tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2743746633913926150.post4303118799875367940..comments2024-03-12T07:00:44.143-04:00Comments on CHILDMYTHS: Young Psychopaths at the Atlantic Magazine: More Zombie IdeasJean Mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14619393019771381980noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2743746633913926150.post-12079362362238196852017-05-31T01:24:12.186-04:002017-05-31T01:24:12.186-04:00Spot on, and with science to back it up. Of course...Spot on, and with science to back it up. Of course, it's a shame that outlets such as The Atlantic have a wide readership, where as your excellent and sound analysis does not. Sound analysis doesn't not fit into a click-friendly headline, I guess. <br /><br />"perhaps assuming that they will never be able to control their impulses"<br /><br />Whenever I read accounts of the Uncontrollable segment of children (and is it really a bad thing to resist being easily controlled?), and how - because of their imperviousness to all attempts of external control - they are simply wired to be asocial, I can't help but think that no one has listened closely to what the child is communicating. Perhaps it's because the majority of people intuitively understand the unspoken rules of socially-accepted behavior, thus it is beyond their capability to conceive that a portion of the population must be overtly taught how to behave. This is no more a child's fault than it would be a deaf child's fault that they can't hear. We don't chalk the latter up to obstinance and demand that they communicate like normal people. No, we give them the skills to communicate, and thus accommodate, inspite of their impairment. As Ross Greene, author of The Explosive Child, says:<br /><br />"kids do well if they can. In other words, if your child could do well, he would do well...if your child had the skills to exhibit adaptive behavior, he or she wouldn’t be exhibiting challenging behavior...Children exhibit challenging behavior when the demands being placed upon them outstrip the skills they have to respond adaptively to those demands. The same can be said of all human beings."<br /><br />My 6 y/o son, who is autistic (he would've fit under Asperger's syndrome under the DSM IV) is in a special ed program at a mainstream elementary school. His teacher said the most wonderful thing to me, in response to my apology for him hitting the OT and telling her he wanted to "kill her, but not really because that's not okay to tell someone.". She said "Don't ever apology for his behavior. All behavior is communication and we are teaching him a more effective way of communicating." <br /><br />I can't accept that some children prefer the inner turmoil of aggression and defiance. They simply know of no other way to express themselves, to ask for help, or even recognize inside them that they NEED help. I figure the fully grown "psychopath" was not predestined, but rather still does not recognize what they are missing. That their is another way to express themselves.<br /><br />I love your writing. It's been several years since I've followed your blog regularly, raising a 6 year old and a nearly 3 year old (going on 15 - "threenager" is a legitimate phase!). I'm delighted to see you are still fighting the good fight! Jessica Sagernoreply@blogger.com