Education, Mental Health, & Criminal Justice -- Trying to Incorporate "Integration, Coherence of Concepts, & Justice"

Val's Take

           This is an interesting video that briefly discusses the "misdiagnosis" of "gifted" children.
             It seems to me that the 3 Systems of Education, Mental Health, & Criminal Justice have very different feels, operate under very different assumptions and "rules," and the individuals that may be well or ill served by these systems are often the same.
             Further, we do need to have a common understanding in our society about some of these concepts, and from my perspective it would be much better if it was nurturing rather than not.  Let's say ESSENTIAL.
              With respect to diagnoses, I'm putting my money on the National Institute of Mental Health and their efforts to come up with a new diagnostic mental health framework.

See Also:   ADHD  -- Crime & Prison Issues

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​Why There are Too Few Kids of Color in Gifted Programs?

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Lisa Van Gemert, the "Gifted Guru," Educator, Speaker, and Mom of 2 gifted children
http://www.giftedguru.com/why-there-are-too-few-kids-of-color-in-gifted-programs/
We do not yet have a level playing field with regard to giftedness, and we won’t ever have one until we start seeing ourselves as talent scouts rather than gatekeepers."

www.giftedguru.com
Val's Take
               Whether we want to use a lens of "giftedness" or not, it is pretty clear there are a whole lot of people who are smart, creative, and sensitive and are sometimes going through their own personal holocausts whether that is a result of problems within a family, biology, or the society at large or all of the above. 
                Further, people do have "Over-Excitabilities" -- on the campaign trail,  they may be made fun of.   Depending who and where you are -- such "Over-Excitabilities" could land you in jail, prison -- or dead.
                 While we have been utilizing the Corrections System as the Treatment Center of Last Resort, most everyone knows that can't go on and there are attempts at changing that.
                  For the future and now, there is so much work to be done in K-12.
                   AND the Heavy Lifting in all this mess [decades of mass incarceration, racism, misunderstanding of neurally diverse people, etc] is going to have to be done by Mental Health.  Our Red-Haired Step Child that we never seem to adequately fund.
                    That's also going to mean that the people/consumers/clients/patients are going to have to rise above the worst kind of "Step Child" status and we are going to have to invest in identifying and nurturing their "gifts."  AND from my perspective, that is an essential part of mental health as well as learning to compensate for weaknesses.
                     I'm not sure that our MI Olmstead Complaint for Declaratory & Injunctive Relief gets to all that.  It's a start.  
                     It would be so much easier if the State could see its way clear to make this a Priority.            

See Also:

Of the Youtube videos referenced and linked above, for the purposes of this discussion be sure to see:
  • Internalized Shame & Traumas @ Latinegras
  • How Racism Affects Health, and
  • The School to Prison Pipeline (Doesn't Sound too Nurturing, Does It?)

Val's Take
"Giftedness" Ad Nauseam .  .  .

  1. First, I hate to take away any of the "cachet" of this, AND in my opinion most people are demonstrably "gifted" and many do have "over-excitabilities."
  2. There are plenty of "Twice Exceptional" Children and Adults who have "gifts" and "disabilities."   I would put myself in this category.
  3.  Orchid's concern is with racial prejudice preventing us from seeing the gifts of others and perhaps mis-interpreting others' "over-excitabilities"  and this leading to micro-aggressions or not-so-micro-aggressions, worsening of the mental health of the minority persons, and overall downward spirals.
  4. Additionally, minority status in itself is a risk factor for injustice including the minority status of being neurally-diverse.
  5. Certainly, mental health rehabilitation has to address nurturing and developing the "gifts" of individuals who have often been treated with gross injustice -- even if that treatment was done without full benefit of knowledge, as it almost always is.