -

Excerpt from the book in progress:

Challenged Children, Challenged Families

Living with Attention Deficit Disorder

by Janie Bowman and Joy Kutz

© 1993 by Janie Bowman

Not to be reproduced by any means without the written

permission of the author.

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You'll Know You've Become an Activist When -

1. They roll out the red carpet when you walk in the door,

hand you a cup of coffee and ask " Good Morning, Mrs. Kutz,

how can we help you? "

2. The school district no longer responds in writing to

your requests.

3. The mailing list for your newsletter hits 700 and

there's no end in sight.

4. You're invited to talk at teacher inservice

presentations... outside of your district.

5. You have a 1-800 number to handle all of the ADD calls

for your support group.

6. A teacher asks you for information on ADD and you bring

her a file six inches thick.

7. They tell you your son is doing great in school, that

he's not having any problems whatsoever, ( " He's just like

any other kid his age " ) then proceed to disagree with your

decision to " discontinue his IEP " ..... in order to

homeschool.

8. An educator tells you " No, we can't do that. " and you

find a way.

9. You transport your children out of your district, into

another county, to attend an appropriate educational

environment.

10. All the lawyers specializing in school law in your town

work for your local school district, so you contact someone

outside of your area, even though their practice is 1 1/2

hrs away.

11. You belong to a strong local ADD support group in some

" official " capacity and attend every meeting where

information is shared. You find out which school

cooperatively works with ADD families, which school refuses

to let children use their ADD as an excuse, (I *love* that

one) and which school takes care of abuses against ADD

children internally so as not to cause a media or legal

event.

12. You belong to *other* strong ADD support or advocacy

groups in/out of your area, attend their meetings, and read

their newsletters from cover to cover, in the event you need

to travel out of town to get medical or educational services

for your children...and you do.

13. You mail your newsletter to your local newspaper editor

just in case they read it and are interested in doing a

factual article on ADD.

14. You keep your savings account open even though it's

down to zero because you have to tap it for mailing costs,

long distance telephone calls, copying costs not covered by

your support group printing budget, and books you just have

to have to share with others.

15. Someone says " We don't do it that way. " and you

silently say " Wanna bet! " while gently leading them toward

the direction you want them to go and then praising them for

thinking of innovative new ways to deal with ADD.

16. You transfer to another school district and the

previous school only sends 3 double-sided pages of

information, making you wonder exactly *where* your child's

files are? And why?

17. Your child is threatened with suspension because he

perceives the rules of the school are unfair, and you agree

with your child.

18. Your child walks out of school and refuses to return

and you educate him yourself.

19. You turn your back on educators who say your child is

immature because he can't adjust, then you proceed to

provide opportunities for your child that prove them wrong.

20. Your child's ADD friends call you " Mom. "

21. You realize that the school is the one that's " broken "

and you don't try to " fix " your child instead.

22. Educators tell you they don't have the money to provide

the necessary services for your child, and you tell them

" It doesn't cost anything to care. "

23. The school insists on meeting with you only if another

educator or administrator is present as a witness.

24. An educator says " I don't know. " and you educate him.

An educator says " I don't remember. " and you remind him. An

educator says " I can't. " and you say, " You will. "

25. Your child is getting services when very few others

are.

26 You live in the Western USA and you get calls from the

East Coast.

27. Your child is allowed to skip a few grades in order to

graduate ASAP.

28. You ask " How badly was the other child hurt? " and the

school psychologist responds " Don't worry. Everything is

under control. He didn't need stitches. "

29. A mental health worker asks *you* for advice.

30 It takes you 5 years to write a book because you keep

getting " activated. "

31. The school is the one who insists on taping your

child's IEP meeting.

32. You continually request to meet with your child's U.S.

History teacher because your child's original progress

report states he is failing that class. In spite of

numerous attempts to connect, you and the school are *never*

able to schedule a meeting to discuss the situation. The

meeting with the teacher never occurs. The suggested

accommodations are never implemented. (the teacher would be

" self conscious " with a tape recorder in the class)

However, Miraculously!, the next progress report states that

your child is passing with a " B. "

33. You write a letter to a school superintendent

suggesting he was " misquoted " in his comments about ADD in

your local newspaper. The last paragraph reads: " After

five revisions, I sent my own letter to the Editor...I

sincerely hope they don't misquote me. And if we ever have

to sit across the table from each other contemplating my

younger child's future, let's make sure that we work

together to do what is in his best interests and not

misquote each other. " You promptly receive a reply saying

he was, indeed, " misquoted. " Your letter to the Editor gets

published in the newspaper a few weeks later, and *you* are

not misquoted.

34. You call the police when your son's been strong-armed

for a quarter because the school chooses to look the other

way and attempts to fluff off the infraction as

" insignificant. "

35. Your younger son emphatically insists he does not, in

any way, shape, or form, have ADD! He does, however, have

the Edison Trait.

36. This same child looks up at you and says: " Farmers

plant seeds and sometimes they don't grow. Hunters shoot

arrows but they miss the mark a lot. " You ask, " How do you

figure that? " And he answers, " Everybody has difficulties.

That's life! "

37. Last but not least, you know you've become an activist

when your child tells you " I love you " because he knows you

believe in him.

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