Part of the description of Garrison Keillor’s Lake Woebegon is that “all the children are above average.” Like a lot of jokes there’s truth to it: no child is merely “average.” Each is unique, with problems to overcome and strengths to develop. But when grades are calculated, there are indeed students who spend an […]
Sam Sr. is running about forty minutes behind. He has a meeting at nine, but he’s half dressed and has gotten interested in fixing the fax machine. Sam Jr. is hopping around in his pajamas and one sock. The water is running in his bathroom because he was going to brush his teeth, but […]
When I think of the quintessential good sport, I think of Uri, the child of friends of mine who are both musicians. Uri grew up playing violin and piano, and even though he is wiry and small, he’s a fast runner and an exceptional soccer player. He has always competed—athletically and musically—and I suddenly […]
What a difference one true friend can make. And how lonely life can feel without one.
“Abbie is a complete puzzle to me,” her mother, Julia Mason, confided. “Last year, in first grade, she had a meltdown at the class Halloween party. She wouldn’t talk to anybody. She stared at the floor. Finally she just went out and sat on the stairs and when people tried to get by her, […]
The 3rd grade teacher, Mrs. Sweeney*, held out the vocabulary assignment that Francie Baker’s mother had seen her daughter do two weeks before. “I found it blowing across the playground,” Mrs. Sweeney said. “Francie said it must have fallen out of her pocket when she was upside down on the jungle gym. It’s one more […]
When I think of the difference mothers make in the lives of their children, I think first of Alessandra Arimany—a fiery, bright, determined woman who swept into my office with her arms full of charts and paperwork. She explained that her child had a problem, and in Guatemala, where she was from, people who […]
I have had patients who are lucky in life; handsome, bright, good at their jobs, wealthy and well-loved. But I think of success as something different, something that is the product of hard work and also self-knowledge. By that measure, I’d have to say Stewart is the most successful kid I know. He was 9 […]
Usually I write about problems that I’ve helped kids solve, but the outcome of the following case is still in doubt. Peter, the child involved, is a young man of 17 with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. He’s got a lot of the usual signs. He can’t do homework without a TV or music blaring, he […]
“I need to talk to you about my daughter Audrey,” Cindy said. She was a petite blonde woman, beautifully dressed, who was clearly making an effort to remain calm and cheerful. My son Robert, who’s 5, is autistic,” she said. “He can’t tolerate loud noises, or being touched or any change in routine. I […]
