Ellen Walker spoke dispassionately about her 8 –year –old son Teddy’s many problems. “He has learning disabilities and an inability to interact with classmates. He’s disorganized. He doesn’t listen. Every day is a string of arguments, tears, melt downs. I’m afraid he’s profoundly handicapped,” Mrs. Walker concluded. It was a somber picture that she painted. […]
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Sharing Stories by Meryl Lipton
Moments Away
The little girl sitting on the consulting room table, Sara Miller, was solemn and plump, with brown hair cut in bangs. She and her mom, who looked a lot like her, were from a rural community about two hours away, referred by their local G.P.to the neurology clinic where I was doing my training. Because […]
Read more »Found Out
Richard Drake, the father of my nine-year-old patient James, shifted irritably in his seat, as if the diagnosis I had just mentioned in relation to his son, Attention Deficit Disorder, was something the parent just couldn’t sit still for. “That makes no sense to me,” Mr. Drake burst out. “I know James has a problem. […]
Read more »Can You Repeat That?
Recently my friend Sandra told me about her son Nate’s first day of kindergarten. She had done everything she could think of to prepare him. I had talked to her about gradually familiarizing him with the experience. They could begin by walking past the school and talking about what it would be like to go […]
Read more »“I Get By with a Little Help From My Friends”
I’ve known Greg since he was a stocky third-grader with brown hair cut in bangs across his forehead. He was a cheerful, outgoing, talkative kid who had an unfailingly positive attitude despite the fact that he lost or forgot almost everything—coat, homework, library books, soccer shoes. He was always the child who didn’t have a […]
Read more »Summer at Its Best
Recently I asked one of my young patients, “So how many days til the end of school? “Fourteen and a half,” he said instantly. Many of the kids I treat really do count the days. The effort to produce academically when there’s a difficulty with learning or regulating behavior can push children to the […]
Read more »The Feeling is Mutual
My job has many parts. Some things I have to do, some I look forward to, but seeing my young patients—that’s like dessert. Or it’s like falling in love: completely wholehearted. A little girl comes in and everything about her—her bravery or her fear, her sweetness and patience or the anger and frustration she feels because […]
Read more »The Power of Parents
The new year is always a time to think of ways to create positive change. One of the greatest forces for change I’ve seen and been a part of involves parents joining together to help their children with learning differences. Many years ago my first job was at a public school in Marin County where […]
Read more »Meaningful Holidays
There is a natural human impulse to make certain times special. How and what we celebrate is part of what gives us our identity. And yet, when I think of children like Alicia, who’s 11, I sometimes wish there were no holidays. Alicia has anxiety disorder and she needs a lot of structure in her […]
Read more »Partners in Treatment
Alan Barret, who was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in second grade, had been my patient for five years. In that time, he’d done really well. At 13, he was a stocky, cheerful boy who loved to draw, did well in school, and had good friends. He was particularly close to his brother […]
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