The other day, I was sitting at my desk–totally overdosed on caffeine and absolutely exhausted; I couldn’t concentrate, I felt sick to my stomach and my eyes were blurry. It hit me that if a person walked in on me, they might think that I had some sort of a learning disability and it reminded me of when my kids were little and how they would inevitably get into trouble at school if they were not eating right or getting enough sleep. I couldn’t help but wonder how many children who are diagnosed with learning disabilities or learning problems might just need some good nights’ sleep and a healthy diet?
Think of what it is like to be the parent of a new baby…I don’t know about you, but it only took me a few days of sleep deprivation to begin acting like someone with a disorder–I forgot what I was doing, I was quick to have outbursts, I wandered around the house trying to stay awake. I was not at my best. I also know that my own children get not only crabby and cranky, but have trouble concentrating, cannot complete homework or schoolwork projects, and are generally out of sorts when they are not well-fed and well-rested.
Again, I am not an expert and I want to make that clear–but I wonder if we shouldn’t look at whether and how a child’s basic needs are being met before we declare him or her as learning disabled. It might be that getting enough sleep and eating a healthy diet can take care of what might be holding them back at school. Surely this will not work for every child, but even for those children who DO have learning disabilities, plenty of sleep and eating right can make their every day lives better too.
See Also: the EDUCATION and MENTAL HEALTH Blogs