Only A Lad
by Duane Sharrock
Although it is true that most observable behaviors are learned, a lot of times, it seems that educators use this expression “learned behavior” to distinguish intentional behaviors that were encouraged (or allowed) in their challenging students from those behaviors that are driven by developmental disorders, emotional disabilities, or mental illness. It’s a way to blame parents and previous teachers.
The world of motivation and intentionality is murky. Most of us don’t really understand the various ways that motivation, intentionality, beliefs, needs, and habits are intertwined. School psychologists and other clinicians understand that what we see is not usually enough to identify any of these intentions, beliefs, needs, or other. Instead, observations are included in assessments, but so is the collection of family history, an interview with the student, as well as formal standardized tests. Critically analyzing this information while combining them into a whole narrative can help answer some questions while opening up new questions.
Take laziness.
The average person will “diagnose” a person with laziness whenever they see that person leaves work areas disorganized, refuses to re-read passages they need to know for a writing assignment, quits practicing drills and exercises before mastery is attained, etc. With that “diagnosis” or label, we might dismiss the person’s lack of successful performance with lack of parenting. Educators might believe that if the parent had assigned their child weekly chores or didn’t “allow” the kid to quit tasks before they were completed, then the kid would have learned a good work ethic. Or if the previous teacher was more conscientious, the student would have learned that incomplete tasks were unacceptable. However, effort is subjective and few people can recognize the difference between overacting exhaustion from true exertions of will, attention, and focus. Instead, they will dismiss the superhuman effort someone with depression might need to exert in order to wake up on time, get dressed, and get to school. They will dismiss the struggles of responding to a teacher’s question when the child’s language processing speed is “slow.” They might dismiss the levels of willpower exerted when someone with ADD/ADHD stays on task just as long as neurotypical students.
I really only learned this from watching a video clip back when I was enrolled in a teacher training program. The video clip was from FAT City: How Hard Can This Be by Richard Lavoie. "F.A.T. stands for Frustration, Anxiety, and Tension — and that's exactly what the participants experience. This workshop and video provide teachers, parents, caregivers, and siblings with the opportunity actually to experience the emotions and stresses that children with learning disabilities face daily. By using simulations and contrived activities as models (for example, telling a story without using any words that contain the letter N), the participants temporarily experience the frustration, anxiety, and tension that is the lifestyle of students with special needs." (from the description). You can see some of the workshop video clips on YouTube.
Being a science fiction fan, I also saw this from the other side in a TV series called Alphas.
Marcus Ayers is an “alpha”, a person with unusual mental or physical ability, people whom Dr. Lee Rosen has dedicated his life to discover, study, and guide.
“Marcus possesses powerful calculative abilities allowing him to manipulate cause and effect. He can cause massive changes in any environment or system with little to no effort by simply examining it and understanding the effect his actions and the actions of others will take. He can calculate multiple variables of dozens of factors applying them all to any given situation as seen when he escaped from a moving ambulance on a highway calculating the speed of the ambulance, the trajectory of the pick up truck behind them carrying metal rods and the angle of an oxygen tank within the ambulance setting his escape into motion with the simple flip of a quarter. Marcus can also examine human behavior as well as events and therefore understand how people will react when placed in a certain situation predicting a multitude of scenarios and manipulating events to achieve his desired outcome. Marcus's ability makes him one of the most dangerous alphas in the series. He is capable of setting complex plans into motion planning as he himself states "20 moves ahead". His ability causes him to become paranoid and isolated from others as he understands cause and effect in a way no one else does and therefore cannot understand why others make mistakes and assumes malicious intent.” https://alphas.wikia.com/wiki/Marcus_Ayers
Think about this description though. Think of the processing speeds and the ability to simulations in his head apparently without effort. But especially, look at how this has affected him and his ability to socialize. “His ability causes him to become paranoid and isolated from others as he understands cause and effect in a way no one else does and therefore cannot understand why others make mistakes and assumes malicious intent.” In other words, he thinks everyone thinks like him. There are no accidents in his world and no misinterpretations or mistakes.
It took Marcus numerous conversations and sessions with Dr. Rosen before Marus could even come close to understanding how unique he is and how much slower and oblivious most other people are. He has come a long way since the reason he was placed in Dr. Rosen’s care because he thought an accident was intentional. Imagine how neurotypicals might view slower, less knowledgeable, less skilled people.
Teachers need this training. They need to experience the frustration, anxiety, and tension that students with “invisible disabilities” experience when trying to keep up with their classmates and colleagues. I benefited from this video, and I am more careful and more patient. Regrettably, I do not have the patience of a saint.
Resources:
Alphas: Alphas Wiki https://alphas.wikia.com/wiki/Alphas
How Hard This Be https://teacher.scholastic.com/professional/specialneeds/howhard.htm