See my other channel for similar videos: kzfaq.info

"If children with mild disabilities are too often overlooked the children with severe handicaps are too often excluded."

Kids are still being failed so badly... it hurts my heart to think they've known how to help kids for sixty years but choose not to.

"Children who have suffered years of failure in school develop emotional problems that complicate the learning process." I automatically want to cry. My early school teachers knew less of how to best nurture me than people 80 years ago...

I was told I was stupid by my father and teacher…was held back for not being able to pass math…when I finally took a test at 48, learned I had dyscalculia. The years of feeling dumb and clueless have truly affected my self esteem.

the fact that (aside from some out of date terminology) almost all of this is information is stuff that most people - including teachers - could still learn from is astounding. Even the attitudes of the commentator and assessors are much better than many people today! THIS IS 60 YEARS OLD AND IS STILL RELEVANT TODAY!

I love that during the evaluations they never bring them down. They truly wanted to help them, a lack of confidence will destroy a child’s ability to learn as well. “It’s very important to help them feel successful.”

When John said that he wasn’t mad at his teacher or his classmates, he was mad at himself…I felt that in the core of my heart

As a dyslexic grade schooler in the 1960s, my teachers routinely moved me to the back of the class room and focused on teaching the "normal" students first and for most. School administrators were amazed that I popped a 121 as an eight year-old on the IQ test in 1964 yet I couldn't read at a first grade level. They said that it was just a fluke so I was forced to take the test six more time, the last time was in 1972 where I scored a 144 at the age of fifteen. Thank goodness for audiobooks, word-processing and speak-to-text technology!

This hits close to home for me. I was undiagnosed with ADHD in the 70’s when I was in elementary school. Unfortunately, I was always relegated to the coat closet because I couldn’t concentrate. I loved math, but couldn’t focus enough to get my work done on time. It made me so sad to have to stay in for recess, day in and day out. I persevered, but it was extremely difficult and at times, humiliating. Fortunately, I soldiered through and graduated engineering school.

They even knew this at that generation but some teachers are so cruel

My son has ASD, ADD, sensory perception disorder and learning difficulties, he was excluded from his special needs school at the age of 14 when his head teacher said at his age he should be able to cope with his difficulties (he needed to wear ear defenders and the school wouldn’t allow this) I told the head my son copes very well with his difficulties but he will always have them, he isn’t suddenly cured of his disabilities when he turns 14. I was left no choice but to homeschool my son, he says mums school is the best. The education system is still failing so many children.

When the teacher told John it's ok to make mistakes at 26:40, I teared up. I wish I would've grown up in an environment like that. Instead if I was trying to learn something and failing, my dad just accused me of purposefully being difficult and "pretending to be stupid to look cute." When I didn't "stop pretending" and immediately do the task perfectly like he wanted, I was yelled at and punished because he thought I was purposefully disobeying him. I would be in tears frustrated, trying to convince him I really didn't understand him. It never mattered how much I cried, how much I apologized, how loudly I hated myself. He never believed me. I'm 19 now and was diagnosed with autism a year ago. Never once has my father apologized to me for the way he treated me as a child. He never will.

This guy was ahead of his time. Most kids with learning disabilities (especially dyslexia) would fail in school in those days. They normally would not receive services from their school district.

I knew a boy called Danny Forsyth, who attended school with me sixty five years ago, who was at the bottom of the class; he was dyslexic-however, Danny was no Dunce! He was skilled in woodworking, and taught himself to play the guitar; and when his thumb was severed in an accident, re-taught himself to play his guitar using the other hand. Remembered fondly.

The fact that this 60 year old video is the first time I've seen audio processing disorder described at all in an academic context much less with compassion...

The neurological tests they did for these kids was by far more comprehensive than anything they did for my daughter's ADHD diagnosis. And she was diagnosed THIS YEAR! It's unbelievable how much more could be done that simply STILL isnt being done for ND children and adults.

Honestly as a teacher I think children aren’t meant to just sit for 6 hours in a chair and do work. I mean it’s not even good for adults. But it’s the system, I have kids so bored with class because they’re either done in 2 seconds or can’t understand. But they took away honors and separation, and now all the kids are all cramped together on different levels to learn one lesson, the same one. No one above or behind. Just sitting in the seat doing the same things. ADHD is the body begging to do things different, kids should move and stop being punished especially when they’re so good at the subject. Edit: now as more years as a teacher I think this everyone is equal system mentality failed us. There should be honors and average as well as below average classes and learning appropriate to that. There should also be aptitude tests to dedicate to a child’s specific skill set.

We need to bring classes like these back, It would have saved me so much issues and actually helped me.

Mr. Gibson is such a sweetheart! He's so patient, and caring. I wish I had a teacher like him.

As a child of the 1970s with what is now known as ADHD; I have to ask where were these wonderful knowledgeable professionals when I was at school?! I was punished and yelled at to sit still! I got a diagnosis in my 30s, that surprised nobody.

"every child must been seen as an indavidual" is something i feel like gets so often overlooked when it comes to understanding neurodivergencent people :( uh thank you for the likes, ive never gotten close to this many before

It's so sad that despite so much already being known by the 1960s people with learning disabilities are still treated so badly in and out of education.

I’m astounded by how gentle this whole video was. Even some of the terminology that I’m used to being said derogatorily was spoken in such a neutral way. I also admired the fact that during John’s outburst, Mr. Gibson didn’t react violently, and even half-hugged him while escorting him away from the group. I went to a public school that had a better understanding of neurodivergence than most, but I wasn’t even treated with this much patience and compassion. I wonder how different my life could’ve been if I had been receiving care like this throughout school. I hope the school system gets the shake-up it deserves so future generations of neurodivergent people don’t have to suffer like a lot of us did.

The terms are dated but the terminologie isn't even bothering me. This is better education on my learning disability than I have received by any of my teachers. This is actually nuts. Im shocked with how much this resonates with me and what I wished I had received. And the fact that I have been tought that "back in the day" they were way worse. This is nuts. Jeez. This is is mind blowing

It breaks my heart seeing John get so frustrated.😔😔

I deeply felt it when the narrator said, “When a child begins to experience success in school, we often see a remarkable improvement in behavior.” Falling behind, doing poorly compared to my peers, feeling “stupid”. All of those things created such a stressful, painful situation for me when I was way too young to be going through that. I saw so much of myself when I was a similar age in John. I would make small mistakes and get SO upset at myself. I would have full meltdowns at home during homework because I physically couldn’t stay still to do it. I would just cry and say I couldn’t (even if I knew what I was doing) because I was so afraid of making a mistake. I hope John continued to have people on his side who believed in him and offered the help he needed throughout his life.

My son can't talk. We were worried for his development, through years of therapy and special ed. We had a tablet for him that he learned to use to indicate his needs and wants, such as toilet and snacks. But after a few years, he started to be able to spell, simple things at first, but by the time he was around 10, he spelled out things that surprised us, how much he was learning in school, even though his teachers had no idea how much he was retaining. Most recently, he has started to use simple sentences. Now I am confident that eventually he will be able to express himself, and even excel, by typing text instead of using speech. I am so proud of my son.

I never had any learning disability, but I did have speech impediment. Back in 1976, my school set me up with a speech therapist and we got it all worked out. To this day, I am still grateful for that kindness.

If they had this kind of knowledge about learning disabilities way back in the 60's why was it so hard for them, in the 80's, to differentiate between a behavior issue and a learning issue? When I was in school so many kids were punished into behavioral classrooms or schools when it was most likely a learning issue...

This made me really happy to watch honestly. I wish they could help neurotypical people the way they need to be helped as well. I’m autistic i stopped going to school when i was 14, I’m realising that is because i was undiagnosed and didn’t get NEARLY as much help i needed just because I was un diagnosed. I honestly really liked this video even though they don’t use the politically correct words we use now a days. I am so happy that they could get the help they needed.

Everyone deserves this same level of respect and have this type of interest taken in them.

You’re telling me they knew about this kind of stuff before and I still got tormented by multiple teachers when I was just a little kid?

The fact that Mr. Gibson was encouraging John to try again when he made mistakes is really good. More teachers should be like that! My mom has always instilled in me and my brothers that we need to sit with these kids at lunch, stand up for them when they're being bullied, and be their friend!

I'm a CNA. I used to care for a woman who was a special ed teacher from the 50's til retirement. She wanted to be a special ed teacher since the third grade because her cousin had Down's syndrome and didn't have proper education. She had all the old school photo books and would open them up and tell me about her students throughout the years. She remembered them all so well. I can even still picture some of the children and their stories.

Growing up in the 70's, this video has made me reassess myself that I had undiagnosed ADHD. I was John. I tried to do everything right and perfect in class and when I couldn't, I suffered with anxiety and behavior issues. My outbursts of behavior were so over the top, I knew I had gone too far but couldn't control it. I was alone at primary and intermediate school and had 2 friends at High School. Post High School I was excluded from a lot of things that I believed I really was... no good, so why even try! I was extremely active and an all rounder in sports. Sports actually saved me from what I dread to believe that I could have lived on the wrong side of the law. Sport taught me discipline and patience believe it or not. I loved it and excelled at it. I was told I'd never amount to anything and would end up in prison, that's how bad my behavior was. When I got to High School I was too involved in sport to get into mischief. The positivity from it and my attitude to something I loved and was good at had an effect on my academics where I topped my class 3 years in a row! From bottom of the class post High School to an academic achiever and top all rounder athelete. I always thought I was dyslexic where it came to math and was told by one of my math tutors that I am above average in math especially mental math and that I must have had a lousey math teacher who didn't understand me. He also said that I was "lazy" to try better and I totally agree there because I hate math lol. In Enlish and literature I am an A+, way above average, it helped that I also enjoyed it. So wow.... what an excellent video. It brought back some painful memories of my past however, does not defy who I am today.

My son attended a special school when he was 8. He was bullied at a mainstream school. He is 43 years old and can drive a car cook clean and is my carer. He has done really well . He still has speech problems and always will and still has learning difficulties but can shop for bargains and knows about soccer and politics

It’s unfortunate our educators still aren’t trained to recognize these sometimes and subtle signs. As the parent of someone with a dyslexic child and autistic child this information would have helped educators and us to recognize and understand these issues. Instead it was a painful process working with schools and watching our children and ourselves reach a breaking point. Though now we are more educated on the topic than most teachers and other professionals that diagnose disabilities

I have a learning disability along with mental illness. Schools and my parents let me slip through the cracks. Now I'm an adult and paying for it.

When my sister was in the 5th grade her teacher talked to my mother about putting her in special classes for so called "slow" children. My mother refused and said she would help her more at home. My sister became a software engineer. 😊

As a child of the 60's who had learning disabilities, I can say that nothing was done. I was ignored. I endured so much bullying from kids - particularly because my disability was in math and anything that required remembering sequenced rules or steps. We had to get up and go to the board to do math problems. The kids laughed and laughed at me and the teacher just kept pushing me to do what I couldn't do. It was horrific.

I have dyscalculia (a math learning disability) it is not as well known as dyslexia. I struggled a lot for many years as it was undiagnosed.. My math tutor treated me so cruelly.. He would say all mean things and verbally abuse me.. It affected me so badly.. I lost all my confidence and hope..i could not even do basic calculations that other students of my age did so easily.. I was super slow.. I still am..i cant count money..and anything related with numbers frustrate me so much..but children with dyscalculia are often found very good in in other subjects like literature,history,geography..and literature is my favourite subject.. In my boards exam i got a 100/100 in literature and a 10/100 in math.....sounds crazy right...Now im in high school and i took humanities as my stream..life is better for me now 🙂

I cried when the teacher told John that it was okay to make mistakes. I wish someone had told me that when I was a child, but teachers only focused on how best to stuff us full of information about taking tests. I had this irrational fear of being the reason my school shut down if I got bad grades even though I was a straight-A student pretty much the whole time I was in K-12. Now I'm in college trying to unpack all of that neurosis while managing my worsening executive dysfunction. No Child Left Behind combined with constant budget cuts and this artificial scarcity around school funding ruined so many kids, including me.

I was labeled emotionally disturbed and I was put into a school with all of the rejected kids with behavioral issues. I was basically bullied every day so I became a very untrusting and misanthropic as an adult. If I didn’t care about myself then I’d probably have ended up in prison right now . What a failure of an education system!

The story of John made me cry. I think because, as a retired teacher, it reminded me of some of my faculty colleagues who were oblivious or demeaning to children like John. What a wonderful teacher he had! And I was floored seeing that teacher put his arm on John's shoulder, or caressing his cheek; which today would get a teacher fired.

I have ADHD and the description is incredibly accurate. Was undiagnosed as a child and finally was diagnosed as an adult.

As someone with autism and adhd, this is still relevant. The first one I can especially relate to so much, my mom always asks “what did I ask you?” And I end up forgetting It’s honestly amazing how much I can relate to this. Even in the 1900’s they knew so much, and I’m glad they had such a great understanding even back THEN. Even back then they understood that some teachers suck.

My father was in school in the 60's. He made it through to high school but due to probably perceived "bad" behavior, lack of help/ actual understanding, and probably getting beat due to his learning challenges, he got kicked out. He never finished his GED either. My dad is so smart too, especially with math and computers. I think this messed with his self-perception and has caused him to develop a lot of bad habits in his 60's.

I am amazed at how progressive and compassionate this is.

The fact even the people in the mf 1960s knew more about learning disabilities than the people in literal 2021 going on 2022 shows alot

I’m shocked at how kind they’re being. Isn’t this when kids who displayed even slight deviation were shipped off to mental wards and forgotten about? Or is that a different century. I have Tourette’s and ADD and have been in special classes my whole life, and whenever I’ve asked, everyone’s said we were carted off to the funny farm until ‘recently’.

My daughter had autism like symptoms that were never picked up on and therefore overlooked. She had great difficulty in middle and high school so we taught her from home via charter school. She graduated this year at age 19. We're so very proud of her, and that she now understands that her ASD doesn't define her. She's an accomplished artist and her spatial abilities are impeccable!

WOW! I stumbled upon this by mistake. Now I'm 70 years old. This video describes me as a child in the late 50's and all through the 60's! I had ADD and Dyslexia and still do. I really tried my best in school but only excelled in subjects that caught my attention. Art, science, audio/visual dept., world of music. My teachers for those subjects were kind like the ones in the film. Everything else I failed. I was always told that I was dumb, stupid or retarded. The teachers were impatient and many times cruel in subjects I didn't like. Believe it or not, this video helped me understand most of my childhood and why things happened in my adulthood because of my now AADD and Dyslexia. Thank you for posting this video. I'm going to watch it over a few times. You see, I still need to go over some things more than once to fully grasp them.

I honestly like how they don’t show any of the kids as bad or the disabilities as scary just things that may need work, to be noticed and understood

That boy John at 27:00 minutes who is clearly expressing frustration and perhaps a sense of embarrassment...Gosh- just heart breaking!

It’s so fascinating hearing people talk about autism and adhd this long ago before they made words for them

I was a child in the 1960s with a learning disability. I was not so lucky to have the special attention and classes to help me as these kids had. I wonder how these children came out in later years and into adulthood.

It was really cool seeing how they demonstrated kinesthetic learning, rhythmically tapping out the words & tracing the letters on rough paper.

My elementary school failed to notice the fact I had ADHD and Autism. In Pre-school I had an IEP but apparently they lost it when I switched schools for kindergarten. :( For 6 years, they declined my IEP plan and when they finally did, my principal apologized but the damage was already done. I was neglected from teachers for years and the students bullied me for my disabilities. It took me years to regain my confidence. Thankfully, I’m now at a school for kids with learning differences. My teacher care so much for me and love me. I now love school! For anyone wondering Preschool- 7th grade = public school (hell) 8th grade - 12th grade = private school (the most amazing school in the whole world (literally))

These teachers were so gentle and empathetic, I certainly wasn't expecting it to be like this, considering this documentary is quite old, but I'm glad! I'm just left wondering why every instrument and note in the background music is so... distorted and out of tune. It gives this doc such an eerie feeling 😭😭

I wish I had this kind of support when I was in school! I struggled severely with my academics since kindergarten, and after a traumatic incident in 3rd grade where my teacher humiliated me during math class, I developed “school phobia” and couldn’t go back to school for weeks after without having panic attacks. I then saw a psychologist who diagnosed me with borderline intellectual functioning/borderline mental retardation (as it was known at the time) and I was then put in a special education class specifically for students with mild intellectual disability and I stayed there until my last year of middle school. This was not the best placement for me but it was still better than being in a regular class and getting no support. In my MID class I felt very out of place. I was ahead of the other kids in reading and I just had a better understanding of things in general. When I got to high school, I was fully mainstreamed and got very little support. I had an IEP and accommodations but for some reason my teachers didn’t want to follow it. I was failing all of my classes except for English and I became a social outcast with my only friends being those who had issues themselves and together we were rebellious teenage delinquents that even had a few run-in’s with the law. I developed severe mental health issues and it wasn’t until I ended up at the psych ward due to a suicide attempt when I was 17 (and my amazing tutor that knew something was very wrong) that I was evaluated by multiple psychologists and then diagnosed with moderate ADHD & a severe learning disability that affects my visual spatial reasoning, processing speed, fine motor skills, working memory, and executive functioning and emotional regulation. I was never of below average intelligence or “stupid” like I was made to believe. I ended up graduating high school with the support of a remarkable tutor and then going to a vocational college and getting an ok job, but a lot of this could’ve been prevented had I been properly diagnosed and given the right support. I hope the kids in this film who would now be in their 60s turned out ok and it saddens me that there are children today who are still being failed.

ADHD is not be taken lightly. People affected with it aren't doing it intentionally

We need to bring back these kinds of classrooms. Parents fought to have kids integrated into mainstream classrooms- arguing that they are segregated in this format- but they don'r realize that many children need these specialized placements to gain confidence, academic and life skills. Being integrated into a mainstream classroom where schools boards dont have the funding to provide proper supports and resources results in perpetual failures and gaps in many students. Ive been teaching for 12 years and its such a disservice that most children struggling fall through the cracks due to lack of funding.

My 1st year of school, 1970. I remember every grade was a struggle, I couldn't focus on what the teacher was talking about, my mind wondered. The class would start a project and I had no idea what the teacher instructed. All those years not one teacher cared enough to notice I had attention issues

While living in an expat community just 17 years ago my son's primary school teachers called him a "puzzle," like they'd never even heard of ADHD. I had to take him back to our home country for diagnosis and treatment, like OT and medication (which we called "a tool for school.) He has always been made to feel his differences are a superpower that can be channeled in different ways. He's now doing great in college as a math major.

I know the exact struggles these kids went thru. I myself was diagnosed in the 3rd grade in 1978 with both dyslexia and ADD by a psychologist. Dyslexia is very common with us left handed people. I was supposed to get held in school but never got it. Because of that, I was labeled as stupid or retarded and was severely bullied. I worked my butt off and barely graduated! It was hard work but I did it on my own with no help. The school system truly failed me, but I over came that obstacle! Even joined the military and was very successful in the military as well!

I like how the teacher is nice and not rude to the children for something out of their control.

This is the teacher i needed as a child. This is the teacher my son needed instead of being at the mainstream primary school i accidentally enrolled my disabled son into. I'm now the teacher my child needs. He's doing well now.

I actually learned a lot, I teach 5 year olds. Watching this has inspired me to be more driven to work a little better with my young students. I’m glad that I found these. New subscriber.

I was born in 1963. I am dyslexic. I was never tested. Just basically thought of as slow or dumb. I so wish the schools in Tennessee had helped me. If not for my wonderful mother I would have never made it, she worked with me for hours finding ways to help me remember. My mom sure knew what she was doing but was not trained to know how to help. I’m so grateful to have my wonderful mother. I’ve done well in life. Completed high school. Graduated from a technical school and had a well paying career. Watching this documentary made me remember things I went through in the 60s. I ever recognize a dress I had just like one of the little girls was wearing. lol. This made me realize that I’m old but also that I’ve had a wonderful life.

I thought this was gonna be really funny and filled with looooads of really stupid and incorrect facts but im impressed at how well they handled this. Hope everyone in this video had a good life

People better stop bullying me I am disabled adult and I was diagnosed with a learning disability as a child I still have learning disability as a adult dose not give no one the right to miss treat me or get frustrated with me people with learning disabilities you have to have patience with them and not get frustrated with them this trueth

I was diagnosed with Learning difficulties but I obtained a MA Education degree and now I’m an English Language Teacher. My students always love me and get great results; it’s due to my disability that I can turn it into an ability. The ability to be able to explain, to teach, to break down things into an easier way so that every learner can achieve greatness ❤

I'm studying to become a teacher and I look forward to become as good as this man.

When the teacher said to John that he wouldn’t be having him do the work if he was already perfect at it it struck a cord with me. I went to a very “good” school growing up where the expectation was perfection. I felt like my grades were more important than if I was learning. And that any learning I did do I did at home and not in the classroom. The classroom was a place for testing not learning. I wish I had had an experience like that growing up. I was diagnosed with ADHD as an adult, and I so very wish I had had help in school growing up.

My kids were diagnosed with learning disabilities (which also falls under the Autism Spectrum) while they were in kindergarten, (thank god for my kid’s kindergarten teacher picked it up) and I can’t believe doctors were able to diagnose kids from the 60’s, and it only got popular in the 90’s. When my kids got diagnosed. In my humble opinion, Every school then should have paediatrician come and assess and observe kids in kindergarten or in first grade while in class, so the kids have a better chance from earlier age of getting proper treatment and aids from the school and from parents.

Hi, I’m 19 and have a learning disability. From the beginning of time I always struggled. For instance, in kindergarten I had difficulty with the alphabet. I would write letters backwards. I also struggled with reading and comprehension, and math. In middle school I started to improve and love reading. I even started to improve in math class. Overtime I became obsessed with learning, I performed and learned better. I even got AB honor role in middle school. I still have problems at times but I don’t let this situation DEFINE who I am. This pushed me to be determined and ambitious. No one is perfect and will have all the answers but remember this is was makes us different and unique. Anyone with a type of disability are amazing and dedicated. Never let anything dictate who you are. ❤️

We definitely need more teachers like him ❤️

I went to school during the 60s and 70s this is a blast from the past.

Stunning how treating kids with disabilities right never caught on. I was in elementary school from 2008-2014. Often times I could not control my hyperactivity and often didn’t understand what was going on, constantly confused, resulting in me not doing things correctly. The fact I was extremely good in one area and then severely deficient in others helped to mask the fact that I truly had difficulties. This, rather than being seen for what it was, a learning difficulty, was instead treated as defiance and harshly punished ALL the time, by both my parents and teachers. It scarred me pretty badly. I am 21 now, and even today I still find myself picking up the pieces of messes that were made when I was a child, where I wasn’t raised and taught properly. It sucks.

My cousin who has learning disabilities was told he would never learn how to read, but my uncle taught him and he learned. He taught me as a child how to play chess and he is good at it. Sometimes you can't tell he has learning disabilities until you talk with him for a while. Most people just assume he is a teenager because he looks young even though he is in his 30s. I really appreciate him. I think all he needs is encouragement but it was my grandmother who adopted him and she passed away so people sometimes don't know what to do with him. It is really sad.

this documentary was well ahead of its time, despite this being 60 years old ish this sort of problem is still re-occuring and not many people are aware or even notice the symptoms

25:20 *The child with ADHD here is consistently unable to work independently on that task, the problem is not really that his ADHD has gotten worse. The problem is that his ability to master the demand for increased attention and self-control has not improved as much as is usually expected for that age, children with ADHD often experience emotions with a greater intensity. Now, keep in mind that When we say that a person's ADHD has gotten worse, what we usually mean is that the person’s executive functions, their ability to manage themselves, have not yet developed enough to meet task requirements usually expected for a person of that age. As a child gets older, family, teachers, friends, and the wider community increase their expectations for how much a person is able to demonstrate adequate self-management. If the discrepancy between what that individual and most other persons of similar age are able to do is too great, people tend to say that he or she is behind in his or her development.* ADHD is a syndrome of impairments in certain brain functions that may cause more or less difficulty, depending on what that person needs to do in daily life. It is important to keep in mind that ADHD is not like an infection or a tumor that gets worse or better. It is a syndrome of impairments of the brain’s development and cognitive functioning. To think about such impairments always involves the question, “Impairment for what?” ADHD tends to impair certain functions in affected persons as they encounter tasks that they are expected to perform by a specific age. For example, a young child in preschool or kindergarten is not expected to be able to sit at a desk and do written assignments that high school students do. Most people would not expect or allow a 3-year-old child to cross a busy street alone. A child that young would not be expected to be able to look carefully at traffic coming from both directions, to estimate accurately the speed of oncoming vehicles, and to move carefully to cross when there is adequate space to get across safely. Any reasonable adult would want to provide careful assistance to help that young child get safely across the street until the child has matured enough to learn, remember, and use the skills needed safely to cross a busy street alone. We also know that some children need much longer to develop these skills than do others. For some children with ADHD, academic skills such as learning to read, preparing for a spelling test, writing a book report, and keeping track of homework assignments are acquired as readily as for most others of similar age. However, for some, such tasks may be as challenging (as it would be for a 3-year-old to cross a busy street alone). Some children with ADHD are very quick to pick up academic skills, but they consistently struggle more than most of their peers with social skills. They are slower to pick up cues from others about when they are being too pushy or too demanding. They feel chronically bewildered about how to respond to classmates’ teasing or how to get others to let them join in a conversation or a game. They may repeatedly be too bossy and be excluded by playmates, or they may simply retreat into solitary activities, avoiding the risk of peer rejection by immersing themselves in playing video games. Some children with ADHD need much more support from parents or teachers for doing their schoolwork and/or managing social interactions. For many individuals, ADHD impairments are made worse by their struggles with excessive anxiety, persistent depression, compulsive behaviors, difficulties with mood regulation, learning disorders, or other psychiatric disorders that may be transient, recurrent, or persistently disruptive of their ability to perform the tasks of daily life. Children with ADHD generally have deficits in executive function: the ability to think and plan ahead, organize, control impulses, and complete tasks. That means you need to take over as the executive, providing extra guidance while your child gradually acquires executive skills of their own. Although the symptoms of ADHD can be nothing short of exasperating, it’s important to remember that the child who is angering, ignoring, annoying, or embarrassing you is not acting willfully. Kids with ADHD want to sit quietly, they want to make their rooms tidy and organized, they want to do everything their parent says to do-but they don’t know how to make these things happen. If you keep in mind that having ADHD is just as frustrating for your child, it will be a lot easier to respond in positive, supportive ways. With patience, compassion, and plenty of support, you can manage childhood ADHD while enjoying a stable, happy home.

I had an undiagnosed learning disability in the early 1960's. I was labeled an under achiever. Then a federal program began where students were to be given IQ tests. And the teachers could make extra money by giving these tests. Each teacher had to give several test to become certified test givers. They selected two of the best students and two of the worst students in each class to be the guinea pigs for the baseline testing. I was one of the worst students. Turned out I had the highest test score in my school. They though there was an error so they included me in 8 test groups and I got better at taking the test with each subsequent test. My improving scores irritated some of my future teachers as my scores were significantly higher than their own test scores. They still didn't treat my disability. In my early thirties a young eye doctor diagnose my vision problem and a specialist was able to treat my problem. I went on to complete four college degrees including a doctorate in engineering. I credit my difficult life experiences with making me even more successful. Becoming homeless, hungry, cold, having to work menial jobs and living with poor people taught me more that all my years in school.

I have twins that are almost 3. A boy and a girl. My little girl is what most would call normal. My son is as well, except as time goes on I see a lot of myself and the things I remember struggling with as I got older, most of which I still struggle with now at 27. They are both incredibly intelligent and as far as any test or simple common sense observation has shown, advanced for their age. I am listening to this while at work in my own little world with some earbuds, surrounded by grown men. And I have found myself almost wanting to cry. Like a deep, guttural weep. Something inside of me heard this and cried out for help, help I never got as a child, help that could have saved me from so many beatings, self harm attempts, failed tests, and undeserved ridicule. I have had to fight for every thought I have, every corporal function, everything. My whole life has been a weird, directionless struggle to be what most people would consider normal or independent. I’m mostly health physically, got a few non major bodily issues, but my mind…isn’t right. And I don’t know why. And I fear my little boy is going to walk that same path. I try everyday to hear him. I try to help him slow down and get his thoughts out, and lord does he have a lot of them. He’s so smart, so intuitive, and has impeccable speech for a 2 year old, heck for a 4 year old even! But I try to be what I didn’t have, someone who sat still long enough to listen to his little mind and the many things that run through it. I don’t want him to face the struggles I have faced. To be 27 and not “know what he wants to be when he grows up”. I don’t want him to cry in agony because he can’t understand his own thoughts for all the noise in between them. I don’t know what to do to help him, I don’t know what to do to help myself.

When I was in elementary school, I used to be just like John. I had massive frustration break outs because I couldn't understand something or when I made mistakes. My teacher used to take me out of class to cheer me up first and then help me when I didn't understand and why I thought I made a mistake, when it was actually correct most of the time. They also thought I showed signs of ADD when I got older, but my parents never took me to professionals to get tested for it. I'm now 21 y/o and suffer from failure anxiety, social anxiety, HSP and I want to get tested for ADD soon. I get burned out very quickly, I can't concentrate for more than 1 full hour straight, I get distracted very quickly, I can't filter out noises (if a person is talking to me and I hear other noises in de background, I can't seem to focus on the person that's talking and stop listening) and I also seem to change subjects a lot while having a conversation with someone (I really can go from talking about the food I just ate to how I think the world is going to end within 10 minutes). I wish my parents had me diagnosed earlier in life, but especially my mom is not down for putting labels...She also kinda refuses to believe I feel certain ways and believes I don't have certain mental issues...

I can't help but wonder what ever became of these children...

My childhood education occurred starting in the early 1960s. I was always "different," a "daydreamer," & socially awkward in school, & told at home I "couldn't do anything right." As a young adult, i struggled in job interviews & social situations. It took till 1998 at age 40 for me to learn I'm neurodivergent, with a significant auditory-processing delay as well as a lesser visual-processing delay. It took more years to realize I was being emotionally abused & neglected by my parents, which in those days was not considered abuse, as it wasn't physical. It took until 8 years ago to begin receiving trauma-informed therapy, which has finally brought me to a place of healing. Today, I use my art as the basis of designing arts-as-healing classes for adults , & arts-driven, hands-on afterschool projects for children which incorporate the academic skills they're learning in grade school in a collaborative rather than competitive setting

I was in a special ed classroom exactly like this for two years. It saved my life. Watching this now, I remember so many of the techniques, my little cubical, and sprawling on the floor with the entire class for group activities. I was an emotional mess when I went in. I wouldn't smile anymore, and seldom talked. My mother asked me what I did on my first day. I cried and said they gave me clay to play with. I wanted to know why they put me back in kindergarten. By the time I left, and I didn't want to, I had learned to smile again.

My daughter had learning disability and the teachers took care of her until she went to high school, she’s fine now and she’s in college, now!!! They did a really great job !!! May God bless them!!! 🙏🏽🙏🏽

I suffered from undiagnosed attention deficit up until the age of 10. I'm so glad my parents paid attention to a teacher's recommendation and I was able to get the help I needed to progress in school. Now I'm in my second year of university and I fear that this wouldn't have been possible without a proper diagnosis.

The amount of help wee Blake gets here looks impressive. My daughter has moderate dyslexia, and trying to get her help was exhausting, this was in Glasgow in the 2010's BTW. She had speech therapy too, around 4 or 5. Didn't seem to hold her back thou, she got an A in higher English, and managed to get a place in university.

There was a big leap in understanding helping learning disabled kids in the 1960s. Teaching skills in this area are far more advanced for helping learning disabled children these days. School funding is lacking these days and often schools don’t offer “ special” classes. Nutritional support like even getting prescribed doses of cod liver oil, b vitamins and d3 also help neurologically. Interesting historical video.

I already got stressed out when the teacher started making the list. Does anyone else need to visualize the list in their head or repeat it to themself to remember?

I'm 58 years old now. I was diagnosed with epilepsy when I was 3, and shortly after that I was diagnosed with mirror dyslexia. Thank God that I had some amazing women who worked with me on the dyslexia! (And this was in the mid 60's) By the time I started school I was reading as a second grader. Now I even do crosswords!

Seeing these children with learning disabilities is eye-opening and thought provoking. I say this as a guy with autism who is dating a gorgeous girl with ADHD.

Omg I am Blake. I’m dyslexic and have all the same issues when I was in school. I have learned many skills to help me with my dyslexia.

I wonder how blake is doing. I hope hes had a fulfilling life

I remember being asked these questions and doing some of these tests. Man It made me so anxious hearing these again, especially the lists. I remember feeling like a failure when I couldn't relay what I heard.

As a mother of special needs son this is exactly what we need more of the humanity has been taken away. He'd talking to that boy heart to heart. 😢❤❤❤