YT YouTube2Text

YouTube2Text → Transcripts → Misunderstood Minds 2002 PBS Broadcast

Misunderstood Minds 2002 PBS Broadcast — Transcript

by Joe’s Video Archives · 12,863 words · 1,987 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

Open in transcriber Summarize with AI Download SRT/VTT

Full transcript

0:03[Music]
0:09school years the time of childhood
0:12excitements and promise but for many the
0:15hardest time in life people were telling
0:18me that I was Dumb and I couldn't do
0:21anything correctly I felt embarrassed at
0:24sometimes why can't I read I'll know the
0:26answer but then when I say it it won't
0:28come out the way I was thinking it's
0:29just hard you just keep trying and
0:31trying and trying and you just you get
0:34tired doing it for one in five Americans
0:37learning is a special
0:38struggle a struggle that often has
0:41serious
0:43consequences I can't take this anymore
0:45and when he said I just shouldn't be
0:47alive I said this child does not have to
0:49go through
0:51this tonight A deeply personal look
0:55inside five American families trying to
0:58solve the puzzling Mysteries of their
1:00children's misunderstood
1:02[Music]
1:06Minds funding for misunderstood Minds is
1:09provided in part by Schwab learning a
1:11service of the Charles and Helen Schwab
1:13Foundation dedicated to helping kids
1:15with learning
1:17differences and by Exxon Mobile because
1:21we value Creative Energy in all its
1:27forms the Spencer t and an W Olan
1:31Foundation dedicated to improving
1:33education and the
1:38environment the Emily Hall train
1:41Foundation supporting Innovation and
1:43diversity in the Arts environment and
1:46[Music]
1:48learning the Roberts Foundation
1:51providing learning opportunities for
1:53disadvantaged Children and Youth and the
1:56Geraldine R Dodge Foundation supporting
1:58educational cultural and environmental
2:02initiatives and now misunderstood Minds
2:06with Chris
2:07buy learning disability a diagnosis that
2:11fills any parent with Dread at one time
2:15it meant you had a lost child and no
2:17clear means of
2:19rescue I know one of my own children has
2:22struggled with a serious learning
2:24problem it seemed the best worried
2:26parents could do was hold our breath and
2:29Hope that somehow our child got through
2:32school now that has changed thanks to a
2:35comprehensive new approach learning
2:37Specialists have figured out something
2:38quite profound yet simple each of us
2:41thinks and learns differently sometimes
2:43with dramatic consequences and research
2:46is zeroing in on precisely what's
2:49happening with those of our children who
2:51have trouble in school now teachers and
2:54parents have more strategies to help
2:57tonight we're going to meet five
2:58families who have led us follow them
3:00through this journey for the last 3
3:02years we begin with the story of a
3:05bright articulate little boy who
3:07everybody figured would own the world
3:09one
3:10[Music]
3:12day Nathan van Hoy lives near Raleigh
3:15North Carolina all boy running playing
3:20imitating laughing giggling playing with
3:22the dog wrestling with the dog riding
3:24the
3:26dog they say you can either dial on the
3:28field or die in the bleachers and he'll
3:30always be on the field that's Nathan
3:32he's always going to jump in take part
3:35and Nathan's parents were determined to
3:37give him just the right head start
3:40Nathan had had a lot of experiences with
3:44museums and traveling and a lot of
3:48opportunities that made him very worldly
3:50um his communication skills were far
3:54ahead of the other
3:57children he was a leader among his
3:59friends and a standout athlete okay so
4:02we'll get Ryan to kick it into us we
4:04block and Nathan loved to read his
4:07parents had little doubt that in school
4:09their son would be a stalk put the plan
4:12in
4:15AC then his first grade teacher called
4:19the first week of school he didn't know
4:20the alphabet his phonics just wasn't
4:23there and while I worked with him and
4:26worked with him and worked with him it
4:28just he couldn't hear the sounds Nathan
4:32the boy who said he loved books couldn't
4:34really read his parents couldn't believe
4:38it how could this be how can we not do
4:40Basics if we can do overachievement kind
4:44of things and I think it's probably the
4:46hardest thing any parent can hear is
4:49that your child's not average when of
4:52course you think that they're maybe even
4:54um
4:56exceptional yeah go ahead get out the
4:58field but deep down inside Nathan knew
5:02something was not right it's just hard
5:06you just keep trying and trying and
5:08trying and you just you get tired doing
5:12it Nathan was already aware that he was
5:15not reading on the same level that his
5:18peers were he was very concerned with
5:22being judged or being held to the same
5:25standards that his peers
5:27are eventually the school tested Nathan
5:31the results were
5:33shocking we were profoundly deficient we
5:37were like belows and it was very hard to
5:40understand how he could express himself
5:43and be so articulate and yet score so
5:47low on the test and I guess I sort of
5:49took it um as a grain of salt
5:52because here was a highly function
5:55functional child who couldn't possibly
5:57be it had to be
6:00he was tired that day they tested him in
6:02an uncomfortable area there was a
6:04stranger that came in and tested him and
6:06he didn't know just all these things
6:08that could contribute to the low scores
6:10but they sound like they could be
6:12excuses as well well I'm the mom it
6:16wasn't what I wanted to
6:19hear but it was a wakeup call Lois
6:24decided to take a closer
6:26look I would sit beside him on the couch
6:28and he would be reading up storm and I
6:31stopped and I looked at him and his eyes
6:34were not in the book but into this next
6:37room he had memorized the entire
6:42book it was a startling Revelation this
6:46child was able to camouflage his
6:48deficiency by marshalling an innate
6:51strength
6:55memorizing by now his parents knew they
6:57had a real problem and they reacted as
7:00most parents do with the containment
7:03response they would try to control
7:05Nathan's Problem by reaching for the
7:07nearest available
7:09remedy and in his case that meant
7:12accepting the school's prescription
7:14Nathan would have to repeat the first
7:18grade to his ego was it was very very
7:21difficult uh there were several times
7:23when we would see people out and they'd
7:25say uh Nathan how old are you what grade
7:27are you in and he would say I'm in
7:30second grade when he knew he was still
7:32in
7:34first Nathan got through the first grade
7:37this time and his mom hired a tutor to
7:40prepare him for the second grade two
7:43weeks before school started Nathan knew
7:46what he needed to know according to the
7:48tutor did great knew 300 sight words
7:52everything he needed to do to start
7:53second
7:57grade N9 weeks into second grade
8:00my child can't read my child can't do
8:04single and double digit math addition
8:06and
8:06subtraction I'm like how did he forget
8:10this in nine
8:11weeks Nathan in truth Nathan had not
8:16really been succeeding he had called
8:18upon his primary coping skill
8:21memorization to make his way through the
8:23familiar work of the first grade and the
8:25early weeks of the
8:27second but when he encountered new
8:29material he just could not do
8:35it Nathan's parents now knew it was time
8:38to move Beyond mere
8:42containment at the University of North
8:44Carolina Medical School is one of the
8:46nation's leading medical experts on
8:48learning problems professor of
8:50Pediatrics Mel
8:53LaVine can Dr LaVine founded all kinds
8:56of Minds to investigate the way the wire
8:59in of the brain affects a child's
9:01ability to learn that has the word Cor
9:03in it open your mouth and stick your
9:06tongue out try to stay like that till I
9:08tell you to stop Dr LaVine has come to
9:11believe merely testing for add or
9:14dyslexia is not enough and unnecessarily
9:17labels kids we're going to all go get
9:19some coffee you just stay like that for
9:22we're going to play catch with this
9:24little squ his complex testing is
9:26designed to identify very specific
9:28neurolog iCal weaknesses as well as
9:31strengths that was
9:34excellent I'm going to show you some
9:36patterns with my
9:37fingers in 33 different tasks Dr LaVine
9:41looks for Clues to how Nathan's brain is
9:44wired
9:46[Music]
9:57jar in Time Dr LaVine zero in on
10:01Nathan's areas of weakness and then I'd
10:03say three now I have a really
10:06interesting game is a rhyming game so
10:09I'll give you a word
10:12hot hate mhm is that rhyme with hot mhm
10:17okay what
10:19else Nathan's trouble with rhyming
10:22indicates a problem with something
10:24called phonemic awareness does mate
10:27rhyme with hot how about God it's an
10:30innate ability to distinguish among the
10:32different sounds that together create
10:35words inp phic awareness it's just this
10:38sensitivity that most kids have that you
10:41can take a word like dog and break it
10:43into three sounds
10:45dug is dog doesn't that sound
10:49simple it it's almost not worth saying
10:52it sounds so simple and it is completely
10:54completely elusive to a group of kids
10:57who are going to go on and have Big
10:59League problems learning to read Buffy
11:03kissed
11:05me over
11:13Buffy what' he do first he
11:17kissed if it was Kiss C if we watch
11:20Nathan you'll see he's putting so much
11:22energy into pulling the print off the
11:24page literally glued to the print or
11:26guessing that it takes too much time for
11:29him to figure out how what he just read
11:31in fact relates to what he already knows
11:34so his comprehension is
11:35nil these early difficulties portend not
11:39only difficulties in writing
11:41difficulties in understanding content I
11:45can but critical self-esteem issues that
11:48fall much more rapidly than we ever
11:50thought what's surprising to Mom and Dad
11:53and teachers who don't understand this
11:55is that he'll carry on a brilliant
11:57conversation with you all day long you
12:00think that's the reason they ran away
12:01yeah they get so you won't see it in
12:04oral language and in fact the youngsters
12:07will impress you many times because they
12:09are very articulate they are very iodite
12:12and uh it's only when they're confronted
12:14with the written language that it will
12:16begin to show up you remember they were
12:18chasing
12:19Chas let's cover this what happened
12:22after by the end of the first grade we
12:23can watch youngsters like Nathan begin
12:25to avoid and Escape reading and many
12:29kids will actually begin to look like
12:30they have attentional difficulties
12:32because of that they'll respond to the
12:34teacher's questions impulsively or
12:36they'll be distracted easily or they'll
12:38come off the task not because they have
12:40attentional difficulties per se but
12:43because they're trying to get away from
12:44something extremely
12:47painful I so Nathan's parents feel they
12:52have an answer a tiny quirk in Nathan's
12:54mental wiring has completely Tangled his
12:57ability to learn very
13:03much when we return to Nathan's story
13:06we'll watch his parents discover that
13:07sorting out that tangle will be more of
13:10a challenge than they would ever have
13:12guessed but first let's meet a young
13:14girl from Southern California whose mind
13:17poses another perplexing
13:20[Music]
13:27mystery 11-year-old Lauren Smith is
13:30creative and
13:31bright and at times more than a little
13:34exasperating to her
13:37parents oh Lord she Doles Mike describes
13:40her as the only person he knows who can
13:43be taking a shower and forget what she's
13:44doing you know and so she'll be in the
13:48midst of whatever she's supposed to be
13:50doing and she's a Million Miles Away
13:55Lauren time to get up H the mind just
13:58wanders constantly Lauren your waffles
14:00are almost ready I just pretty much Goof
14:03Off the entire morning make everything
14:05take
14:06time that didn't need to take
14:11time what are you doing at school today
14:14I don't know let's say I need to do
14:17homework I draw a picture or I dust my
14:22desk or with paintbrushes anything I
14:24could do besides hm I do firstday
14:31I went back and reread her report cards
14:33to see how her teacher saw
14:35her it was things like doesn't complete
14:39her work talks out of turn or carries on
14:42conversations with her neighbor I was
14:45thinking there was a problem with me and
14:49I was doing things wrong cuz that was
14:51what people were telling me at school
14:54that I was Dumb and I couldn't do
14:56anything correctly and Laur man where's
15:00your lunch
15:04box Thursday I I said it there all right
15:08I'm going to go check the car okay okay
15:11I was
15:12unpopular and I was quite
15:15lonely not many friends people they say
15:19that they want to be my friends but they
15:21sure don't act like
15:23[Music]
15:27it there was one particularly
15:30heartbreaking episode in first
15:32grade there was a little girl who made
15:34her a promise Lauren would be taken to
15:38Disney World if Lauren did all the
15:42things that this little girl told her
15:43she had to
15:44do the bargain included never playing
15:48with any other children and through the
15:50first grade Lauren actually kept it I
15:54found out she took a couple of friends
15:57to Disney World and I wasn't inv
15:59and it really made me feel bad what's it
16:02like to have no real
16:04friends not fun at all
16:07it's quite bad and it's no fun cuz if
16:13you don't have any friends then you
16:15can't really do much in life and you
16:18start thinking what's the point in life
16:19if you don't have many
16:24friends I didn't get there yet but thank
16:27goodness
16:32amazingly Lauren's social problems were
16:35in fact a vital clue to the nature of
16:37her learning
16:39problems it's a kind of reading
16:42problem just as you may not be able to
16:45read a sentence and read it the way
16:47other kids do you may not be able to
16:49read a social scene you may not be able
16:51to see that child is talking to that
16:54child so I shouldn't interrupt you may
16:56simply see that child and say oh I want
16:58to tell that child something cuz I like
16:59that person and you may barge right into
17:01the conversation what's that that's the
17:04exact same thing except in a when Dr
17:06LaVine visited Lauren he was not
17:08surprised that she was so disorganized
17:11this generally the way you organize your
17:13notebook this is now I'm interested in
17:16better than my other notebook it is this
17:18is one of your best notebooks yeah
17:20Lauren's notebook is a mishmash of
17:23unnecessary junk and original poetry I
17:27would look at a poem and and uh it was
17:29wonderful creative just wonderful
17:33perceptive poem reflecting the
17:35sensitivity and freedom of her thinking
17:38and then we'd turn to another page and
17:40there'd be a crumpled up piece of paper
17:42there and this is how do we classify
17:44this trash trash okay she wasn't able to
17:47differentiate between trash and
17:50masterpieces trash right along side of
17:53all of these traits is a little girl
17:55who's incredibly creative fanciful and
18:01eccentric the question is how do we help
18:03her get her act together without
18:05changing her very
18:07[Music]
18:08much this new approach to learning
18:11differences has an answer for Lauren
18:14that is surprising in its Simplicity
18:16Lauren needs a kind of focus
18:19coach someone who just like a football
18:23coach coaches you to do this do that
18:25someone to say those pieces of paper
18:26that's trash those pieces of paper
18:28that's notes you know let's separate
18:30those two let's reorganize this and
18:32literally culture uh academically also
18:35socially that group of friends you know
18:37when you go into that group don't walk
18:39in talking uh first go in listen make
18:42eye contact and then bring up what you
18:44have to say so you can coach socially as
18:46well as you coach academically and Coach
18:49organizationally you're obviously bright
18:52you're very capable but learning how to
18:54focus is only part of the answer Dr Skip
18:58Baker is convinced that before Lauren
19:00can truly learn a flaw in her brain
19:03chemistry needs to be addressed what I'd
19:06like to do is to go over with you the
19:08first two toas that we did he explains
19:11how the brain's chemistry Works has to
19:13work with our brain remember it's only
19:14the front part of the brain right above
19:16the eyes that has to do with your
19:17concentration it's not the whole brain a
19:19chemical in the brain dopamine
19:21stimulates nerves that sustain attention
19:24now that people are built with
19:26differences in the way that dopamine
19:28transmission works works either you
19:30don't have enough you have different
19:31receptors over here that aren't working
19:33very well Dr Baker believes that in
19:35Lauren's brain the dopamine delivery
19:38system isn't working properly so her
19:40concentration lapses much more quickly
19:43and their nerve Pathways that go right
19:45to that part he believes that Lauren's
19:47dopamine can be recharged and her Focus
19:49restored if she takes a stimulant
19:52medication such as riddlin parts of the
19:54brain are energized by different nerve
19:56pth my suspicion is on the basis of
19:58experience I think it's going to turn
19:59her around and make things so much
20:00easier for her this is the Tova test
20:04that we did with the single dose of Rin
20:07there was almost a two standard
20:08deviation jump in auditory processing in
20:12association with the Ridin that's a
20:14dramatic dramatic difference Dr Baker's
20:17recommendation has jolted the family
20:19into a controversy raging Across America
20:23are we raising a generation of
20:25overmedicated kids is the very Bas
20:28Lauren father Mike feels that there must
20:30be other options are the same side
20:32effects noticed when you use caffeine
20:34versus Ridin yeah they absolutely
20:37identical yeah absolutely are being a
20:39parent any foreign substance like a drug
20:43scares the hell out of me
20:45I taking it as an adult I wouldn't see
20:48an issue but something with my baby girl
20:51no I just even though I've read about it
20:53and I understand what it's supposed to
20:54do when Dr Baker has gone through uh
20:57what the benefits are and he's described
21:00basically no
21:03uh side effects still to me it's
21:06somewhat of an unknown and maybe it's
21:08just my ignorance but it it's somewhat
21:10terrifying for
21:12me Lauren 2 is worried about how drugs
21:16will affect her I don't want to be
21:18normal what I don't want to I want to be
21:21normal just I mean I want to be original
21:24also oh okay cuz that's how Einstein was
21:28really he was he wasn't too good in
21:30school but he turned out to be Einstein
21:34right wonderful person um so um maybe
21:36some people who grow up and have very
21:37original
21:38ideas many learning experts now
21:41sympathize with worries about
21:43overprescription of such medicines as
21:46Rin the problem they say is that these
21:49drugs have been misunderstood as a cure
21:51all rather than merely as a
21:55tool is it a cure absolutely not but you
21:59learn compensatory strategies habits
22:02while you're taking the medication that
22:03will carry over to when you're not
22:04taking the medication so it it it by
22:07allowing you to focus better it allows
22:09you to better learn these strategies
22:11that we're trying to teach them I mean
22:14that just makes intuitive sense you know
22:16I mean if you turn up the if you turn on
22:18the lights in the room you can learn
22:20better than trying to learn in the
22:23dark much better yeah Lauren's parents
22:26feel they have found an answer answer to
22:28their child's perplexing mind her
22:31chronic dawling was caused by uneven
22:34brain chemistry but part of the proposed
22:37solution medication still makes them
22:41[Music]
22:44uneasy so Lauren's parents like so many
22:47of us have to struggle with the decision
22:49of whether to medicate their daughter
22:52they wonder if they risk losing the
22:53fanciful and eccentric girl they love
22:56when we return to her story we'll
22:58discover their decision meanwhile Nathan
23:01van Hoy is finishing the second
23:08grade his particular problem phonemic
23:11awareness is still making a tangle of
23:13the learning process
23:15[Music]
23:20he
23:22spit some slime out to Blind our
23:29research shows us that if we don't get
23:30to the kids by about 9 years of age with
23:34strong efficient strategies to help them
23:37understand sound structure the
23:39probability that they will learn to read
23:41is is very
23:44minimal to help him the school wants to
23:47put Nathan in the resource room where he
23:49will be learning with kids of all ages
23:51and abilities from subtle problems like
23:54his own to more severe ones like autism
24:00his mom Lois worries that Nathan whose
24:03social skills are his strength might
24:05feel stigmatized and isolated in a
24:08resource
24:10room the scholarly part of me knows that
24:13these are intelligent people and that
24:15the evaluations they made are
24:19[Music]
24:21appropriate the mom part of me thinks
24:23that it
24:26stinks they're asking me my input how
24:29you know what do I want done
24:32um God do you put your your kid in a
24:34classroom where you know he's going to
24:37fail does he have a chance to succeed in
24:39his other
24:47system in the end Lois decides she has
24:50no better
24:55choice so Nathan's friends go one way
24:59he goes
25:00another something a horse will eat
25:02Nathan um hey hey hey may he had great
25:07gains um he Advanced um almost three
25:10levels in Reading um he's performing on
25:14grade level with his math ray r a y good
25:18he's secure here he's doing well I
25:20couldn't be happier with what he's
25:22achieved do you have any do you have
25:24anything harder yeah anything this is an
25:27example of something he wrote during
25:28Journal time after we got our R but as
25:30winter approaches there are signs of the
25:33familiar failures he looks big when he
25:36is standing up he also reminds me of
25:41Jeff Gordon running around
25:46the running around the
25:50cage just to see where what kind of
25:53Errors he makes Nathan's mom is learning
25:55that her son's tortured progress is
25:58going to involve a series of small gains
26:00and more than a few setbacks he's kind
26:03of reached a plateau and it's it's going
26:07to take that extra effort and that extra
26:09thinking to to go to the next level and
26:12that's kind of what I wrote in my Guided
26:13by advice from learning experts Nathan's
26:16teachers are tackling his problem with
26:18reading and writing by focusing on his
26:21particular way of
26:23learning our o u
26:27t they hope to employ his coping
26:30mechanism his strong memory to attack
26:33his weaknesses record it for me oh you
26:36drilling him with intensive and
26:38repetitive language sounds at school and
26:41at home all right listen to it two more
26:43times and record it one
26:47more I pray every night that Nathan can
26:50be the best he can be and that one day
26:52the light bulb's going to come on and
26:55things will be easy for
26:57him there are days when you think will
27:01it ever
27:03happen but I don't allow myself to think
27:05that it
27:10won't fist fits fish cast good job it's
27:16a year later and Nathan is still in the
27:19resource
27:21room the biggest Improvement is he knows
27:25sounds now he knows how to put sounds
27:27together into words he can manipulate
27:30sounds in words say it fast get ready
27:33fist Nathan's learning problems will
27:35never go away he will learn ways to
27:39compensate which he is beginning to do
27:41at this point he has a lot of support in
27:46his family and his family will make sure
27:50that he gets the right help he needs
27:52shed can not the biggest challenge for
27:56Nathan comes at the end of the fourth
27:58grade when he is required to take a
28:00state-mandated test to move up to the
28:03fifth the success of the test is
28:06measured in 1 2 3 and four with three
28:08and four being acceptable scores you're
28:11told no one ever makes a four that if
28:13you were able to achieve a four on this
28:15end of year writing a test it would be
28:17equivalent to a high school um
28:22performance his mom Lois is extremely
28:25worried but she is also able to get him
28:27a accommodations like dictating his
28:30answers instead of writing
28:33them now she can only wait for the
28:38results the day his test course came
28:41back Mrs Marshall called me and she said
28:43you need to sit down I need to tell you
28:44about Nathan's scores so immediately my
28:47hot heart dropped um thinking you know
28:50oh God this is not
28:53good and she just starts giggling and
28:56she said Nathan has done really well
28:59she said Nathan scored a
29:014.0 on his end of the year writing
29:07test Nathan is one of only four students
29:11in the entire school to have a perfect
29:14score
29:16hike he has proved that he can use his
29:19strengths to overcome his
29:22weaknesses I've learned that in some
29:25parts of your life that you want to quit
29:27when things are
29:29difficult but some way or
29:31another um you'll get over that
29:35obstacle even if it takes you slow slow
29:38like the tortoise and other people are
29:40the hairy and they finish but slowly
29:43you'll get
29:46there his ability to verbalize himself
29:50his Keen memory his attention to detail
29:54scored him the highest score I hate
29:57interceptions
30:00that's success Nathan's in fifth grade
30:03this
30:05[Applause]
30:05[Music]
30:10year Nathan van hoy's struggle to
30:13untangle the basic process of learning
30:15seems Bound for a happy ending now let's
30:18get back to the story of that
30:2011-year-old girl the doddler whose
30:22parents shied away from
30:26Ridin they've decided to avoid
30:28medication and to try instead a brand
30:31new charter school where maybe new
30:33friends and a clean slate will be enough
30:36to help the
30:38problem I feel like the new school is a
30:41better opportunity even without the
30:44[Music]
30:46riddin what happened to the Spanish
30:49everyone hopes Lauren will get off to a
30:51fresh
30:52start the second page you don't need to
30:55look at what is laoka it was the same
30:58thing as it was last week open your
31:00mouth there you go in the first weeks of
31:02school Lauren's parents believe they
31:04have made the right decision this is the
31:07beginning of the fourth week of school
31:09and um she seems certainly to have made
31:11a number of friends she's extremely
31:13excited about what she's doing and the
31:15environment she's in and the new friends
31:17she has so she's on a she's on a real
31:19high skills putting Lauren in a new
31:22environment helps for a while somebody
31:25tell me how we measure the length from
31:26the golf ball from the top of the Bon it
31:28turns out that her new surroundings act
31:31like a substitute stimulant but then the
31:34stimulation wears off and Lauren is no
31:37more focused no more organized than
31:41before the truth comes out in a pivotal
31:44meeting between Lauren her parents and
31:47teachers at her new school you introduce
31:50your folks to what we do in our writing
31:52class so can you explain to them how we
31:55go about constructing writing reading
31:57Journal I'm usually too stuck in the
32:00books to remember to do the
32:03journal it's true and the history
32:06project if I just had information I
32:08would be with the rest of the class but
32:11I just need to get that information so
32:13we should probably go to a library soon
32:15when's it
32:17due um some of the drafts were already
32:21due so you're past due at this point
32:24including the fact that I've asked you
32:25numerous times so many times I can't
32:28even count about this project because
32:32other kids have talked about it why
32:34would you tell me that this is getting
32:35done when it's not it
32:38was so what you thought I just wouldn't
32:41know about it well actually in the class
32:44stuff I was getting stuff done in
32:48class sounds weak you know you could
32:50just see the look come over her face of
32:53oh gosh I I'm caught now because Mom's
32:56here and the teacher's here so she
32:57couldn't tell me one story and tell the
32:59teacher a different story anymore so out
33:01of the three from the balcony the second
33:03floor and the slide which one do you
33:04think's going to have Lauren's parents
33:07now know that her academic difficulties
33:09still linger and that the social
33:12problems have never gone away how many k
33:15would you describe yourself as popular
33:17now um not exactly because I mean I have
33:21lots of friends but that doesn't mean
33:22that I'm
33:25popular there are kids that tend to pick
33:28on her and quite a few actually that
33:30will tease her because she gets
33:32emotional real easy so some kids are
33:34aware of that she doesn't um seem to
33:38have the social skills to give and take
33:42um she can be kind of very um frustrated
33:45when someone doesn't respond to her in
33:47the way that she expects and then she
33:49reacts to that and can be volatile right
33:52back what the heck I was there as far on
33:56the social ladder I would say the lower
34:00end in reality Lauren has made only one
34:04close friend Veronica really good friend
34:08someone I can count on all the time no
34:11matter what even if it means like she
34:14might lose a friend she'd stand up for
34:17me but even that relationship is now in
34:20Jeopardy her very best friend is not
34:24returning to the school and I haven't
34:26had the heart to tell her and how would
34:27would you like me if you didn't have
34:29Veronica in it my life would not be too
34:32wonderful without a friend like
34:34[Music]
34:36Veronica so I expect tears and I don't
34:39blame her I'll probably cry
34:41[Music]
34:50too you guys want to good
34:52jump and you know children will tell you
34:55over and over again that the real
34:57pressure that they experience in school
34:59is social pressure not academic
35:02pressure that when you come home at
35:04night feeling really terrible more often
35:06than not it's a social setback not an
35:08academic setback and I think Lauren is
35:13suffering Lauren is wounded because she
35:16doesn't quite have the social skills
35:18you're going to know whether it's making
35:19a difference or not and what kind of a
35:21difference it's the experiment at a new
35:23environment has been a serious
35:26disappointment so Lauren family revisits
35:28the issue of medication Caff come to
35:31okay Lauren's father is still reluctant
35:34I just see that as uh the pop
35:37culturalists take care of all the kids
35:38with rlin and it I I and I'm I'm
35:41concerned that this condition is not
35:43something that goes away when she
35:44becomes 18 or 28 I mean we're not OB Dr
35:47Baker reminds Lauren's parents that a
35:50medication like rlin is just a tool that
35:52can focus her like turning on the lights
35:55in a room but the rest of the job of
35:58learning will still be up to
36:01her without medication the doctor warns
36:04Lauren may find other ways to turn on
36:07the lights for herself the the best you
36:09could hope for is she's going to smoke
36:11tobacco as opposed that's probably the
36:13best as opposed to pot alcohol cocaine
36:19every single illegal drug that people
36:21use except for
36:23hallucinogens raises the dopamine levels
36:26in the frontal loes that's what it does
36:28it makes those part of the brain fire
36:30better now that doesn't necessarily mean
36:32with your family environment and
36:33everything else that that would happen
36:35but we do know if you're deficient in
36:37these things that you're a greater risk
36:38than if you're not that gets Mike
36:41Smith's
36:42attention now finally he is ready to
36:45take the leap that um I I I'm not uh
36:49adverse to trying something and I'd also
36:51like to
36:54get
36:56nice
36:58one year later Lauren is in 8ighth grade
37:01she wears a watch and carries a datebook
37:04to help keep her
37:05organized the adults in her life have
37:07also learned new ways to help her Focus
37:10that's it Lauren go go go
37:14go and Lauren and her doctor have
37:16settled on the right medication for her
37:19a new time relase
37:22stimulant so we tried it and you know
37:25she didn't grow horns or anything so we
37:26were without well let's let's keep keep
37:28the course let's see what kind of trend
37:31she has in terms of homework and being a
37:33social kid and things like that Lauren
37:36that's your ball go and it just turned
37:38out
37:39okay I wish we had done it sooner
37:43now within a period of about 1 month
37:47became very apparent that their daughter
37:48was functioning totally differently she
37:50started to improve uh getting homework
37:52done she started better listening within
37:54a period of about 6 weeks we started to
37:56see some social changes she started
37:59interacting better she was saying she
38:00wasn't being left out as much she was
38:02making more
38:03friends her grade started to go up oh I
38:07like those the and buns those are so
38:09cute know when I take the medicine I
38:12just automatically think before I do
38:15something I guess it just makes me think
38:18faster I don't know just it's not like
38:22it really changes me it just like Tunes
38:24me up a
38:25little it's something $25 for like a
38:29skirt my friend Brooke would like this
38:31I'm not super popular but I'm not like
38:35not
38:36popular my friends are really great
38:39they're nice and kind to
38:42everyone they're really really
38:47nice I know the whole family's stress
38:50over her struggles has decreased
38:53dramatically because they didn't know
38:54what to do and how to help her um this
38:57isn't just the person who starts to do
38:59well but it's the whole family that
39:00starts to do better when they don't
39:01worry so much 90% of the time I can tell
39:04if she's forgotten to take her
39:05medication it's just a much smoother
39:08life together when she's taking her
39:09medications and she feels better because
39:11she's a happier person you I mean you
39:12can see it in her face when she's taking
39:15the
39:16medication probably used some it's like
39:19oh uh I'll get it back to you but that's
39:20all right I believe in my mom TR her I
39:24seriously need to go in the store and go
39:26shopping it's pretty
39:28[Music]
39:35yeah but now just to show you how
39:38complicated these learning problems can
39:40be here's a story that is the flip side
39:43of Laurens across the country in New
39:45York City there is a young girl whose
39:47social success has been masking a
39:49painful learning problem a problem that
39:52because it exists in the inner city
39:54might have been written off as something
39:56other than the neurolog iCal disconnect
39:58that it really
40:06is 11-year-old Sarah Lee Harris has
40:10always had lots of
40:12friends some of my friends are Amber
40:16Rashida
40:18Shana
40:20akima
40:21Kimmy Sarah Lee is the youngest of four
40:25children her mom has has one simple goal
40:28for her children a good solid
40:32education my oldest daughter when she
40:34graduated from high school she went to
40:35Queensboro College my son graduated from
40:37high school the twins graduate this year
40:40I graduated from high school and went to
40:41college and business school so you know
40:43it's important to get ahead in
40:46life Sarah Lee keeps up the family
40:49tradition by attending the children's
40:51storefront School in Harlem where at
40:54first she is a standout student
40:58and to everybody who knows her Sarah Lee
41:01is a leader highly
41:03motivated and highly verbal they came
41:06out last she can really hold a
41:09conversation she will talk to you say
41:11all right Sly just a minute just just
41:12take a break for me minut go you
41:14something to drink or or or or get a
41:15fruit or something just to hush her up
41:17for just a few minutes been in the store
41:23right but in the fourth grade something
41:26changes she got real shy in history she
41:29wouldn't
41:30participate in classroom activities in
41:33history class she wouldn't come with the
41:35answer she would do her homework but it
41:37would take her a little longer so she
41:41got tired of being slower in the work
41:43and she kep say Mom something it's not
41:45right like I didn't I I couldn't
41:48understand my comprehension wasn't well
41:52and my vocabulary wasn't well and my
41:55reading skills wasn't well look at her
41:58teacher also notices a puzzling
42:00difference between Sarah Lee's
42:02personality in class and out by Nature
42:05she's very you know energetic and
42:07outgoing social but in class A lot of
42:10time it's the opposite she'll listen and
42:13she's not a behavior issue and she'll
42:15sort of Look At You focus right at you
42:18but I always wonder you know how much
42:21you know she's really
42:24absorbing to find out why Sarah Lee is
42:27is suddenly tongue tied in class the
42:29school's resource teacher takes her to
42:31see speech and language specialist Donna
42:34orof I'm going to read a sentence to you
42:37orof starts by testing Sarah Le's basic
42:39language skill look at some pictures and
42:42I can start up here at a um
42:46Lion
42:48horse Mouse she has very good language
42:52for single words she knows a lot of
42:54labels a lot of nouns and she uses them
42:58and she understands them but there were
43:00other words that were associated not the
43:02direct label but associated with the
43:04pictures and that pose difficulty for
43:06her perfect point to
43:13swine so we get to swine she had no idea
43:17what swine is she's heard it she's heard
43:19it from Reading Charlotte's Web but she
43:22doesn't have that rich storage system
43:24that enables her to tap the vocabulary
43:27and to retrieve the words that she needs
43:29our brains are basically a very complex
43:32storage and retrieval system where every
43:34piece of information that comes into you
43:36you put it someplace so that you can
43:38refer to it later on if you see a St
43:41Bernard walking down the street your
43:43retrieval system goes to your storage
43:45system pulls out all of the note cards
43:47that it has on dogs go through it till
43:49it finds St Bernard and says oh look
43:51this a sa ber all this happens in a in a
43:53millisecond and then you take that card
43:55and put it back where it belongs
43:57so when you need it next time you can
43:59find it leather the problem with these
44:02kids is that the storage and retrieval
44:04systems are very complicated and
44:06generally very confused stitches so they
44:09will go and take the card out and then
44:11put it back in the wrong place you that
44:15ability to make mental connections to go
44:18from one file drawer to the next also
44:22affects the way kids think abstractly a
44:25student talking about a trip says it's
44:28still up in the air mm probably he's
44:31talking about a trip going around the
44:34world
44:35mhm this is the child who only sees the
44:38picture of the pig is the pig the
44:39picture of the train is the train if
44:41it's up in the air he's got to be on an
44:42airplane language is never that onetoone
44:46rigid
44:47concrete correlation it's much richer
44:51and much more demanding particularly
44:53when you get to fourth grade that's when
44:54it starts I'm not surprised in Sarah
44:56Le's case that things began to unravel
44:59at third and fourth grade if Sarah Lee
45:01is a bright child she was probably able
45:03to fake her way through first and second
45:05grade you can fake your way through
45:07that's it you listen to your friends
45:09talk about the story they've read and
45:11then you use those answers when the
45:13teacher asks you the
45:14questions do you SAR by Ze but around
45:17third or fourth grade is when you begin
45:20to deal with expressive language
45:21problems in other words the language is
45:23there I don't know it but it's almost
45:25locked away the language is inside the
45:28brain they have an inner language they
45:30know what they want to say and they just
45:31can't express it they can't get the
45:33words out make a paragraph that matches
45:36the picture like sometimes when I'm in a
45:40class and my teacher she asks us like
45:44what's the answer and I raise my hand
45:47and I'll know the answer but then when I
45:49say it it won't come out the way I I was
45:51thinking of it what about the way Homer
45:54used the gun in that episode what do you
45:57think that they they were trying to say
46:00s he used it in he used it instead he
46:03used the gun to he used a going to shoot
46:07place instead of shooting people okay my
46:09question when you think about it you you
46:12thinking in your head I didn't I didn't
46:13want to say that did he use it for what
46:17it was really intended for sometimes
46:19it's a little embarrassing because
46:21people they laugh and Mumble under their
46:24breath that's the wrong
46:25answer that's
46:27embarrassing you are not a criminal
46:30before you get a gun Sarah Lee Masters
46:33the language of TV shows and commercials
46:36and the playground but she locks up when
46:39confronted by the more fully dimensional
46:41language encountered in books and in the
46:43classroom experts say she has expressive
46:46language deficiency she understands well
46:50but she has trouble explaining what she
46:52knows the expert's strategy a full
46:56immersion l anguage treatment scar of my
46:59because she needs a lot of practice
47:01talking in complete
47:02sentences uh talking on a more literate
47:06level of things really talking about
47:08issues what was what was Clinton's
47:10position in the article that you took
47:13your notes we want to build these
47:14muscles these expressive language
47:16muscles because uh one of the best ways
47:19to to learn to talk right is to have
47:21plenty of practice it's it's almost like
47:24working out for a sport and she has to
47:26do that she needs a verbal
47:35workout you need to be a risk taker you
47:37need to try a new word you need to make
47:40that
47:41leap but you have to be comfortable you
47:43have to be confident you have to know
47:44you're in a safe place to do it and
47:46someone's got to be there to help give
47:48you the ammunition to take that risk but
47:51once you start taking it and once you
47:53start succeeding it just you know the
47:56Ripple effect is wonderful there it's
47:58very
48:02[Music]
48:05positive so the prescription for Sarah
48:08Lee is a kind of immersion therapy
48:11almost like learning a foreign language
48:13there will be flashcard drills practice
48:16conversations lots of reading and new
48:19vocabulary words over and over and over
48:23if she keeps it up the experts believe
48:25she can overcome her expressive language
48:29[Music]
48:32deficiency what should you do if you
48:35find someone's wallet or purse in a
48:38store you should if the person is not
48:42too far you should run and give it to
48:45them or you can one year later the
48:48assessment of Sarah Le's progress is
48:50indeed hopeful and let them know that
48:53you have their wallet I hope if I lose
48:55my wallet you're the one who finds
48:57this past year has been a year of real
48:59growth for her she's contributing more
49:02in classes now and she's doing more
49:04reading so they can make sure she's
49:06found ways to help herself any bacteria
49:09or and that alone it's it's like
49:12shooting baskets uh to prepare for a
49:15basketball game the more she does the
49:17better she gets at it Sarah Lee has
49:20improved
49:21dramatically well here are her total
49:23reading scores last year in the seventh
49:26grade she made a dramatic leap her
49:28comprehension score went from fourth
49:30grade second month up to 7eventh grade
49:33nearly a three-year gain what's very
49:35distinct in her community is a division
49:37between blacks and whites right what
49:40specifically about the way that they
49:41speak how does she feel about the way
49:43Mama speaks she feels embarrassed cuz
49:46like she's still using improper English
49:49she feels it's improper English great
49:52what else what other issues about races
49:54have come up remember I definitely
49:55noticed a willingness and sily to think
49:58beyond the first initial thought she's
50:02starting to push herself beyond that um
50:07Beyond cliches she um Compares how the
50:12schools stamps are different from the
50:14schools she's highly intelligent she's a
50:17good thinker she's capable of thinking
50:19through ideas but perhaps the best
50:22witness to Sarah Lee's progress is Sarah
50:24Lee herself so yeah remember this moment
50:28from a year ago he used it instead he
50:31used the gun to he used the gun to shoot
50:35place instead of shooting people okay my
50:37question is now I have matured a lot
50:40have participated in my classes I've
50:43been behaving well I've been doing my
50:46homework my grades I've been pulled up
50:49I've been working very hard and like
50:52I've
50:53been overcoming the mistakes that I did
50:58many years
51:00[Music]
51:02ago it's clearly beginning to happen for
51:05her and I think this is going to be a
51:07wonderful year she's a wonderful girl
51:10and I think she will leave here and go
51:12on to high school and college and I hope
51:15that whatever her wishes are they'll be
51:19[Music]
51:25realized
51:27so far our journey through these young
51:29lives has been a difficult but mostly
51:31hopeful one but what about a kid who
51:34wasn't identified early or who wasn't
51:36targeted for medication therapy or
51:38one-on-one attention this is the story
51:41of a teenager who slipped through the
51:43cracks an object lesson in Mist
51:48signals on the edges of Boston in this
51:51neighborhood known as Hyde Park many
51:54families are scratching to make a living
51:56[Music]
51:59one family the dunnings is Raising four
52:01kids
52:03here Adam is their second
52:07son he was just a good little kid very
52:11well-liked always um neighbors and
52:14teachers and um CCD teachers and coaches
52:19would always tell me what a
52:21well-mannered son you
52:24have his mother realized early on that
52:27Adam had a problem Adam and I would read
52:31together every night and he couldn't
52:34identify words that he should have been
52:36familiar with when he started second
52:39grade I knew that there was a building
52:42block that was kind of beginning to
52:45crumble the school teachers kept saying
52:48he's just lazy you know and uh his
52:51personality carried him through where uh
52:54Adam's a good kid he's just you know
52:57we'll worry about him
52:59later finally by the fifth grade Adam's
53:02problems in school were obvious to his
53:05teachers he was given a battery of tests
53:08but school officials assured the
53:10dunnings their son was average and would
53:12do just
53:14fine I think the problem with the
53:16initial testing was that when you do an
53:19IQ test um you've got 12 subtests and
53:24the the half of them are language based
53:26and half of them are not so you end up
53:29getting scores that get added together
53:32and that Adam scores added added
53:35together come up as
53:38average but Adam struggling with even
53:41the most basic Reading Writing and
53:43spelling tasks had the feeling he wasn't
53:46even
53:48average I felt embarrassed at sometimes
53:51like when I couldn't pronounce words and
53:53then other kids would pronounce a word
53:56follow
53:57me say how are you up you don't know how
53:59to
54:00read I get comments like that all the
54:04time by now his parents began to really
54:08worry about Adam they asked the school
54:11for more tests and by the end of seventh
54:14grade the school had a bombshell for the
54:18dunnings they told us that Adam was
54:21reading on a third grade level and he's
54:23in the seventh grade so what happened to
54:25the fourth grade the fifth grade in the
54:27sixth
54:29grade I mean something's wrong I at that
54:34point I did think I was dumb was stupid
54:37like why can't I read I
54:40mean all my friends go to Latin and
54:43Boston Latin one of the best
54:46schools probably the best school in
54:48Massachusetts like an exam school they
54:52read fine why can't I
54:55read Adam was too old for the early
54:58intervention
55:00remedies and the school's solution to
55:02help Adam sounded better on paper than
55:05it was in
55:07[Music]
55:09reality they said Adam needs a small
55:12classroom setting and where do they send
55:14him it's like going in prison he's down
55:18in the cellar and a little room about
55:22this size with 12 other
55:25kids
55:28so instead of working on ways to make it
55:30in school Adam started working on ways
55:33to get out of
55:35school I went to the school and uh went
55:39room to room to room to his
55:41teachers some of his teachers had never
55:45seen
55:46Adam this is 2 months into the school
55:49year had never seen
55:51[Music]
55:53him you take School
55:57out of that that age you take it away
56:00you take it out of the picture what else
56:02is
56:02there there's marijuana there's stealing
56:06cars I mean what else is there for a kid
56:09to do so you run the streets when you
56:11run the streets you get in trouble you
56:13make bad
56:14choices Adam was so he was mad he was he
56:19can't
56:22read Adam's parents knew it was time for
56:25professional heal at the Boston Medical
56:28Center Dr Andrea Weiss a clinical
56:31psychologist gave adam a new battery of
56:34tests what we're going to do first is
56:36I'm going to give you some reading lists
56:40and what I'd like you to do is just read
56:43down the list out loud and if you come
56:46to award you don't know and you Dr
56:48Weiss's test provide a kind of road map
56:51to when Adam's learning skills hit the
56:53wall bridge Neighbors
56:57coverage
57:00inclusive inclusive okay let me just
57:03take that word for you and bro break it
57:05down into syllables and see if it helps
57:08as he got up in grades and his reading
57:10vocabulary got larger he was faced with
57:13all these multi- syllabic words that he
57:15couldn't
57:17decode
57:19in C uh C it would it could be C but if
57:25this is
57:27quis quis good
57:31inquis good so can you put it together
57:34inquisitive excellent okay go on Clever
57:37uh-huh
57:39success and Adam's reading problems were
57:42affecting his spelling and writing as
57:44well what's your best guess with success
57:46how do you think it's
57:48spelled good that's pretty close by the
57:51time he got to ninth grade he was
57:53getting no special ed help and he was
57:55really at a distinct disadvantage he
57:58fell apart he stopped going to class he
58:00stopped doing his homework cuz
58:02essentially it was Way Beyond what he
58:04could do and when Jane said oh he needs
58:06help people said H you know what if you
58:09look at his profile he's solidly average
58:12there's nothing going on here he's not
58:13trying he's lazy and they gave kind of
58:17Behavioral descriptions to something
58:19that wasn't behavioral at
58:22all to be told over and over again you
58:25know you're not quite cutting the
58:27mustard it breaks down your self-esteem
58:30and you have to go somewhere else to get
58:33your self-esteem built up and kids get
58:35into trouble and they go looking for
58:37things that are more exciting than being
58:39told every day that you're
58:42dumb I think there's a huge payback for
58:45not providing kids with what they
58:48need just as the experts could have
58:51predicted Adam turned to drugs and
58:55alcohol
58:57when I drink it's just to forget about
59:00everything if I'm really having a tough
59:03time so I can't take this anymore and I
59:06just have to go drink some bear to let
59:11it all just get
59:15away there's been a lot of evidence of
59:18uh drug use continuously money being
59:20stolen no matter where it was we're kind
59:24of guilty not overlooking it thinking
59:28well you know you know so he needed some
59:31money but when he gets into the
59:35thousands you know You' let it go too
59:38far and uh it got
59:42there then one night the phone call
59:46every parent
59:48dreads we get a phone call from the
59:50state police I thought he's getting
59:52ready to tell us that somebody had been
59:54killed I thought about how do how do you
59:57plan a funeral for a
1:00:01kid
1:00:02[Music]
1:00:04who who doesn't
1:00:09uh doesn't seem to want
1:00:12to want to be part
1:00:15of of your family anymore it doesn't
1:00:17want to um it doesn't want to be a
1:00:23kid Adam was safe but in deep trouble
1:00:27the police claimed that he had crashed a
1:00:29stolen
1:00:30car the next morning Terry took his
1:00:3315-year-old son to the psychiatric ward
1:00:36at Boston Medical Center and had him
1:00:40committed I've had my son hospitalized
1:00:43to get him some attention I mean he
1:00:45could have been killed at night and he
1:00:48he was out that night
1:00:50because he skipped school that day
1:00:53didn't want to come home so he was out
1:00:56that
1:00:57night I mean how many more chances does
1:01:01he
1:01:10have after years of academic failure
1:01:14Adam's slow downward spiral was turning
1:01:16into every parents nightmare a teenager
1:01:19too far gone to rescue his parents will
1:01:22soon be confronted by that terrible
1:01:24Prospect but right now the story of
1:01:27another young boy sending alarming
1:01:29signals that he is headed for trouble
1:01:32his parents desperate for help can feel
1:01:35him slipping
1:01:37[Music]
1:01:41away 10-year-old Nathan sugs lives in
1:01:45rural Bear Creek North Carolina where he
1:01:48leads a lonely
1:01:50existence a bright boy who loves science
1:01:53he cannot succeed in school
1:01:56forgetful and willful Nathan has been a
1:02:00handful from the beginning getting out
1:02:03of line and talking in class and those
1:02:06sorts of things kicking other kids you
1:02:07know it's even from kindergarten on you
1:02:10know there was signs of discipline
1:02:14problems so Nathan's parents had him
1:02:18tested they came up with a diagnosis of
1:02:22ADD without hyperactivity and so so we
1:02:27knew that pencils rolling on the desk or
1:02:30dropping or any anything like that would
1:02:33probably take him off task it's like a
1:02:37like a jigsaw puzzle on some days I wake
1:02:40up and it's just like two or three
1:02:42pieces to put together and other times
1:02:44it's like a
1:02:46500 3D puzzle or
1:02:51something Ridin was prescribed but
1:02:54Nathan's parents learned there was no
1:02:57magic
1:02:58pill we Ed it it it went up to 10
1:03:03Mig it helped for a little while but we
1:03:06still had the problems with getting the
1:03:08assignments
1:03:10home so his parents took him off
1:03:14riddlin but now they had
1:03:17nothing he would be real sad that he was
1:03:22not able to learn that uh people didn't
1:03:25like him that they were out to you know
1:03:29ridicule him or make fun of him um he
1:03:33got to where he hated everything as far
1:03:35as school he didn't want to learn didn't
1:03:37want to read didn't want to write didn't
1:03:39want to go he didn't want to go a lot of
1:03:42times when you know he's not in a good
1:03:45mood and he's real irritable and you
1:03:48know says stuff like you know why I'm
1:03:50even here and stuff like I get I get
1:03:53real worried I don't I hope he doesn't
1:03:55get too
1:03:56drastic and when he said I just
1:03:58shouldn't be
1:04:00alive I
1:04:02said this child is not have to go
1:04:04through
1:04:07this his parents are desperate for them
1:04:12public school is not working and private
1:04:14school is too expensive so his mom Edy
1:04:17is trying
1:04:20homeschooling but Edie is not prepared
1:04:22for how difficult teaching Nathan will
1:04:25be okay where were you the most basic
1:04:27schoolwork is a chore for Nathan and a
1:04:30challenge for his
1:04:32mother n *
1:04:356
1:04:37is is
1:04:39um 54 mhm do I put it under here don't
1:04:44you do you remember what to do next you
1:04:46put it under here okay what do you put
1:04:4954 mhm NOP 54 54 okay no okay I'm trying
1:04:56to remind you by early summer Nathan's
1:04:58frustration has turned to anger he is
1:05:01kicking doors hitting his brother you're
1:05:04done with that part but you have to come
1:05:06back he loses control and that part is
1:05:10is what's
1:05:11frightening and in that dire his family
1:05:15is becoming increasingly fearful that
1:05:18Nathan's plummeting self-esteem might
1:05:20cause him to hurt himself or
1:05:24others sometimes I can't stop crying and
1:05:27like I'm just in my bed with my head
1:05:30down I just get
1:05:33[Music]
1:05:36sad a little while ago like um last year
1:05:41MH I was like I could just kill
1:05:45myself I tried to run
1:05:48away just felt like um no one really
1:05:52wanted me to be
1:05:54there
1:05:59Nathan's mom desperate to do something
1:06:01to improve her son's self-image begins
1:06:04to look outside Bear Creek for
1:06:11help an hour down the road are the
1:06:14offices of pediatrician Mel LaVine whose
1:06:17specialty is finding out what's going on
1:06:20with kids like Nathan if you copy it for
1:06:23me Dr Lavine tests for strengths and
1:06:30weaknesses you know for kids success is
1:06:33like a vitamin and it's a real vitamin
1:06:35deficiency to grow up success deprived
1:06:38let's just compare it to the original
1:06:40the testing shows that Nathan excels at
1:06:42Visual and spatial perceptions fantastic
1:06:46what I would like you to do next is
1:06:47write the alphabet for me from A to Z
1:06:50and join all the letters together as if
1:06:52the whole alphabet was one was one long
1:06:55word
1:06:56and I'm going to time you to see how
1:06:57long it takes you okay ready
1:07:09go along with his tally sheet of
1:07:11strengths there are significant
1:07:16weaknesses
1:07:19um I forgot how to do one letter were
1:07:21you forgetting how to make the letter or
1:07:23were you forgetting which letter came
1:07:24next forget how to write it or um yeah
1:07:28how to write it so you knew what letter
1:07:30you wanted to write and could you
1:07:32picture it in your mind could picture it
1:07:34in my mind but I just couldn't couldn't
1:07:36remember the procedure for making that
1:07:38letter so let me give you some others
1:07:40now and see how you did Dr LaVine now
1:07:42knows something vital Nathan knows what
1:07:46the letter K looks like but it's simply
1:07:49too much work to write it down kids like
1:07:53this have what is known as an output
1:07:56problem these are kids for whom work is
1:07:58too much work effort is too much effort
1:08:01and they sit down to do something and
1:08:02you think they have to climb the matorn
1:08:05and these same kids tantalize everyone
1:08:07CU their intake is so good they're so
1:08:09good at understanding things they're so
1:08:11good at analyzing often they're very
1:08:13creative a lot of times they're a
1:08:15Wellspring of phenomenal ideas but to be
1:08:18productive to get some output to be
1:08:21efficient in your output is sort of out
1:08:23of the question Nathan you see all he
1:08:25designs here it's as if within the mind
1:08:28of the child with a learning problem
1:08:29there are three clocks the clocks are
1:08:32set set at different times and moving at
1:08:34different speeds so the clocks are
1:08:36totally out of sync with each other and
1:08:37the child is generally out of sync with
1:08:39his environment but the law of averages
1:08:41will tell you if you take three clocks
1:08:43set them at different times and move
1:08:45them to different speeds eventually
1:08:47Bingo Bingo Bingo there will come a time
1:08:49with the three of them are all telling
1:08:50the same time and when the clocks are in
1:08:53sync there's this incredible forward
1:08:55movement on the part of the child for a
1:08:57day or a week or a month if you're lucky
1:08:59this incredible Forwood movement in
1:09:00progress and then the clocks get out of
1:09:02syn
1:09:03again the Moment of Truth called
1:09:07demystification you are like a wonderful
1:09:10car like a Mercedes or a
1:09:13Jaguar but it has a very small gas tank
1:09:16so that when you try to think or do a
1:09:18lot of work it runs out of fuel pretty
1:09:21easily demystification I think may be
1:09:24the most important movement in this
1:09:25field in the last 10 years and that is
1:09:27explaining to the child what the problem
1:09:29is if you have a child with diabetes one
1:09:32of the first things you do is explain to
1:09:33the child this is what diabetes is these
1:09:36are the foods you can eat this is what's
1:09:38happening to your body when you don't
1:09:39eat the proper food and explain line
1:09:41inverse yet when a child has a learning
1:09:43problem we try to protect the child from
1:09:45it I've had parents say to me he doesn't
1:09:47know he has a learning problem indeed he
1:09:50does and sometimes a child takes great
1:09:52comfort in the diagnosis in knowing I'm
1:09:55not the only person that has it I'm not
1:09:57stupid like the kids tell me in the
1:09:58school bus I'm not lazy like the teacher
1:10:00tells me every day there's really a name
1:10:03for this the second problem you have is
1:10:06uh what we call a graph motor problem if
1:10:09you don't have very good control over
1:10:11the very little muscles at the ends of
1:10:13your fingers and you know what you do
1:10:14because of that you try to get rid of
1:10:16them you know how you get rid of them by
1:10:19putting your thumb over these two
1:10:22fingers and you bear down real hard and
1:10:24you end up writing with your wrists and
1:10:26that's too slow and then you know what
1:10:28happens you have to work so hard to form
1:10:30the letters that it's hard to do that
1:10:32and spell at the same time and it's hard
1:10:34to do that and have good ideas at the
1:10:36same
1:10:37time you're so good spatially with this
1:10:40thing Dr LaVine tells Nathan his
1:10:42strengths can help overcome his
1:10:44weaknesses for example his ability to
1:10:47draw this complicated design from memory
1:10:50can help him visualize facts like
1:10:53history dates that otherwise he would
1:10:56remembering dates is a lot of detail but
1:10:59it won't be a lot of detail for you if
1:11:00you make a diagram of it and remember it
1:11:03as a visual pattern I have evidence that
1:11:06you're very smart you need to convince
1:11:09yourself of that because when you can do
1:11:11your it was probably the first time he's
1:11:15heard
1:11:16somebody since his second grade teacher
1:11:19tell him how great he was high priority
1:11:22yeah instead of add d d you know this
1:11:26huge thing it it was really specific and
1:11:29it was something that seems
1:11:32manageable so it's it's very
1:11:39encouraging but Nathan's parents think
1:11:42he needs one other thing
1:11:45[Music]
1:11:52discipline one year later the ranks of
1:11:55the Hargrave Military Academy include
1:11:58Nathan
1:12:05sugs we get a lot of boys that are very
1:12:08smart and intelligent have a lot of
1:12:10potential but for whatever reason they
1:12:12come here because um they do not think
1:12:14they can do it Cadet
1:12:17Suggs for his parents sending their son
1:12:21here is a big sacrifice but they believe
1:12:24it's his big
1:12:26chance for this year we cleaned out his
1:12:30college fund and my parents also
1:12:33contributed and so I don't know exactly
1:12:36what we would do for next year I love
1:12:40you I love you I've missed you so much
1:12:43he lives at hardgrave and this fall has
1:12:46been very difficult for me but I'm
1:12:49hoping that he will take in some of the
1:12:53discipline and make it his own
1:12:56I'm feeling
1:12:57happier I have more self- discipline
1:13:01I'll probably have more than I have now
1:13:03at the end of the
1:13:05year and it'll probably be a whole lot
1:13:08easier you look so
1:13:11nice I've seen Nathan's self-confidence
1:13:15grow in the last four or five months and
1:13:17so I feel like you know even the
1:13:20mistakes that we've made you know have
1:13:22somehow turned toward toward building
1:13:26his character and um and he's he's he's
1:13:29learned a lot I'd say just don't worry
1:13:34about what other people think it's and
1:13:37if you feel bad about yourself just try
1:13:41to just try to make yourself feel
1:13:44important and do something and be proud
1:13:47of it no matter
1:13:50what but Nathan's parents know better
1:13:53than to invest too much Hope just yet
1:13:56they know that kids like Nathan often
1:13:59have good starts in new
1:14:04environments later this spring they'll
1:14:06know more about whether they have
1:14:07finally found an answer for their boy
1:14:11now back to Adam dunning's
1:14:14story he's out of the psychiatric ward
1:14:17but now Adam's parents have come to this
1:14:20Courthouse their son is on trial for
1:14:23breaking and entering he's been given a
1:14:25courta appointed lawyer his parents are
1:14:28told that if he's found guilty their boy
1:14:31will be in the custody of the state
1:14:33until he's an adult the prosecution
1:14:37makes its case almost with the testimony
1:14:39you're about to give to the court the
1:14:40cause now hearing would be the truth I
1:14:42saw a glimpse of his face and I saw the
1:14:44outline of his face and I said oh that's
1:14:47Adam she need be in school and charged
1:14:50with the crime it doesn't take the jury
1:14:52long to render its verdict guilty or not
1:14:55guilty we find the defendant guilty as
1:14:59they say goodbye to their son Jane
1:15:01Dunning comes to grips with a harsh new
1:15:05reality Adam's birthday is 4 days from
1:15:09today and I didn't expect to have to ask
1:15:12somebody else permission uh to bring him
1:15:15a birthday
1:15:16[Music]
1:15:23cake
1:15:274 days later it's Adam's 16th birthday
1:15:31celebrated in
1:15:33jail but as terrible as it is to visit
1:15:36him here Adam's parents are in for a
1:15:39surprise when the sunset looks for the
1:15:42moon their son is finally in an
1:15:45educational environment that seems to
1:15:47suit him sun comes up the classes are
1:15:50small and because so many of these kids
1:15:53have learning problems the teachers here
1:15:56have found a way to get through to them
1:15:58mercury has a rock crust made of the
1:16:00same kind of rock found on Earth beneath
1:16:03the crust it is thicker mantel layer of
1:16:07the same material you have to appeal to
1:16:10more of those senses in your teaching if
1:16:11you should almost check a checklist okay
1:16:14we got we got sound going on all right
1:16:17uh hearing hearing uh what am I doing on
1:16:19visual am I doing any artwork what am I
1:16:21doing on touch am I getting their hands
1:16:23engaged um all of that and I I think
1:16:26that happens a lot in the elementary or
1:16:28lower grades and we figure high school
1:16:30they don't need to do that anymore and I
1:16:31think we're very very wrong would you
1:16:34like to visit that it's really the first
1:16:37time Adam Dunning has any positive
1:16:40feelings about learning feel good about
1:16:43going to school I mean school here is
1:16:45fun it's like the teachers care they
1:16:50help you out like regular school should
1:16:53be he has come to believe jail time is
1:16:57actually good for him me being locked up
1:17:01was good for a learning experience for
1:17:03me because I stayed out if I didn't get
1:17:06locked up I'd probably be dead
1:17:08or in a lot worse trouble probably
1:17:11wouldn't be at a treatment facility I'd
1:17:12probably be back wearing an orange
1:17:16suit for years Adam says he used drugs
1:17:20and alcohol to blunt the pain of his
1:17:23failures in school he's clean and sober
1:17:26now but worries about how long that can
1:17:30last only thing I'm really afraid of
1:17:33going back to school is other the kids
1:17:35around me the precious they seen me
1:17:38before they know how I acted before
1:17:41never been to high school when I was
1:17:43clean I mean it wasn't 30 days while I
1:17:47wasn't using so so I think kids are
1:17:49going to push my buttons and that's the
1:17:52thing that scares me the most about
1:17:53going back to school just other
1:17:59kids liel Michael Young Kenneth Smith
1:18:03after three short months Adam is
1:18:06starting again at Boston high his brief
1:18:10success in the jail classroom is a stark
1:18:13contrast to what he is about to face it
1:18:17was like asking a baby to read and I
1:18:20said it was like trying to make gold out
1:18:21of his out of straw like Rumple Ste and
1:18:26and Mom said it was like trying to make
1:18:27silk purse out
1:18:30of so so Adam is still well below grade
1:18:34level and Dr Andrea Weiss worries that
1:18:37there is nothing in place to help him
1:18:40when I went back to test him he hadn't
1:18:42made any progress but he shouldn't have
1:18:44there was no way for him to make
1:18:45progress because he needs specialized
1:18:48instruction he's not going to get it by
1:18:50osmosis he's not going to stand in a
1:18:52room and it's going to you know kind of
1:18:53you know go through pores it's not going
1:18:55to happen he needs somebody to say look
1:18:58this is the way to do it this is the
1:19:00structure this is the recipe it works
1:19:03every time and then he'll own it what's
1:19:05that called food chain exactly food
1:19:08chain Adam has been placed in two
1:19:10special ed classes but the kids here
1:19:13have such a wide variety of learning
1:19:15problems that ironically Adam appears to
1:19:18be doing better than he really is one
1:19:20element in all organisms is carbon cin
1:19:25exactly he's real academically he's
1:19:27probably at the top of my classes I have
1:19:29the whole gamut you know I have real
1:19:31lowlevel acting out kids um for the most
1:19:33part we have acting our kids all
1:19:34together but he academically he does
1:19:36very very well when he wants to do it I
1:19:38don't know some days I can go into
1:19:40school sit down not say a word do
1:19:42everything and everyone will say wish we
1:19:45could have Adam like this all day
1:19:46without his hat on with without him
1:19:49talking doing his all his work asking
1:19:52for more work now days it's like Adam
1:19:56comes in to starts goofing
1:19:58off so real high school turned out to be
1:20:02another missed
1:20:04opportunity he's a fragile guy right now
1:20:07you know I want him to be successful but
1:20:10when you don't give a student what they
1:20:13need the potential for really falling
1:20:18apart and giving up is so high that you
1:20:22really have to factor that in it's a
1:20:23possibility
1:20:26[Music]
1:20:28a year later the school has expelled
1:20:30Adam for poor Behavior once again a
1:20:34drift Adam has held a variety of odd
1:20:37jobs and his mother fears he is back on
1:20:40drugs and
1:20:42alcohol I was a little kid I dreamed
1:20:44going to college going to
1:20:46school but I haven't finished high
1:20:49school so I can't go to college now I
1:20:52have no high school diploma and uh I
1:20:54just work full
1:20:56time it's like what else do I
1:20:59have
1:21:03nothing I see kids every single day that
1:21:06are like Adam and sometimes I can get to
1:21:09them and sometimes I can help them and
1:21:11sometimes they slip by but there's no
1:21:13reason that Adam needed to slip by we
1:21:16had Adam we had a hold on
1:21:18[Music]
1:21:21Adam what Adam needed the experts say
1:21:24was the hardest thing to get early
1:21:27recognition of his problems and a
1:21:30consistent plan for dealing with them in
1:21:33some states the size of prisons are
1:21:36predicted on the basis of third grade
1:21:39and fourth grade literacy rates so it
1:21:42does portend an alienation from society
1:21:46in a
1:21:47sense and it's for those reasons these
1:21:50Downstream consequences of loss of
1:21:53self-esteem po academic development
1:21:56limited vocabulary and other cognitive
1:21:58developments difficulties with social
1:22:01relations difficulties getting and
1:22:02holding jobs and getting in trouble with
1:22:04the law that we consider reading
1:22:06problems to not only to be an
1:22:08educational issue but a public health
1:22:11issue and a public health concern as
1:22:18well now Adam's parents are left with
1:22:21what they had at the very beginning but
1:22:24only that they still have
1:22:28hope you change your dreams you adjust
1:22:31and you
1:22:32just you settle from I'd like him to
1:22:35graduate from college to I hope he
1:22:37graduates from high school and then you
1:22:39change well from I hope he graduates
1:22:42from high school that I hope he makes
1:22:48it you've seen kids that are in jail one
1:22:51day and the next year they're in college
1:22:54and doing great so he still has a shot
1:22:57at it and I'm not saying it's all over
1:22:59for
1:23:01him you can't give up
1:23:06hope
1:23:08that's it's about all you do have is
1:23:14[Music]
1:23:18hope hope is what has motivated each of
1:23:21these families to share their stories
1:23:23tonight hope that we can all learn from
1:23:26their experiences and realize that no
1:23:29child with learning problems has to
1:23:31become a Lost Child it's a lesson that's
1:23:34been a long time coming including to
1:23:37families like mine that with the right
1:23:39diagnosis the proper management and lots
1:23:42of hard work and ongoing support none of
1:23:46our children is beyond
1:23:50rescue there really are so many
1:23:53different ways to solve this problem
1:23:56called life I mean there really are and
1:23:58if you look at successful people nine
1:24:00times out of 10 they will tell you of
1:24:02stories of tremendous
1:24:04struggle if you've got a different kind
1:24:07of brain and I submit the most
1:24:09interesting people do that's
1:24:11great and as you're remediating all this
1:24:14stuff and learning how to be on time and
1:24:16all this stuff that you got to learn how
1:24:17to do never lose sight of those
1:24:20strengths those talents because that is
1:24:22what is going to take you to great
1:24:23places
1:24:24[Music]
1:24:33misunderstood Minds continues on PBS
1:24:35online find resources explore strategies
1:24:39and understand learning challenges
1:24:41firsthand misunderstood Minds at
1:24:45[Music]
1:24:47pbs.org the Misunderstood Minds
1:24:49documentary is available from WGBH
1:24:52Boston video for 1995 plus shipping and
1:24:55handling to place an order please call 1
1:24:581800
1:25:0025594
1:25:01[Music]
1:25:054 coming up next a New York scholar
1:25:08talks about immigration fears the
1:25:11backlash against foreigners and
1:25:13balancing our area's vital immigration
1:25:15population against calls for Public
1:25:17Safety stay with us for New York Voices
1:25:20next here on 13 member supported
1:25:23television that matters
1:25:25[Music]
1:25:32[Music]
1:25:47funding for misunderstood Minds is
1:25:49provided in part by Schwab learning a
1:25:52service of the Charles and Helen Schwab
1:25:53Foundation dedicated to helping kids
1:25:55with learning
1:25:58differences and by Exon Mobile because
1:26:02we value Creative Energy in all its
1:26:05[Music]
1:26:06[Applause]
1:26:08forms the Spencer te and an W Olan
1:26:12Foundation dedicated to improving
1:26:14education and the
1:26:16[Music]
1:26:19environment the Emily Hall train
1:26:21Foundation supporting Innovation and
1:26:23diversity in the Arts environment and
1:26:27[Music]
1:26:29learning the Roberts Foundation
1:26:32providing learning opportunities for
1:26:33disadvantaged Children and Youth and the
1:26:36Geraldine R Dodge Foundation supporting
1:26:39educational cultural and environmental
1:26:43[Music]
1:26:48initiatives this is
1:26:50[Music]
1:26:53PBS
1:26:59it's Fred and Judy we're a couple of
1:27:01swells in a parade of tunes that are
1:27:04forever
1:27:04[Music]
1:27:07fun when midnight leaves for Alabama
1:27:11Alabama Alabama stepping out with my
1:27:16baby Irving Berlin's Easter Parade a
1:27:19special treat for your Easter weekend
1:27:21Saturday night at 9:00 and again at noon
1:27:23on Sunday here on 13 happy Easter happy
1:27:27Easter 13 salutes our corporate members
1:27:30whose gifts exemplify their commitment
1:27:32to the growth of arts and education in
1:27:35our community we thank them for their
1:27:37Community spirit and exceptional
1:27:42generosity from American Experience a
1:27:45gripping story of greed it was mighty
1:27:48easy to make a living with cotton
1:27:51betrayal he had to know right then as
1:27:53father had betrayed him and fear first
1:27:57come first Ser but whites blacks they
1:27:59were at the end of the line all thrown
1:28:02together by a deadly force of nature
1:28:05fatal flood on American Experience
1:28:08Sunday night at 9: on
1:28:10[Music]
1:28:1213 thanks to our members and the
1:28:15following for their support of 13's
1:28:18programming
1:28:18[Music]
1:28:21today JP Morgan Chase a Global Financial
1:28:25services provider offering a complete
1:28:27range of investment and Commercial
1:28:29Banking capabilities as well as retail
1:28:31and Middle Market Services is proud to
1:28:34support tonight's programming on
1:28:3713 are you man enough for Frontier house
1:28:40are you woman enough for Frontier house
1:28:42this April the present collides with the
1:28:44past as 13 people endure the hardships
1:28:47faced by America's Pioneers can't wait
1:28:49for the series log on to our website now
1:28:52and see if you've got the Pioneers
1:28:53spirit Frontier house premiering in
1:28:55April on
1:28:5713 Frontier house coming in April but if
1:29:00you can't wait for the series premiere
1:29:02log on to 13's website and meet the
1:29:04homesteaders Discover the old west go
1:29:06behind the scenes or see if you've got
1:29:09the making of a pioner log on now to
1:29:13www.3g and take an online trip into
1:29:15living
1:29:16[Music]
1:29:18[Applause]
1:29:23history
1:29:28New York Voices on 13 is made possible
1:29:31in part by the New York
1:29:34[Music]
1:29:37Times the day starts with the New York
1:29:39Times every day the times brings me
1:29:41information about what's happening
1:29:43Across the Nation and around the world
1:29:45everything from politics and business to
1:29:47culture and science plus they cover the
1:29:49news from more than one point of view so
1:29:51I get different ways to understand
1:29:53what's going on and of course on
1:29:55weekends we get the Sunday Times with
1:29:57arts and Leisure Sunday Styles and the
1:29:59magazine there's a fascinating world out
1:30:02there the times brings it into our home
1:30:05every
1:30:05day

About this transcript

This page contains the full transcript of Misunderstood Minds 2002 PBS Broadcast by Joe’s Video Archives, generated from the public captions YouTube serves with the video. The transcript has 12,863 words across 1,987 segments, with the original timestamps preserved so you can click any line to jump to that moment in the embedded player.

What you can do with it

Use the transcript to take notes, quote the speaker, build a study guide, generate a summary with ChatGPT or Claude via the YouTube Summary tool, or export it as a timed subtitle file with YouTube to SRT. You can also re-open it in the transcriber to translate the transcript into 100+ languages.

Free YouTube transcript tool

YouTube2Text is a free YouTube transcript generator — no signup, no daily limit. Paste any YouTube link and get the full transcript instantly, with timestamps, click-to-jump, translation to 100+ languages, AI prompts for ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, and exports to TXT, SRT, VTT, or Markdown.