Report On Learning Disabilities

First off, I thought the Frontline Special was fantastic. I believe it was very well done and unbiased, covering all angles and viewpoints. Each and every case showed was very interesting to me but I'm going to choose to focus on Alex. I'm choosing to focus on Alex because he seemed to be the most serious case out of the four shown.

Being Alex's age and having a weight problem can be tough. We all can picture "The Fat Kid" out on the playground getting made fun of. His depression obviously stems from being treated like this. At his age, social acceptance is far more important than academic success.

From the video presentation it seemed like they really started giving him anti-depressants because of his behavior. and weeks later he attempted suicide in the school bathroom. Were these drugs working?....I think not. I do recall reading articles about how some anti-depressants can have suicidal side effects (That factoid could lend itself to a paper of it's own). It was at this point that his doctors put him on ADHD medication.

The combination of the two medications worked extremely well for Alex. His social anxiety seemed to disappear and so did his depression and thoughts of suicide. His grades went up, his teachers were complimenting him, he was feeling good about himself. It seems to me that in Alex's case the disorders are definitely real and present. It is also very clear to me that the help of doctors and medicine have helped Alex to turn his life around.

I do however feel that some kids that just have trouble paying attention need to "learn" how to pay attention instead of taking drugs that help them do it. Staying on task and learning are life skills that one needs to have. Taking medication to do this better should be done only in cases where it is extremely necessary.

I can certainly understand the viewpoint of a skeptic on the usefulness of these