Tag: children

Why Johnny Still Can’t Read: A New Look at the Scandals of Our Schools

Written by AbleChild on December 10, 2021. Posted in Essential Books.

Now that Rudolf Flesch has made the argument that phonics is the most effective way to teach children how to read in his last book, Why Johnny Can’t Read – And What You Can Do About It, this second book further examines the role of phonics in the education system. Thirty years after publishing Why Johnny Can’t Read – And What You Can Do About It, acknowledges how over time the progressive agenda that has been indoctrinated into school faculty has forsaken much of the teaching method of phonics. Instead, teachers now promote a look-and-say method of teaching children to read which uses only a small part of the phonics method of teaching.

Flesch believes this unsound approach to teaching children to read is meant to be detrimental, since it can have a domino effect onto the child’s other studies, and prevent them from reaching their full potential. Knowledge is power, and as years go by, more of our children are being stripped of this power. This book shows parents how to be their child’s best advocate, and see through the education system’s agenda to bypass necessary and extremely important steps in their child’s learning.

About the Author

Rudolf Flesch is an Austrian-born American author, readability expert and writing consultant. He was a major advocate for plain English and the use of phonics rather than sight reading to teach children in the United States. He created the Flesch Reading Ease tests, and was co-creator of the Flesch-Kincaid readability tests.

Flesch is probably known best for Why Johnny Can’t Read: And What You Can Do About It. His other books include How to Test Readability (1951), How to Write Better (1951), The Art of Clear Thinking (1951), The ABC of Style: A Guide to Plain English (1964), and How to Write Plain English: A Book for Lawyers and Consumers.

Why Johnny Can’t Read – And What You Can Do About It

Written by AbleChild on November 8, 2021. Posted in Essential Books.

This book, written in 1955 by author, readability expert and writing consultant Rudolf Flesch, is all about phonics, which is the method recommended by the U.S. Department of Education for teaching children to read. Why Johnny Can’t Read and What You Can Do About It contains all the materials and instructions anyone would need to teach a child to read at home. The book, which was reissued in 1986, also serves as an exposé on the American education system’s failure to properly teach this method to so many children over the years.

In the 1950s, Rudolf Flesch began tutoring a boy named Johnny who was held back in sixth grade because he had such weak reading skills. Once Flesch began working with Johnny, he realized that at age twelve this child still struggled to understand even some of the simplest words. The reason for this was that Johnny had not been instructed using phonics, which teaches children how to sound out or “decode” words. Once Johnny was introduced to phonics, he began to excel at reading.

Phonics is also referred to as the “foundational skills” of reading because while children could learn to read books in kindergarten or first grade by memorizing words, that will not help them once they get older and are assigned more challenging reading materials. So often the negative impact from lack of phonics instruction doesn’t become apparent until the child gets a bit older and is faced with these more complicated reading assignments. The scientific community stands by phonics as the best way to teach children to read. There have been movements to ensure it is used in schools, but as the book reveals, enforcing it has been a whole different story.

About the Author

Flesch is probably known best for Why Johnny Can’t Read: And What You Can Do About It. His other books include How to Test Readability (1951), How to Write Better (1951), The Art of Clear Thinking (1951), The ABC of Style: A Guide to Plain English (1964), and How to Write Plain English: A Book for Lawyers and Consumers.

Coping with Children’s Temperament: A Guide for Professionals

Written by AbleChild on September 21, 2021. Posted in Essential Books.

Pediatrician William B. Carey, and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, brought us this insightful must-have guide to temperaments in children. Instead of constantly growing frustrated with their child’s temper tantrums, impatience, irritability, self-centeredness and combativeness, Coping with Children’s Temperament: A Guide for Professionals gives parents, doctors, nurses, teachers, etc. an in-depth examination of temperament in children, what factors affects it, how it is affected, and how it develops over time. And while these behaviors are normal in children, incorrectly responding to and managing them can put the child at odds with their caregiver, which can lead to clinical problems over time.

Once we understand what is causing these behaviors, the book provides specific techniques for managing and preventing these behaviors in the future. Because while discipline may stop the behavior temporarily, it often does not solve the underlying problem. You will also learn the ways that your child’s temperament may be affecting you, which parents are often unaware of. Dr. Carey provides a wealth of research and helpful case studies to support his narrative. In the foreword to the book, former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop states that this book “should revolutionize parenting for many readers.”

About the Author

William B. Carey is a pediatrician who graduated from Harvard Medical School and did his specialty training at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. He then remained in Pennsylvania for 3 years of primary pediatrics care. In his solo practice, Carey specialized in child development and behavior, with a focus on the differences in temperaments of children. He is well-known for a series of five temperament questionnaires he created with a team of psychologists, for children ages one month to twelve years old. These questionnaires are commonly used as a reference across the world, and have been translated into many different languages. Some of Dr. Carey’s other books include Development-Behavioral Pediatrics: Expert Consult and Prevention and Early Intervention.

Reclaiming our Children: A Healing Solution for a Nation in Crisis

Written by AbleChild on August 20, 2021. Posted in Essential Books.

This is another groundbreaking and insightful book from psychiatrist Peter R. Breggin. In Reclaiming our Children: A Healing Solution for a Nation in Crisis, Breggin makes the case that society has, over time, begun to invest less and less in the support and attention that is given to children. Parents have become too busy, and as a result less involved in their children’s lives. Then children begin to seek that support they are longing for through behaviors such as violence, frustration, humiliation and anger.

Breggin felt moved to write this book after the events surrounding the shootings at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. He was disturbed by the response of government, which used biological psychiatry as an explanation for mental states that lead to these events, and subsequently pushed psychiatric drugs as a solution. Biological psychiatry attributes a chemical imbalance in the brain as the cause of rebellion, violence and misbehavior in children, as opposed to what is going on in their environment and how they are responding.

Breggin does an excellent job of presenting evidence, through his own counseling experiences, that psychiatric drugs can lead to aggression, and potentially even be the cause, not the solution, to events like Columbine. He says that you cannot fix all these behaviors by trying to fix a child’s brain. Often, aggressive, violent and other unruly behaviors are often a response by the child to being mistreated, by their parents or others in society.

About the Author

Peter R. Bregg, M.D., is a a psychiatrist who is very well known for helping set the stage for modern criticism of psychiatric treatments and psychotropic drugging. He has promoted so much success in the field of mental health that he has acquired the nickname “conscience of psychiatry.” HIs reform efforts began in the 1970s, and resulted in almost a complete cease in the use of procedures like lobotomy and psychosurgery in the Western World. Then in the 1990s, he and his wife Ginger were able to stop a federal eugenics project that was planned on America’s inner-city children. You can find more details about this in the book he co-authored with Ginger, The War Against Children of Color.

Breggin has been a full-time consultant at NIMH, as well as for the FAA. He has published over 20 books and numerous scientific articles. Some of his books include Toxic Psychiatry, The Antidepressant Factbook, and Talking Back to Prozac. His latest book is Covid-19 and the Global Predators: We are the Prey. Dr. Breggin is also the founder and director of The Center for the Study of Emphatic Therapy, Education and Living. He attended Harvard, and currently resides in Ithaca, NY. Find out more on his website, www.breggin.com.

Reviews

Douglas A. Smith, from the organization Antipsychiatry.org:

“By giving the reader an understanding of children’s thinking, he illustrates the stupidity of the underlying assumption of biological psychiatry, namely, that children’s (and adult’s) problems are caused by abnormalities of their brains, which in turn, to the ignorant, justifies the use of psychiatric drugs.”

Gwen Broude, in the article Scatterbrained Child Rearing from Reason.com:

“It is trivially true that all of a person’s thoughts, emotions, and behavior are a product of what is going on in the brain. But when people begin to see every inconvenient behavior as a disorder, and when they then propose, on the basis of the so-called new brain science, that we fix the child by fixing his brain, we have got a problem. Breggin targets this recent tendency on the part of educators, psychiatrists, and policy makers to view children’s behaviors as dysfunctions when they depart from the norm and then to advocate medical treatments for those supposed dysfunctions.”

The Wildest Colts Make the Best Horses

Written by AbleChild on June 22, 2021. Posted in Essential Books.

The Wildest Colts Make the Best Horses, is, as the title implies, a work that encourages the spirits of our young people and shines a more positive light on them. The book also has two subtitles. The first subtitle, The Truth About Ritalin, ADHD, and other “Disruptive Behavior Disorders” signals that the book really brings a lot of attention to the phenomenon of unrealistically high numbers of children being labeled with these kind of diagnoses, and prescribed potentially dangerous psychiatric medication. The second subtitle is What to Do When Your Child is Labeled By the Schools. The book offers a great deal of support for any adult that is caring for and looking to help a child in this type of situation.

This book is divided into three major sections:

Part 1: Recognition and Remembrance

Since society distorts the reality regarding the experience of children and schools, we need to recognize this and create a realistic picture of the situation to respond effectively.
Addresses the “Biopsychiatry” approach, which has led to the overmedicating of children with psychiatric drugs like Ritalin in the United States.
This section works to focus on ideas of who the child truly is and see the schools for what they really are.
Remembrance refers to training ourselves to be able to remember who our child truly is, which can be easy to forget in times of heightened stress and when the child is having a hard time emotionally or behaviorally.

Part 2: Information and Action

This section focuses on solutions – what action parents can take to help their child.
In our flawed society where no one tells us how to be parents, this book guides us on how to respond to these sensitive situations.

Part 3: On Counseling Children

This section is the heart of the book.
Does a great job of outlining and unpacking all of the conditioned thinking that has led our society astray.
Our society lacks support for both parents and children, and helping your children the way that is outlined in this book is very challenging in our culture today.
This section thoroughly examines important topics like fear, shame, crying and anger.
The author shares his own personal experiences as a parent.

About the Author

John Breeding, Ph.D., is a psychologist with over 25 years of experience who counsels adults children and families out of his private practice in Austin, Texas, and also around the world. He is the director of the non-profit organization Wildest Colts Resources, which focuses on helping adults working with young people having a hard time to offer non-drug treatment alternatives. He is also the director of Texans for Safe Education, a citizens group dedicated to fighting the growing role of psychiatry and psychiatric drugs in schools today.

Dr. Breeding is also experienced in other aspects of psychiatric oppression, including electroshock and psychiatric drugging of elders in nursing homes. He received his doctorate from the University of Texas. He has published several other books: Eyes Wide Open: Parenting and Life Mainfestos for the 21st Century, True Nature and Great Misunderstandings (On How We Care for Our Children According to Our Understanding, and Necessity of Madness and Unproductivity: Psychiatric Oppression or Human Transformation.

Reviews

Moira Dolan, M.D. The West News, Fall 1996:

“Are you the parent of a ‘wild colt’? Is your darling child identified as a ‘problem’ in school, or been the target of kindly professionals suggesting Ritalin? If so, you will discover your child in John Breeding’s new book….”

Chris Mercogliano, author of Making it Up as We Go Along, the Story of the Albany Free School and Co-Director of the Free School:

“Authors die for the perfect titles for their work. Well, John Breeding has come up with a doozy here. I wholeheartedly agree with Breeding and share his horror at what we are doing to our society’s wild colts. Breeding elects to focus mainly on today’s most popular designer label for children who don’t fit the mold, “Attention Deficit Disorder.” He emphatically repudiates any and every psychopharmaceutical approach to the behavioral management of children… Breeding knows what he’s talking about. So, parents out there, if the “psychiatric police” show up at your door, there is another way.”

True Nature and Great Misunderstandings (On How We Care for our Children According to Our Understanding)

Written by AbleChild on June 15, 2021. Posted in Essential Books.

In this groundbreaking work from 2002, author John Breeding gives extra attention to the view, or understanding, from which we are viewing our children. For example, if we think they are rowdy and violent, then we will have an understanding that we have to tame them. Or if we don’t recognize their unlimited capacity for curiosity and intelligence, we will see them as uncooperative and misbehaving and feel the need to punish or reward them accordingly. In this book, Breeding gently shines the light on the misunderstanding we have that our children’s wonderful gifts are in fact biologically-based problems labeled as “mental illness,” then the turnout is a society with millions of children on dangerous and unnecessary psychotropic drugs.

But instead of leading us to extreme shock and anger, Breeding does an excellent job of allowing us to properly absorb the information, clearly see the correct perspective and take the necessary actions to correct these misunderstandings. Breeding explains in detail how we can stop suppressing our children’s gifts and passions and instead nurture their emotional and intellectual growth and development. He eases fears many parents have about certain behaviors they may have been conditioned to see as signs of “mental illness.” True Nature and Great Misunderstandings is not only an excellent book that will help parents care for their children, it can also help parents and other adults heal from their own childhood hurts.

About the Author

Dr. Breeding is also experienced in other aspects of psychiatric oppression, including electroshock and psychiatric drugging of elders in nursing homes. He received his doctorate from the University of Texas. He has published several other books: Eyes Wide Open: Parenting and Life Mainfestos for the 21st Century, The Wildest Colts Make the Best Horses, and Necessity of Madness and Unproductivity: Psychiatric Oppression or Human Transformation.

Reviews

Psychologist/teacher Roger Mitchell, Ph.D.:

“Somehow, someway, John Breeding has found a way to measure his steps, his dreams, his pain, and his passion-to transform them into a dynamic interplay with the times and the American culture in a way that is thought provoking and heart rendering. I am always inspired when I read his ‘marking of the twain,’ sounding the depth of our American way of life.”

Author Jan Hunt (The Natural Child: Parenting from the Heart):

“In his strong voice, John Breeding makes it clear that our children deserve to be accepted and valued for their unique and wonderful qualities, not evaluated, pigeon-holed, labeled, or drugged. It is my hope that this refreshing, thought-provoking, and very important book will be read and taken to heart by all those fortunate enough to have children, work with children, or advocate on their behalf.”

No More Ritalin: Treating ADHD Without Drugs

Written by AbleChild on June 9, 2021. Posted in Essential Books.

With several million children still being prescribed ADHD drugs such as Ritalin every year, Dr. Mary Ann Block makes the case for why Ritalin (generic name methylphenidate) could be a huge risk to your child’s health. Block takes an avant-garde approach in No More Ritalin: Treating ADHD Without Drugs, not only questioning the very existence of the ADHD diagnosis, but she outlines safe and more effective drug-free alternative means of treatment. Block is of the school of thought that you can’t treat the problem until you identify the underlying causes of ADHD, such as hypoglycemia, allergies, environmental factors and hyperthyroidism. Often, symptoms stemming from issues such as these are misdiagnosed as ADHD. The book also lists commonly prescribed medications, explains what they are and the potential side effects they can have on children.

Block discusses in the book her belief that children diagnoses with ADHD are usually right-brain dominant in their information processing and learning styles, as well as being more creative than those with left-brain dominant styles. She explains the need for right-brain dominated children to be offered better accommodations with their learning styles in the school system. Block presents her arguments with thorough research and actual case histories from her clinic.

About the Author

Dr. Mary Ann Block is a top-selling author on family health, and director of the Block Center. Her medical approach is to look for and treat, whenever possible, the underlying causes of the problem, instead of using drugs to cover the symptoms. Her other books include No More ADHD, Just Because You’re Depressed, Doesn’t Mean You Have Depression, Depression is a Symptom Not a Disease, So Find the Cause — Fix the Problem, Today I Will Not Die, and The ABC’s of Raising Great Kids.

Dr. Block chairs The Health and Empowerment Committee for the National Foundation of Women Legislators. She is a State of Texas Family Practice Preceptor and served on the faculty as assistant professor at the University of North Texas Health Science Center/Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine in Fort Worth, Texas. Dr. Block is a regular contributor on TBN and FamilyNet’s Your Health with Dr. Richard Becker, as well as being quoted in magazines, newspapers, radio and TV shows across the country.

No More ADHD, 10 Steps to Help Improve Your Child’s Attention and Behavior WITHOUT Drugs

Written by AbleChild on June 1, 2021. Posted in Essential Books.

From the same top-selling author of Just Because You’re Depressed, Doesn’t Mean You Have Depression, Depression is a Symptom Not a Disease, So Find the Cause — Fix the Problem is a book that thoroughly investigates the truth about the ADHD diagnosis, and helps parents identify their child’s true health and learning problems and find non-pharmaceutical ways to improve these issues. Block reveals what’s behind the origin of the medical profession’s label of ADHD, question’s the disorder’s medical legitimacy, and shows how children’s attention and behavior symptoms can be the result of real and explainable health and learning problems.

Dr. Block is an outspoken critic of children being diagnosed with ADHD and the dangers of the psychiatric drugs being prescribed to treat children. She advises parents to make sure their children are thoroughly examined by a medical professional to find underlying medical problems that could be misdiagnosed as a mental disorder.

Dr. Block is a mother who knows from personal experience how the medical system can fail a child. Her daughter became seriously ill following an incorrect diagnosis from doctors and inappropriate use of pharmaceutical drugs. This compelled her to attend medical school at the age of 39 to save her daughter. Dr. Block’s perspective as both a parent and a physician should set many parents at ease and give them confidence in her advice in this book.

About the Author

Dr. Mary Ann Block is a licensed osteopathic physician and top-selling author on family health, and director of the Block Center. Her other books include No More Ritalin, No More Amoxicillin, Today I Will Not Die, and The ABC’s of Raising Great Kids.

Ablechild Warns of Clinical Trial “offers” to Low-Income Families

Written by Able Child on April 8, 2014. Posted in Articles, Lawmaking.

Ablechild often is contacted by parents concerning a number of issues surrounding psychiatric diagnosing and psychiatric drugging of children, but the recent information forwarded to us is troubling.

A Connecticut mother, who receives state health benefits, was concerned about a recent letter she received from Acurian Health, a company that “specializes in matching people to clinical research studies,” and forwarded the correspondence to Ablechild.

The mother was concerned about the implications of offering money to low-income mothers willing to enroll their child in a pharmaceutical clinical trial. More than that, she had no idea how Acurian Health obtained her personal information in order to make the “offer.”

Ablechild was equally curious how Acurian obtained this mother’s information and contacted the Behavioral Health Partnership Oversight Council, inquiring whether the state was providing this information to third parties. Ablechild did not receive a reply.

The question is, of course, does Acurian Health have access to the state’s health data? Is it possible this mother unwittingly signed a waiver allowing her personal information to be shared? The mother in question has no memory of providing authorization to release the data, but admitted that the waiver could have been in the “fine print.”

Nevertheless, Ablechild is providing this information to its members in an effort to make families aware of “offers” such as this from Acurian Health. The “offer” is targeting children 7-17 years old who “have Depression or may be experiencing symptoms of Depression,” and the “offer” further explains qualified participants “may receive Depression medication approved for use in adults.”

The only antidepressant approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for adolescents is Fluoxetine or Prozac. All other antidepressants have not been approved for children and adolescents ages 8 and older. The FDA conducted a study including 2,200 children treated with Serotonin Selective Reuptake Inhibitors, (SSRI) medications and 4 percent of those taking SSRI’s experienced suicidal thinking or behavior, including actual suicide attempts – twice the rate of those taking placebo, or sugar pills.

In response to this study, the FDA adopted “black box” warnings – the FDA’s most serious warnings – indicating that antidepressants may increase the risk of suicidal thinking and behavior. However, there are many other known adverse reactions associated with antidepressants, including mania, psychosis and hallucinations to name a few.

Ablechild cannot help but wonder if these low-income families are being targeted and lured by the pathetic “$50 per visit” offer. We are alerting families to be aware of unknowingly providing authorization for release of personal information to third parties. When applying for state health services, it is important to ask if personal information is shared with third parties and how you may opt out.

Ablechild, and the mother who provided this “offer,” is concerned that families going through tough financial times may be tempted to participate in clinical trials that admittedly will be using dangerous psychiatric drugs that are not approved for children and without informed consent.

When applying for state benefits, it’s important to know your rights and, specifically, to know if personal data will be provided to third parties.

Ablechild Supporters

Written by Sheila Matthews on December 25, 2013. Posted in Lawmaking.

Dear Ablechild Supporters,

It has been an amazing year! Your help has brought the mission of Informed Consent relating to psychiatric drugs to a new level. In order to keep up the continued fight, we are in need of your generous donations.

We are one of the only organizations in the United States that has been on the front lines of this war against our basic parental rights. One of the most fierce engagements we had was with the State of Connecticut over the disclosure of Adam Lanza’s mental health, special education, and toxicology report. We appeared before the freedom of information commission and forced the State to admit the reason why they did not want to disclose the records.

Our website continues to receive increased traffic and the media often seeks us out for our opinion. This upcoming legislative session in Connecticut and throughout the Country will be totally focused on mental health. The multi-billion dollar mental health and drug industry will be setting the agenda, we cannot let this happen. Their agenda has already been spelled out to massively screen ALL children within the public education system for mental illnesses. As we know, there is no test. It is totally subjective and will traffic children into an unmanageable whirlwind of drug use. As we have witnessed time and again the deadly school shootings ending with the shooter’s suicide, we cannot stand by and allow this to happen.

Although the economy is in a deep recession, we cannot think of a better cause then to stop the violence these drugs are inducing into our society. We urge you to support Ablechild and its continued mission of informed consent by making a year end contribution that is tax deductible. Knowledge is power, share the information.

We wish you a healthy and happy New Year.

The Ablechild Team