Education Inside

Teaching the Restless tells about a wonderful school that offers an alternative to traditional education for ADHD kids, or Ritalin kids as the author calls them. The author, Chris Mercogliano, uses anecdotes about how his school is able to rescue individual children from their fate of being labeled ADHD and medicated in order to make them fit into a “normal” school. No matter what the cause of ADHD, I was thrilled to read that medication is not the only answer. The problem with this book is that Mr. Mercogliano doesn’t just want to leave it at that. He also wants to tell us what causes (or doesn’t cause) ADHD. His stance is that ADHD is not a true biochemical disorder and doesn’t exist. Unfortunately, Mr. Mercogliano is neither a doctor nor a scientist and seems to want to ignore a growing body of scientific work that shows a strong genetic component to ADHD, and for many ADHD kids, a definite difference in their brain physiology and function. Instead, he continually emphasizes that each kid he “saves” comes from an unstable background which must have contributed to their restlessness. He trots out studies of dubious statistical significance that show that ADHD-like behaviors can be caused by poor mothering during infancy and beyond. In other words, he wants to go back to the “Refrigerator Mom” theory to explain aberrant behavior in children. Children who aren’t breastfed apparently are at risk for being diagnosed with ADHD, as are those who watch a lot of TV. And woe to those moms who go back to work and submit their children to daycare too early. They are dooming their children to ADHD, too. But moms aren’t solely to blame. There’s plenty of guilt leftover for dads if you read further into the book.

I read this book because I have a son who struggles mightily to cope with the environment of a traditional school (not the academics – he’s way ahead in reading and math). I would love to have access to a school like the Free School (which is not free) and I’d desperately like to educate my son without the use of Ritalin. But I wonder how Mr. Mercogliano would explain the ADHD behavior of a kid like my son. My “Ritalin” child refutes every theory proposed by the author as to what causes ADHD. My son comes from an intact, peaceful family; he suffered no trauma as an infant and was breastfed (for a year) and nurtured by a stay-at-home mom. He has always been well-cared for by two affectionate, present parents. We are neither overly controlling nor negligent pushovers. He has never watched more than a tiny amount of TV. From the time he could walk, we spent almost every day out somewhere, engaging in active play, getting exercise and experiencing the world of nature and culture. We have a second child raised in the exact same environment that shows no signs of ADHD or any other brain difference. My son was clearly restless from birth and his symptoms are clearly not a product of his upbringing. Mr. Mercogliano completely ignores any mention of children like my son, who don’t fit his theories and for whom ADHD is mostly certainly a biochemical, genetic-based condition.

Mr. Mercogliano’s last chapter, “Conclusion”, is especially weak. Although his book was published in 2003, he sites findings from a 1998 NIH conference to back up his views. Essentially, he was not even using the most recent scientific data available at the time the book was published. Now it is 2010. In terms of brain research 1998 was eons ago. I would not trust any book on the subject unless it was written in the last few years. Mr. Mercogliano is proud to make his bias clear, but why does Mr. Mercogliano even stray into this territory to begin with? As a reader, if I were looking for information about the root causes of ADHD, I would much prefer a book that uses up-to-date scientific studies and does a more thorough job of researching the issue of whether ADHD is a valid medical diagnosis. If you want a well-balanced treatment of that subject, go find a better book. It should not have been included in this book. Mr. Mercogliano seems to think that stating his bias outright makes him more convincing. I think it better to get an unbiased overview and form my own opinion.

In any case, the label “ADHD”, like Autism Spectrum Disorder, is sometimes used as shorthand for a collection of behaviors and symptoms. Mr. Mercogliano speaks the truth in saying that for many children who exhibit behaviors on the list, the cause may very well be the instability of their lives. But it is ludicrous to apply that to all children who exhibit these behaviors. ADHD, like depression, is not a disease in the sense of having one agent that causes it. Like depression, for some people the cause may be life events, whereas for others, the cause may be biochemical in nature. And like depression, some may respond to alternative therapies while others benefit solely from medication. And yes, for some, medication may not be appropriate at all. Most psychiatrists and neurologists will also tell you that a child who does not truly have ADHD (in the biochemical sense) will become worse, not better, when put on Ritalin. In a way, Mr. Mercogliano is correct in rejecting the ADHD label applied to the children he describes in his book, mainly because all of the children he describes are most likely emotionally disturbed, not ADHD, kids.

Whether ADHD is a biomedical condition or not is really irrelevant to the question of how we educate these children. All children deserve an education tailored to their individual needs, if only the resources were available for that. Sadly, the Free School is actually an exclusive school with a waiting list. It also reserves the right to expel students that it cannot handle. In chapter eight, we learn that one young subject, Damian, continues to be out of control to the point where the author wonders, “Do we continue trying to rein him in, or do we send him back to the kind of regulated, highly supervised environment from whence he came?” In other words, if your child’s behavior is too challenging, the Free School has the right to give up on him and boot him out. Unfortunately, public schools do not. Mr. Mercogliano fails to address what happens to children who do not respond to the Free School’s methods, or, for that matter, children who clearly cannot control their impulses no matter what the teaching methods.

In any case, ADHD is about brain immaturity. No matter what the reasons are for ADHD, Teaching the Restless is right on the money about not forcing children to learn academics before they are mature enough to handle it. Children who learn differently should have choices beyond the traditional school model. Mr. Mercogliano should have stuck to that theme.

Rating: 1 / 5

This is a heart warming book. The author recounts the year with children at the Freedom School in a manner that is insightful and deeply moving. I could picture the children in my head. Teachers and parents will both benefit from this truly beautiful book, the dedication and patience of the teachers at the school, and also the struggles of both parents and students from the urban environment the school is located in. When I finished the book I was sad to let go of the children and their stories, and could not shake the nagging question, “if it works in a place like this, why not everywhere?” You may ask yourself the same thing.
Rating: 5 / 5

It speaks of this book’s greatness that it is useful for both private, home, and public education. Mercogliano cares about the children he teaches. His caring passes from the page to the reader. I got more ideas to help my restless students than any other education book. Though working in a public school, many insights from the book were helpful to me and ultimately the children. I used Teaching the Restless to help parents make better choices for their children in a public school setting.
Rating: 5 / 5