<p>I, for one, am not going to pay attention to someone who blows in with screaming rants that fling wild accusations in all directions and makes accusations against other posters with no basis in fact.</p>
<p>My kid, for what it’s worth, also had kids in his class who had Downs, autism, Tourette’s, cerebral palsy, Asperger’s, and other disorders that I cannot identify (possibly traumatic head injury, for example). Some of those children–the Downs and Asperger’s kids, for example–remained in the system throughout HS, some did not. I don’t think that it is unusual in public schools these days.</p>
<p>These threads always end up with students who have disabilities in their own lives, or often their parents, versus those who don’t, and vice-versa. It is too bad that it becomes so polarized. </p>
<p>Many comments made by the posters who do not have these issues in their families, can be triggers for those who do, in ways that the latter do not understand, even if well-intentioned in the first place. The level of emotion can be high for those who are dealing with the pain of these issues, and that intensity can also be misunderstood by others. </p>
<p>It is not a perfect world and people don’t understand each other. I think this thread should stop: it is getting too ugly.</p>
<p>You are undoubtedly right, compmom. Of course, there is no way for anyone to know whether the rest of us have mental illness issues in our families, since we haven’t shared that. (I would be willing to bet big $$ that some of us do.) [edit: some of us have] We only know that one person a) has a child on the spectrum, and b) insists that when people are talking about the onset of bipolar disease, schizophrenia, or acute depression they are actually talking about spectrum issues. </p>
<p>But this is a discussion forum, and people can learn from those with different experiences. I find it sad that one person can derail that. How many other subjects are going to become taboo because a person has that issue in their life? </p>
<p>Certainly I’ve seen cafe threads that become screaming matches between people with polarized points of view on issues such as race. There are obvious racist ■■■■■■ who delight in provoking others. </p>
<p>But I don’t think that this thread has that type of participant.</p>
<p>We homeschooled our kids and that’s a pretty contentious area. The discussions that I have with other homeschoolers are quite different than those that I have with academics, those in the education industry and legislators. You have to use reasoned arguments, research, facts, etc. to influence others and you have to do it in a respectful way. You also have to figure out where others get their buttons pushed and whether or not you want to do that. In general, it’s best to try to abstract out the emotion if you want to make general arguments.</p>
<p>As a college senior I just thought I’d throw in this little tidbit of info in this discussion. I have been to my college’s counseling services office to try to make an appointment to see one of the 6 or 7 psychologists to talk about certain things that were bothering me and I couldn’t get an appointment. I’ve tried to get an appointment on 4 separate occasions and each time the secretary told me that they were booked up for months. So apparently everyone at my school is so troubled that its impossible to even get an appointment to talk to someone… I think thats a bad sign.</p>
<p>You might try contacting the head of the center to ask them to add staffing or contract services. You might also see if your parents’ have behavioral coverage that extends to you to see if you could see someone outside your college plan.</p>
<p>Haha, thats ok its really not that big of a deal, I can cope. Plus my parents don’t have any health insurance and I’m only covered under the school plan so thats a no-go. If I contacted whoever is in charge of staffing psychologists I’m sure they’d laugh at me or yell at me for an hour about how they don’t have the money for that and it’s not their problem to begin with that I have problems. I just thought it was alarming that so many people are in need of those services that its impossible to get an appointment. I feel it is an indication of a larger problem within our college community (and possibly many others)</p>
<p>Same situation at my school this semester (and I used them last year so I can definitely compare). We have great services but they were completely overwhelmed this fall.</p>
<p>I feel it is an indication of a larger problem within our college community (and possibly many others)</p>
<p>It would certainly seem so. It’s also possible that many colleges are making cutbacks in services based on the economic circumstances. Definitely a shame.
I wouldn’t give up though, KLP. Make an appointment now even if it’s two months from now. Time goes by quickly, but our issues sometimes persist. You can always cancel if you no longer want the appointment when the week arrives.</p>