A S (Gus) Griffin

I have been thoroughly enjoying monitoring this site for a few weeks now - you're a fine bunch of people - and I very much like the freedom you exercise here (most sites seem to have their self-appointed Consistency Police that just make things boring.)  I haven't contributed much because I'm not homeschooling myself - my three girls are grown - but I would like to make a comment on recent postings in which various diagnoses of child disorders have been mentioned.
 
I really do recommend to those parents that you get hold of A S Neill's books which are not just about free-schooling, but also about child-rearing.  When the environment is right, the majority of these disorders unravel of their own accord.  To label them and address them directly is to some degree to reinforce them.
 
I don't underestimate the help it can be to finally have a label for what is going on, but there is a downside to that which should be taken into account.  In my attitudinal training business, I work with kids from time to time - and get great results at undoing these conditions the psychs and medicos would have us believe are genetic, must be treated with drugs, etc.  In my experience, the only box a child should ever be put in is one that can be instantly demolished. 
 
By that I mean the diagnosis should immediately lead to a resolution of the problem, or the diagnosis is not to be trusted, no matter how "logical" it may sound or how "close" it may fit. 
 
Of course, the other type of box that can be instantly demolished is of the cardboard variety - I thoroughly recommend them for children too.
 
Gus