Guest Post by Stephanie Vlahov, author of "The Active, Creative Child"
About Stephanie Vlahov
Stephanie Vlahov has her Masters Degree in Therapy/Counseling, in addition to a year of clinical internship in psychiatric settings. . However, her "day job" is that of corporate recruiter. She is married and has two sons-one of whom (Alex) was the impetus for the book "The Active Creative Child." Now 21, he attends the prestigious London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts (LAMDA ) after attending two years at UCLA in the theatre dept. Stephanie's passion is writing and painting. Through years in community theatre and school involvement, she has drawn upon her well of professional insight and "gut level" parental intuition to draw up one conclusion: We are over diagnosing and labeling some of our most creative minds. While not discounting the validity of a real disorder, ADHD has become a catch all "diagnosis" for children who march to the beat of a different drummer. One of her goals is to empower parents to question the oft heard need to diagnose their child-from educational systems that often hamper creativity at the expense of test scores." If Einstein were alive today, he would be put on Ritalin."
For more information on Stephanie and her book visit http://svlahov.com
The Active Creative Child is her first book.
GUEST POST
The active creative child is a prime candidate for an alternative school experience. When this book was published five years ago, we as a nation were in an educational fiscal crisis.. Fast forward to 2010, and it is much worse. The financial pressures on our public schools (and political /union expenditure-but that is the topic for another book) is greatly impacting how our kids are taught. "Teaching to the test" is rampant in the rat-race for great scores and the accompanying funding. Compliance and conformity add to an atmosphere where rote memorization is praised. The squirmy kid in the corner who wants to act out his book report instead of efficiently spitting out a report is oftentimes a nuisance. Teachers love him-but "Gee, there is no time.."
The active creative child receives a lot of negative comments merely because he is well,,..active. He is alternately praised and punished for his precocious ways. It is imperative that he be able to wrap his creativity into an academic environ. A teacher who embraces innovation and enthusiasm is essential. If home-schooled, there needs to be an element of cooperative work between this child and others. Because the active creative child is additionally praised by many for his innovative and creative output, he can become narcissistic in possession of a gargantuan ego. Stressing to him that we all need to cooperate and conform to rules in most settings is important-because oftentimes he is wrapped up in his personal flights of fancy.
About The Active Creative Child
The Active Creative Child was born out of the need to validate and celebrate the boundless energy oftentimes negated in a highly active child. In these current economic times of budget shortfalls within our educational institutions, there is more emphasis now than ever on "teaching to the test" to obtain high test scores. This translates to more funding. Children who are disruptive are considered a nuisance and distraction. Teachers "routinely" suggest to parents to have their child "evaluated" for ADHD. Oftentimes these comments stem from frustration with normal developmental activity (i.e. a wiggly 1st grade boy) or, a child who may wish to color the sky purple instead of blue.
Yes. children need parameters and they need to conform in a group setting. This issue goes beyond that. We are stifling some of our most brilliant minds.
"ADHD - like" behavior has been linked neurologically to "out of the box" and creative thought process(es.) While I am not a physician, I can see that this is the case in the children that I have known over the years through my activity in childrens theatre. Alex was a questioning whirling dervish of activity-obsessed with the world of imagination and theatre. I saw in him the incessant pulse of activity and the need to create. If channeled correctly while working within the educational system, an active creative child can and will enrich the lives of those around him.
