Fight your own battles, bonmot.

Dear dozer,

Hate to burst your bubble, you being on a roll and wanting some attention, engagement and all ... but;

There are no 'reds under the beds' and the world aint going to end anytime soon despite that you think the author the vanguard of a world wide assault.

Sheesh

>>I apologise for that, but it was impossible for me not to run with your demeaning TLDR line.<<

I apologise for demeaning you. Where I come from TLDR is not considered impolite. Personally I don't mind reading large volumes of text: but I like to read them old school style - printed on pieces of paper and preferably bound into books. Reading large volumes of text off a computer screen is probably bad for your eyes and definitely just plain annoying. Especially when a more succinct link could communicate the point just as effectively.

Basically, TLDR is the modern equivalent of 'brevity is the soul of wit'. I'll try to use that phrase from now on, for fear of inadvertently demeaning you old kunts.

>>Yep...stupid parents. What could they possibly know?<<

More about their children than anybody else in the world. That's their job. But less about medicine than doctors/nurses, less about diesel engines than diesel mechanics, less about terroir than vignerons, and yes, less about teaching than teachers. Because unless teaching is their job, chances are they won't be nearly as good at it as real teachers.

>>The paediatrician got it 'wrong'. If my son had still been at school, and I'd acquiesced to the paediatrician's erroneous conclusions, my son would have had no 'special needs' assistance because he wasn't formally diagnosed.<<

Long story short: because some idiot paediatrician cocked up, you've seen fit to throw the baby out with the bathwater and eschew the wisdom of other professionals. This is understandable: once bitten, twice shy. I would ask that you reflect on the wisdom of that decision.

TBC

Because I could use a little extra money on the side. So I thought I might offer you my services as a home dentist: dentist's waiting lists are long and they cost a lot when you finally do get your appointment. In less time than it takes to get in to see a real dentist, I can be on your front doorstep with a big grin on my face and a cordless drill in the other. And for only $25 an hour, cash in hand.

Now, it's true that I have zero training in the art of dentistry: but I have some experience in the field of organic chemistry which basically necessitates a familiarity with the solvents chloroform and diethyl ether. These days I'm an apprentice chef, so I get to handle a lot of food grade nitrous oxide: the cheats way to whip cream. So I have some idea about some of the earlier dental anaesthetics and one which is still in common use.

I haven't used a power drill since year 8, and that was only in woodwork class, but I'm sure it's like riding a bike: it'll come back to me once I get started. How different can children's teeth be from chunks of pine?

I'll have more trouble with fillings: I don't know how to make the amalgam ones and I can't be bothered grave-robbing to get gold ones. But I am reasonably handy with a pair of pliers: so we can just yank out the bad ones and replace them with some cool wooden falsies, George Washington style.

So how about it? For a mere $25 an hour and not a word to the taxman: I will come over to your house, dose your kid up on chloroform and whippits, take to his tender young jaw with a cheap cordless power drill and attempt to repair my butchery with poorly carved wooden false teeth. I'll even clean up the inevitable mess, although you'll have to clean up the ongoing psychological trauma.

TBC

Or maybe not. Maybe some things are just better left to people with the proper expertise. Maybe being intelligent and caring and passionate and comitted and having a very firm belief in one's own abilities don't actually amount to a whole lot of beans when compared with good old fashioned know-how.

An exercise for the reader: if this applies to dentistry (etc.) why does it not apply to teaching? 750 words or less and no links.

Cheers,

Tony

Tony Lavis,

He wasn't an 'idiot paediatrician'. He was a competent paediatrician who failed to comprehend the situation regarding my son. He is a well-respected paediatician in this city and looked after my son well after a traumatic birth.

Autism, at the 'high end' of the spectrum can be quite tricky to diagnose as no two children display the exactly the same behaviours and sensory disturbances, or display them in the same degree. This fellow had reports from teachers and therapists at his disposal and chose to ignore them all - as well as my own well-researched conclusions. This happens a lot with children at this end of the spectrum and there are many kids out there who receive little or no understanding as they haven't been formally diagnosed.

My son enjoyed two great years before he began school proper. I had already decided to homeschool him at the end of those two years but relented to 'see how he coped' at the start of grade 1. Within a very short time he was an emotional wreck. Unfortunately he ended up with a recalcitrant teacher who wasn't interested in anything I had to say. I withdrew him and contacted the ed department and we went from there. He wasn't formally diagnosed until six months later. I could have left him there and spent the foreseeable future tangoing with school authorities but I decided not to take that option like most parents do.

We are visited by a moderator who assesses his progress - so far it's very good. Yes, I know I'm not a 'teacher', but I am the person who guides my son. I don't have to control a large class and work out which material to stuff into their minds - ours is a whole different paradigm which I won't bother explaining because I doubt if you'd grasp an idea so far outside the square.