We all have quirks and foibles - they are what makes us individuals, gives us our personalities, entertains our friends, irritates our partners, makes us interesting, makes us boring, makes us loveable, likeable or hateable - defines who we are.
Society today is obsessed with labelling people - we need to fit in a box, with the correct codes so that we can be entered into the system that never used to be such a big a deal, but is now the only deal - new labels are being invented everyday, many of which are really negative and, in my view, not helpful.
I'm quite sure both of my sons would have been "diagnosed" with so called conditions - the eldest with ADHD since he never could sit still for two minutes, was easily distracted, poor concentration skills etc ..... he was never problematic to us and I would never have wanted him to have a label which might undermine his confidence, or give him a perceived licence to behave badly and then blame it on his "condition". As a result, whilst his school reports didn't make enjoyable reading from a parent perspective, he was very sporty, very popular, very well liked and actually a lovely kid. As an adult he has worked hard to get where he is in his professional life, he has loads of friends, travels the world, has a great social life and I am incredibly proud of him.
My youngest definitely has OCD traits - has to touch whatever he touches with both hands, has to "file" all his DVDs Comp games etc in alphabetical order, as a one year old all his thomas tank engine trains had to be lined up in number order, go into the box in number order, and out of the box in number order or he'd have a complete paddy; he can focus only on one thing at a time and it becomes an obsession .... he's quirky. A little odd at times, but there's nothing wrong with him, he doesn't need a label, he's in his 3rd year at uni and on track for a good degree, has loads of friends, a great social life, lovely girlfriend etc.
Had either of them been labelled as children I think it would have been extremely unhelpful.
We never had kids with conditions at school when I was young - you had good kids, naughty kids, lively kids, quiet kids, shy kids, aggressive kids, timid kids, funny kids, boring kids, clever kids, thick kids ..... they were just kids. All different, all with value in their own right.
Today's thinking is that all kids should reach the same levels of achievement at the same ages - and if they don't we have to find a reason for it. We can't just accept that people are different. Of course we need the clever kids who will grow up to be scientists and doctors and inventors, the academics who will teach future generations - but we also need the kids who are not academic, they have value too and we should embrace that - we will always need people to go into manual labour, the country would fall apart without farmers, builders, road workers, bin men etc, and yet schools are telling kids they must get an A* in Latin or they can't justify their place on the planet.
Sorry ...... think I just stumbled across a soapbox ..... must be my OCD kicking in
