Continuation of Winning's talk on OCD in the school

[Guest guest]

Again, Dr. Winning advocated understanding and respect for the student in the

school in a supportive nurturing environment. The goal is to enhance the

student's sense of mastery and control. To help this, students can be graded

on smaller amounts of work, giving students more time on tests, giving oral

instead of writted assignments if rewriting is a problem, and putting books

on tape if rereading is a problem. She encouraged teachers to allow for

rituals and compulsions but to work around them as much as possible. What

is very exciting is that school is an environment where ERP can take place if

people know what they are doing.

Homework requirements should be flexible from none to gradually

increasing it. If appropriate, parents can help at first, but the goal is

increased independence. A specific time should be designated for homework

and it should pull from the child's strengths. It is helpful for kids to

work together and the OCD-er can help others not just vice versa. Depending

on the kid's attentional level, distractions may need to be increased (as in

ADHD occasionally) or decreased. Helping the child get organized is

important and know the kid's limits. If the child gets stuck, use cues to

move on. Kids can be rewarded for on task behavior.

If there is an oppositional co-morbidity, there should be clear

expectations and consequences.

I loved her observation in lateness because it is my OCD-er's number one

problem. She said if the lateness is due to OCD there should be more of an

emphasis on treatment because you do not want to punish the OCD. The trick

is knowing when it is OCD or something else!?!?!?! One complication, e.g.,

is when lateness is due to obsessive thoughts and you don't know what those

thoughts are. If you did, you could use ERP strategies such as a loop tape.

All in all it was an informative presentation. One thing I learned is

that schools need to be educated on the manifestations of OCD and the

accommodations needed. Without this, the schools are breaking the law daily

and the kids are sufferring. In our experience, the suffering caused

secondary psychological damage/alienation that is harder to deal with than

the OCD itself. I have seen it from both sides- as a professional and as a

mother of an OCD-er in an inflexible school. We are still dealing with the

trauma of this whole situation. My daughter has a lot of healing to do and

so do we. I will tell our story wherever I can- recently to the Attorney

General of our state who made the blanket statement that the state's special

education budget is bankrupt because of kids who just have behavioral

problems. I informed him that what masquerades as behavioral problems could

very well be neurobehavioral problems that are undiagnosed and untreated.

Politicians don't make diagnoses. I urged him and his staff to consult

prominent neuroscientists in our state, many of whom are Harvard affiliated

(we also have Russ Barkeley-prominent ADHD researcher), before they set

policy. In our state, the laws and the budget just don't mesh.

Good look with your schools, know the law, consult with NAMI as was

recommended to me on the list, and fight for your OCD-er. Don't let ignorant

people make decisions for your child's life.

Mamimiz