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Children Don't Come with an Instructional
Manual
Mary Lynn Collins, Nova Southeastern University,
November 12, 2004
With so many children in our schools experiencing learning and
behavioral difficulties, Children Don’t Come with an Instructional
Manual, by Wendy L. Moss, is a timely book for parents, health
professionals, and especially teachers. Dr. Moss, a clinical and
school psychologist, with the added consultation with her husband, a
psychiatrist, speaks with authority and expertise in the field of
children with special needs. This book, which provides excellent
supportive studies and recent data, is to be considered a reference
manual. Consisting of 156 pages, it is easy to follow and comprehend.
This book reinforces for teachers the need to write well-documented
referrals to a mental health professional or a team of mental health
professionals for an accurate diagnosis of a child’s problem. This
reference manual should not be used by a lay person to attempt to
diagnose symptoms and label the child with a disorder.
Children Don’t Come with an Instructional Manual is an excellent
resource for experienced teachers and also for schools of education
that are preparing teachers for positions in elementary and early
childhood education and for those working with exceptional students.
There is tremendous pressure on schools and teachers to meet the
diverse needs of children, including children who provide unique
challenges to teachers. As stated in the preface, “…society seems to
be increasing its reliance on educators to guide children through
their journey toward becoming emotionally healthy, socially adept,
and academically successful adults” (p. xiii). Thus our communities
turn to the schools, and especially to elementary teachers, to
accomplish this. Insight into many of the behavioral and learning
problems of children is provided in this book. It clarifies for
teachers the necessary knowledge, and possible symptoms, to be
observed and reported for each disorder. Dr. Moss also provides the
educator with many ways of interpreting and responding to these
children after a thorough diagnosis and report by an expert.
The first chapter, “Understanding Children,” provides two different
case scenarios for “Evan: A Behaviorally Challenging Sixth Grader”
and “Lisa: A Quiet Second Grader,” whose obvious behaviors may
actually hide the true identification of their difficulties. In fact,
for the reader to understand how difficult it is to diagnose their
problems, Evan and Lisa’s symptoms are linked with possible
associations of eleven different disorders that are described
throughout the book. Dr. Moss uses case studies in each chapter to
assist the reader in understanding the reality of the disorders.
Teachers will be especially grateful for the second chapter on
“Cognitive and Learning Challenges.” Teachers are being held
accountable for the achievement of each student in the class
regardless of learning or behavioral problems. The standards movement
with its accompanying state exams has put undue pressure on the
administration and faculty in each school to have passing scores for
each student – regardless of the disability. No Child Left Behind
legislation requires that all children be able to read, write and
compute on grade level by the fourth grade. In Chapter 2, Dr. Moss
again provides illustrations to help the reader understand and
identify symptoms associated with particular problems, from
difficulties encountered by gifted children to those encountered by
children with mild to severe learning disabilities. Research studies
are reported that support identifying disorders in reading, writing,
mathematics, visual-spatial, language, and social deficiencies This
chapter reinforces studying all aspects of a child, including the
cognitive, emotional, social and physical perspectives. It also
provides excellent recommendations to teachers about effective ways
to work with students with these disabilities. The only
recommendation for teachers that could be more clearly identified
would be that of helping children to develop their metacognitive
ability. If strategies were demonstrated that would assist children
in developing their own metacognitive knowledge of planning,
monitoring, and evaluating, then teachers could have provided them
with techniques that will be useful throughout their time in school
and throughout their lives (Woolfolk, 2001, pp. 260-263).
In the next two chapters, Dr. Moss discusses the effects of trauma
and stress on children. No matter how parents try to shield their
children from stressful situations, it is almost impossible to do
this completely, due to so much violence in society and violence
portrayed in the media. This stress and trauma can come from
world-wide events, such as terrorism, or from events in the
community, the school, or changes in the home. These chapters also
focus on the importance of developing open and trusting relations
between parents and teachers. Parents and teachers working as a team
to identify symptoms and possible causes, or to make referrals to
specialists who can assist a child demonstrating symptoms of stress
and anxiety, will provide the needed support and assistance. In
Chapter 5, other internalized disorders are discussed. Dr. Moss
explores the symptoms associated with obsessive-compulsive disorder,
perfectionism, depression, suicidal thought, and the interaction of
mind and body. Again, scenarios describing specific symptoms
displayed by children help the teacher to put the research studies
into context. These chapters are also extremely important for parents
to read.
Teachers will find that Chapter 6, “Externalized Disorders,” provides
insight into many of the most challenging children in the class.
These are the children who display attention-deficit hyperactivity
disorder, oppositional disorder, conduct, and bullying symptoms. Many
teachers and administrators become very frustrated when attempts to
assist students with these disorders fail. Dr. Moss provides
excellent research to support her discussion of these disorders. She
urges teachers to seek out the available specialists in the school to
diagnose the problem and provide intervention plans. She also
stresses the importance of communicating with the families so that
both the home and the school can provide environments in which the
child can have the best opportunity for success. The next chapter,
Chapter 7, covers a number of disorders that provide “Additional
Areas of Concerns” for teachers and the children’s families. These
disorders include selective mutism, autism, Asperger’s syndrome,
tics, Tourette’s syndrome, psychotic symptoms, eating disorders, and
the atypical child. The definitions, the supportive studies, and the
case studies are excellent in helping the reader to understand these
disorders. The interventions recommended are also practical for
teachers to implement in their classes.
Dr. Moss concludes her book by exploring “A Positive Journey Through
Elementary School” from the perspectives of students, parents, and
teachers discussing particular disorders. The contributors to this
chapter encourage teachers to be flexible in their classroom
structure, to accommodate these students with special needs, and most
importantly to recognize their uniqueness and their contributions to
the class.
Children Don’t Come with an Instructional Manual is an excellent
reference manual for parents, teachers, and for professors who
prepare teachers. The teacher’s role is to observe and detail the
symptoms the child is displaying in the class for the purpose of
writing a referral to the mental health professionals in the school.
However, teachers are not qualified to diagnose and label the child.
Dr. Moss so aptly demonstrates how difficult it is to provide an
accurate diagnosis through the cases of Evan and Lisa. She discusses
their symptoms as possibly being linked to 11 disorders identified in
the book, thus the need for experts. After reading this book teachers
will find themselves reflecting on their classroom practices and on
whether they are providing for the special needs of each child in
their classes. Teachers will also be compelled to consider whether
the interactions and the climate in the classroom are needlessly
aggravating children who are sending “messages” that all is not well
with them.
Reference: Woolfolk, A. (2001). Educational psychology. Boston: Allyn
and Bacon.
Teachers College Record
Date Published: 11/12/2004
http://www.tcrecord.org
ID Number: 11400 |
