To label:

1. Diagnostic tests can reveal learning gaps

2. Getting a diagnosis/label may qualify a person for help in school and tutoring services at some colleges.

3. Having a label can make it easier to explain atypical behaviors or achievements.

Do not tag:

1. While diagnostic testing can lead to learning gaps (i.e., person cannot add double digits to double digits, this person does not understand cause and effect in reading), it often limits expectations to what a person with that label can normally do. .

2. Before getting a label, find out what kind of services will be offered and how it will affect the individual’s learning. In school settings, the emphasis is often on accommodating so that the individual can fit into the mainstream.

3. Often having a diagnosis provides little in the way of solving problems. Recommendations are usually very limited.

While a diagnosis that affects learning often has a health component as part of the underlying cause, we need to make sure that when treating that health problem, we look for its underlying cause(s). As an example, it should be remembered that ADHD is not a deficiency of a drug like Ritalin. Those types of medications don’t get to the underlying cause of typical ADHD behaviors. They can control the symptoms, but they do not solve the underlying causes.

Before making a decision, explore alternatives that are capable of providing a solution to the underlying causes of the difficulties rather than simply providing accommodations. Since the 1930s there has been an alternative to the mainstream, neurodevelopmental approach. This approach uses a development profile, looking for missing pieces in the development. These gaps indicate to the neurodevelopmental specialist that specific brain stimulation is required to promote development. When that happens, the reason a tag may have been assigned to it disappears.

The Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential (Dr. Temple Faye, Glenn Doman, Dr. Robert Doman, and Carl Delacato, PhD) are considered the founders of this approach. There are a number of organizations that have developed from the ideas and experience of the Institutes. Parents are usually instructed on how to do short, frequent activities to stimulate the necessary areas of the brain. Occasionally, you will find organizations with programs that will provide these services to parents. Other organizations may offer a combination of center and home activities. Families must determine which of these options best suits their needs and circumstances.

All of these programs fully embrace the concept of neuroplasticity that has been accepted in the mainstream in recent years. Neuroplasticity recognizes that the brain is much more flexible in its ability to learn throughout life than previously thought. The key to the success of these programs is to determine the underlying cause and stimulate the brain in a specific way consistently over time.