If I could do this, I don't mind turning to the dark side either. Good choice Anakin! haha
A few thoughts about LD and ADHD...
On November 2nd, 2004, the •ŸˆäŒ§ lieutenant governor related children who have quit normal schools (due to various reasons, most likely LD and/or ADHD) to "damaged goods" at a PTA conference. Translated, his exacts words were: "Out of the 1million 200 thousand students in the Tohoku-Hokuriku region, 14thousand are damaged goods."
The damage caused on those children who were targets of this comment is unimaginable. Many of these kids have stopped going to schools due to the relentless bullying by their peers and the above comment would only fuel their attacks. Furthermore, this insenstive comment points to the lack of knowledge of learning, and other related disabilities.
After spending 8 months as one of the staff with the Revolve Institute of Education in Tsukuba, I can say from experience that kids with learning disabilities are not "damaged goods" at all. They may have a more difficult time in school trying to learn basic arithmetic or writing, it is not necessarily the case that they are damaged or broken.
This is because children with learning disabilities and the like have unbelievable talent in many areas such as music, drawing, use of computers, knowledge of certain products and industries. Indeed, this is one of the characteristics of those with these disabilities.
Sure enough, we as instructors can teach these kids if we are flexible and creative enough to come up with a way that would keep the childrens' attention to the work at hand. I myself have enjoyed success in teaching one middle school boy the word "fifty" by relating "fifty" to an anime character.
What is needed, especially here in Japan, is a faculty more trained in the field of special education. In addition, Japanese schools need to include a special education program for those that need it. After all, it is our fault for not being flexible enough, for not being creative enough so that these children can learn. It is our fault that these children were figuratively forced out of the normal schools, and it is also our generation's fault that the older generations can only see children with LD as broken or damaged.
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