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Comment Re:shame on you slashdot (Score 1) 225

Slashdot's mod system is not perfect, but it is better than most. They can spout whatever nonsense they want, you don't have to see any of their posts, or even know they posted something. It's like you can personally shadow ban them, and see less things that upset you.

It's amazing that after all these years other sites haven't cottoned on. Maybe precisely because it *is* better and harder to gamify.

True, dat. Drama lovers maybe? The Reddit model completely sucks. mods there have their little fiefdoms, utter one "wrong" word and you are gone or berated. Or stray from the topic a little, as normal people having normal conversations do, and you get hammered.

In here, yes, we are at the mercy of the mods as far as levels, I've posted factual things and ended up at -1 troll. But who gives a rats ass? Nothing has been deleted or blocked. Slashdot has a system that works, doesn't discard unpopular posts, yet allows people to avoid those posts if they like.

Some have tried to call this censorship. It is far from it.

Comment Re:ADHD does not exist (Score 1) 225

Yes, licensed physicians make mistakes, lots of them. And educated patients and their families *should* second-guess and question what their doctors say. But that doesn't make you qualified to determine that your son's psychiatrist "rubber-stamped" the teacher's hunch.

It appears you are not proficient at paying attention - My son had no psychiatrist, Notnone of these boys did. In the event that I ever said there was a psychiatrist involved, cite it. the teachers Mande the announcement, and then medical doctors obeyed and wrote out teh prescription. Perhaps your idea of a perfect step filled world is not as accurate as you think it is. Now one psychiatrist was involved in this. SO if you think I'm being obtuse, there might have been a tad more veracity in your idea that I was adverse to psychiatrists or some right wing weirdo.

Further, as someone who has been an educator, I have observed that parents are often the *least* aware of their own children's behaviors and problems in school.

You appear to be making a very prejudiced and quiet bigoted statement. And aer you a doctor in Parentchild relationships? Using your metric, unless you have that doctorate I must summarily reject your conclusion Just being a teacher is not enough, you are not qualif9ied - you only have an opinion that is not accurate - Your rules Tony Issac, not mine. Come back when you have the doctorate in psychiatry, otherwise you are not qualified. Your opinion means nothing - I follow your metrics.

It seems fashionable these days for parents to insist that their sweet little angel couldn't *possibly* be a mean brute to their classmates.

I agree - however once again you make a bigoted post claiming that I am in that subset of parents. I was a coach of youth ice hockey, and I ran into parents who acted as you describe. But no one was rougher on my son than me. I set strong boundaries, enforced them, I had no part on the trendy parenting. He never had a discipline issue in school.

Doctors make mistakes, but they don't just rubber-stamp teachers.

Perhaps I've seen that they do. So which one of is a liar, Tony Issac? You who say that Doctors never rubber stamp anything, or me, who has experience both in school and family matters, and say they sometimes do. I suppose as a teacher, you find my personal experience so repulsive so wrong, that you need to claim I am dissembling. So be it, and may none of your loved ones never have to go through what I have. May all of your teachers, psychiatrists and medical doctors be as perfect as you assume. Any further insults? I must say, your attitude is not dissimilar to many of my son's teachers.

Comment Re:ADHD does not exist (Score 1) 225

No, grade school teachers are generally not qualified, and as a result, they are unable to provide a diagnosis. But a teacher, seeing many students, might recognize the symptoms and refer a student to a psychiatrist, which sounds like what happened here.

YOU are not qualified to determine that the doctor's diagnosis was a rubber stamp.

Are you trained in psychiatry? Do you have a license to practice medicine? If the answer is no, then you are not qualified to determine whether your son has ADHD, or to determine that the doctor's diagnosis is incorrect.

I am "trained" in Electromagnetics. DC to daylight. Fully qualified. It is most interesting you believe that I am unqualified to make any judgement, other than in my field.

I work in an academic environment where I give counsel to doctors in many fields. They seem to have less disdain for it that you do. Although I've run into a few, like the Doctor of Engineering that tried to have me fired because I called him by his first name. Or the one I insulted by correcting an egregious mistake on his part to one of his students. It would have destroyed the student's work his grade, and cost possibly millions. Neither got far. Insecure people with degrees.

Smart people listen to what others have to say. I do. I've asked for and taken advice from the person cleaning the office, or more often from electricians. I gauge if the advice or statement has merit, and accept or deny it based on the merit, not the person's education level. I don't have a doctorates in anything, yet I'm considered a resource among many who do. As expensive as my burn rate was, I was in high demand for different groups, many of which had little to do with my field. For crying out loud, I was a process chemist for a year. So far from my field it was ridiculous. But I did well, filling in and learning until they hired a new chemist. I got the work because I had developed a unique photo exposure and processing method for metallurgy, I supposed.

Now on to these medical experts. I've had 3 relatives killed by doctors. Bad professional Medical Doctor prescription work damn near killed my wife. My mother in law had a TIA, was in the hospital in the ER. She said they had given her a diuretic and she was peeing a lot.

Wife and I were talking to the ER doctor, a nice lady, who told us they were concerned about MIL's strange low potassium levels. I noted that they had given her a diuretic was urinating a lot, which probably caused the low potassium. The ER doctor went wide eyed and blushed. "Oh - yes, that's what caused the low potassium. Thank you!" Stopped the Diuretic, and the potassium levels returned to normal fairly quickly. I am presumably not allowed to note that - except I will, and I am. One does not need a Doctorate to know that potassium levels can get unbalanced when taking a strong diuretic.

The only place where the degree makes a person "correct" is a courtroom, and everyone has their doctors with different opinions. Which one is correct?t. People who are not doctors are on the Jury, casting judgement. You see my friend, that doctorate (in any field) does not make a person an ubermenchen. The only people who have issues with my judgements and opinions are people who are insecure. the idea that I am someone whois versed in many fields, and sorry, I've been around long enough to know that they are not infallible, and have seen their qualified "professional" mistakes often enough that if they don't want to hear my thoughts - they won't be my doctor. They are not in any way superior. And the smart ones listen. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe I'm right. But determining I am wrong because of my background - that's wrong.

Comment Re:ADHD does not exist (Score 1) 225

I don't know which one you are. But I'm confident that every single psychiatrist that diagnoses a child, is more qualified than you.

Do you believe that grade school teachers are qualified? I was very clear about grade school teachers diagnosing entire population of male students as suffering from ADHD. Interestingly all males, no females.

The parents took them to a doctor and he or she rubber stamped the diagnosis. What are your bona fides to say that you are qualified to dismiss my experience. I'm diagnosing nothing except that my son did not have ADHD, when the administrators threatened me with liability because my son was a big strong lad - that didn't seem like an indication, and I told them so Pissed them off royally . Did some of his male classmates have ADHD? Considering the number, a good chance. All of them? Nope.

Comment Re:ADHD does not exist (Score 2) 225

What is your solution to this however, a person who needs extra time or to bring mommy along because they have anxiety - how are they going to be accommodated when they graduate and look for a job?

There is a simple (and difficult) solution, but it destroys the illusion that having a college degree is a simple way to determine if someone will be a good employee.

If the degree is meant to show that someone has the knowledge to do the job, it isn't great because they don't teach enough on the job related skills in college. If the degree is meant to show that someone has the critical thinking skills to do the job, it isn't great because those skills aren't focused on much in most colleges. If the degree is meant to show they can work and think quickly under pressure, it isn't great because schools will often accommodate for students who struggle in those areas. If the degree is meant to show they can work hard and follow through with a fairly challenging four year task, it is pretty good at that. If the degree is meant to show they have enough foundational knowledge to learn to do the job, it is pretty good at that. If the degree is meant to show they came from an upper middle class socioeconomic background (so they fit in with the corporate culture), or at least had middle class families that worked hard to give their children the benefits of an upper middle class upbringing, it is pretty good at that too.

If you want someone to do a job that is high stress and requires quick thinking, you better assess for that competency yourself instead of assuming a college degree is enough of a hiring filter. But most jobs don't (or shouldn't) require those skills.

I am in corporate strategy, and while I can think on my feet well enough to handle meetings with executives, I do my best thinking after a few hours (or weeks) of contemplation and research. No one should want someone to help advise on critical business decisions just because they are better at coming up with a decent answer in 5 minutes. Different jobs require different skills.

I don't disagree with what you wrote - but it doesn't answer the question I posed. Adult children didn't bring their parents along to job interviews or work in the past. I'm referring to say, before 20 years ago. In the academic environment I was in - I still am, but not much academic work around students - in the early 2000's, during orientation, we ended up separating the parents from their children, to tell the parents that they needed to allow their children to grow up. We had some"humorous" examples of student's calling their parents to have a professor or instructor fired because they were "mean to them". And no, we were not going to fire our professors unless they did something criminal. And told to not go to their children's job interviews, or overly interfere.

And it was semi successful. You could tell which parents ignored the advice. We had some millenials who had a stress tolerance of zero.

One of our hires was a guy who freaked out every time I spoke to him. "Good morning" delivered as chirpy as I could, was enough to trigger a minor panic attack. I had to assign one of the women to give him his work, and I avoided him until he washed out.

He was an extreme example, but except for two women who were some of the best employees I ever worked with, these kids were simply not ready to adult. So it was about bit less than 10 percent success rate in my department. And before that people didn't stress out of the job.

Comment Re:ADHD does not exist (Score 1) 225

I have no doubt that some children have been misdiagnosed. But the claim of over-diagnosis is generally made by parents who are skeptical of psychiatry in general, believing it to be a bunch of mumbo jumbo. These parents are not well educated in the seriousness of the condition, and are not qualified to judge who is properly diagnosed and who is not.

Which am I Tony? Unless you are an expert with bona fides in Psychiatry and psychiatric drugs, You aren't qualified to have an opinion either.

Comment Re:"disabled" (Score 1) 225

If the kids are looking for the real surprise, it’s at the bottom of the box.

When “disabled” college students graduate and find out what “word” got added to the default rejection filter at LinkedIn.

Then they’ll find out the value of honesty and integrity.

This! So much this. What was used as a flex in the education is a terrible liability when they are expected to adult.

If you are incapable of handling anxiety and stress, your employment opportunities shrink dramatically. And even if you do get hired in some of these jobs, you will wash out pronto,

Comment Re: "disabled" (Score 1) 225

Do they also get to bring their "emotional support animals" to the test?

Hi, Prof. Here for the test. I've brought my emotional support nerd. Nerds aren't people, so he counts. Don't mind if we wispers emotionally supporting right answers into my ear.

TFA has a bit about a kid who brought his mother to class and she ended up doing all of his class participation for him.

Bastards won't let me bring my emotional support stripper into the classroom. Tatianna relieves all of my stress.

Comment Re:Have you met these kids? (Score 3, Insightful) 225

I think anxiety is pretty common in college students.

Exactly. After getting through the teen years - which has anxiety, then college - which has a lot of anxiety, they will enter the workforce - and find out just how much anxiety there can be. You might get extra time on a test because of anxiety, but that isn't going to fly when you miss hard deadlines.

I think there has to be some sort of talk therapy for kids to be able to handle anxiety. If you feel anxious, explore that with a therapist. It is not going away, and you cannot be shielded from it forever. Children need to understand that, and that a certain amount of resilience is needed to become a full fledged adult.

I'm dealing with that right now. I was called back from retirement to work at a job that all the new hires were failing. A lot of responsibility, and some stressful moments. They stressed out, and either became belligerent or so anxious they stopped functioning. Granted, not everyone wants to be in that sort of work, but the rewards are also great. Stressful, anxious moments? Sure. A countdown to a Rocket launch invokes some anxiety. I feel concerns until my project is finished. Just natural. When the day is done, I'm happy about it.

But calling back the old dude because the young people can't handle it tells us a lot, and it isn't good.

Comment Re:shame on you slashdot (Score 1) 225

I agree. AC used to be a good thing before post farms existed and slashdot karma was a high stakes game and the m2 system wasn't completely solved and gamified.

Now it's just for opinions so disgusting they'll rightfully keep your posts out gen-pop. In the rare event that there is some urge for debate, it's utterly pointless because the poster will never get notified they have a reply and nobody else will take up the torch for their holocaust or global warming denialism, or incel misogyny in their absence because AC is pretty much only now for views that are nearly universally repugnant

AC can also be for responding to a post in a topic you have already moderated in. I always note that I'm posting AC to avoid mod point destruction.

Seriously though - unless I have mod points and read at -1, I just set the message level at 1, and hide any posts lower than that. And I mostly ignore any replies by AC's. If you want no posts on anything you disagree with, there are much, much better places for you to post from than Slashdot.

Why would you demand that those people should be silenced? Slashdot's mod system is not perfect, but it is better than most. They can spout whatever nonsense they want, you don't have to see any of their posts, or even know they posted something. It's like you can personally shadow ban them, and see less things that upset you.

Comment Re:shame on you slashdot (Score 1) 225

(Note, you don't use your name.... I actually do, but that was my choice). At least requiring a login so there is some "handle" to show previous activity and positions is useful. And there is still a reputation to protect, even if it is not a person's actual name/identity.

In today's world, your opinion can get you fired. But yes, seeing a person's handle and history is a good thing.

It is true, if I had to use my real name, I would post differently, and definitely less. Some of my conclusions are based on research, and they are not popular with some people. But it is good to have the conversations, I'm happy to write on unpopular topics. I'm a true Cassandra.

Full disclosure - I am happy to troll some people if I think they deserve it - I ain't perfect.

So for the Anonymous Cowards I have two things to note. First is that they can be identified quite often on their writing style.

Second is that just set that pointer thingamajig doohickey to 1 and you'll not see many of those AC posts, except the ones that might be good and get some upvotes. Problem cured.

Comment Re:ADHD does not exist (Score 0) 225

ADHD does not exist:

This is like claiming that cancer doesn't exist. It's total sophistry.

ADHD does indeed exist. So does overdiagnosis.

I had an intern at work once who was ADHD. Really intelligent, infectiously enthusiastic, and one of the most likable people ever. But he couldn't finish a project if his life depended on it. We accommodated him by getting him in at the start of projects, then letting him move on to the start of the next one. We knew it, he knew it. We all even laughed about it.

My son was diagnosed with ADHD - largely based on them trying to diminish his possible impact based on his size and strength. I'm not kidding, in grade school his teachers claimed every male child had ADHD. Most were put on Ritalin - I refused.

I definitely would have been id ADHD was a thing back them. I fidgeted, I daydreamed. I was freaking bored. If they took the time to compare my grades against my daydreaming, they would have figured out I needed challenged, not knowing the material already.

If they had put me on Ritalin, it would just have destroyed my drive and spark.

Comment Re:ADHD does not exist (Score 2, Interesting) 225

This story is clearly labeled as an OPINION piece. This guy's opinion is not shared by the medical community. Nor is it shared by those of us parents who have a child with ADHD.

Of course, there are children who do have actual ADHD, But your child dealing with ADHD is not the same thing as my son's teachers in grade school diagnosing every male child with ADHD. Doctors rubber stamped the diagnosis, most of the boys were placed on Ritalin. I refused - to some threats "But Mr Olsoc, your boy is big and strong, you'll be liable if anything happens. I told them I did not know size and strength was part of the ADHD diagnosis.

And I would definitely been diagnosed as ADHD myself. I stared out the window, daydreaming. I fidgeted. Because I was bored silly. But that isn't something you can treat with drugs. And Ritalin would have destroyed the spark and drive inside me that I used to achieve success in life.

The problem isn't that there are any diagnoses, it is the sheer volume of them. I suspect there are less of them now, as the damage to young males brains has shown up. Now, "anxiety" - a normal part of life - is the new touchstone. And rather than have students figure out how to cope with them, more of a talking therapy approach, we're having schools accommodate them. This will not work when they hit the workforce.

Comment Re: ADHD does not exist (Score 2, Insightful) 225

Why not make accommodations the norm for everyone?

That's where we are going to end up.

Anxiety is a part of life, always has been. Somehow we have tried to make inability to cope with anxiety a weird flex.

ADHD has been expanded. In my son's grade school class 100 percent of the boys were diagnosed with ADHD - by their teachers. Doctors rubber stamped the diagnosis. I refused to allow my son to be placed on them, despite the schools threats. He turned out normal. Many had Ritalin related problems.

These poor kids needed to be taught that anxiety at times is 100 percent normal, not that it is everyone else's job to accommodate and encourage their anxiety. Gawd, when those poor kids get into the workforce it is going to be rough for them.

Comment Re:ADHD does not exist (Score 2, Insightful) 225

That is nonsense. And uninformed nonsense at that. You might as well claim that mental conditions do not exist (there are people that claim exactly that) with about as much justification or evidence, namely nothing significant.

What is your solution to this however, a person who needs extra time or to bring mommy along because they have anxiety - how are they going to be accommodated when they graduate and look for a job?

Of course, there are mental conditions. We can argue about what they are, or are not, but these numbers tell us something is a little off. 45 percent of students at the law school cited have mental issues? That defies belief.

People who need extra time in college to take tests because. of anxiety, will not be able to function upon graduation, and try to get employment. They won't get extra time to meet hard deadlines, they won't be able to raise families, they will need the one-two punch of antidepressants and atypical antipsychotics.

All that said, it is more likely to be the sort of issue like able bodied people trying to get handicapped parking placards.

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