San Diego Education Law Blog

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a condition that causes uncontrollable and long-lasting thoughts, feelings and fears – also called obsessions. The obsessions cause a person to feel anxious, and to relieve the anxiety they will adopt behaviors called compulsions, or rituals. These compulsions are repeated over and over.

But what does OCD look like in children? Their fears may not have the same complexity as an adult, but they are no less real or consuming. Their fears might include the following:

Some children have trouble concentrating at school or home. They might find it hard to focus on tasks, sit still or they may act out in impulsive or aggressive ways. Children with these symptoms may be suffering from a condition known as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

ADHD is a mental health disorder. It most often affects children, though some adults also suffer from it. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that as of 2016, 9.4 percent of U.S. children aged 2-17 have been diagnosed with ADHD. If you think your child may have ADHD, you should take him or her to your primary care physician. Only a medical professional can diagnose ADHD.

Roughly 17 percent of the U.S. population has dyslexia, a common learning disorder that makes reading difficult. The source of the problem is their brain. A dyslexic person’s brain organizes and processes information differently. It has a harder time “decoding” how sounds and letters go together. The words suddenly change and the person doesn’t understand them.

Many children with dyslexia struggle in school in learning a written language, resulting in their avoidance of reading. It also may lead to anxiety, low self-confidence, depression and even anger. In many cases, schools are ill-equipped to handle students who have dyslexia.

Loco in and of itself is not a bad word. Yet, in many Latino communities across the United States, the word has a stigmatized meaning. Mental illness is an issue that is often viewed with embarrassment and is seen as a sign of weakness. When families have a disabled child, this belief is especially true. Overall, you just do not talk about mental illness or other disabilities. That is the way it has always been, so why change now?

The signs are there