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Martie
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0 posted 2002-06-06 07:58 PM



It Takes a Hairdresser

Her son is only twelve years old
He has done some crazy things
He thinks a thought and before he knows
It’s an action taking wings

He wants to be so cool ya know
But things get in his way
In a flash of perfect insight
He just does the wrong thing

When he was just a baby
He never could sit still
When it came to reading storybooks
His mind just didn’t dwell

He wanted to take off instead
In quite another direction
Open the refrigerator in search
Of some hidden confection

There is a name for what he has
The doctor has explained
But for twelve long years the label seemed
To take more than it gained

Just some initials with lots of D’s
ADHD was what they said
And his mother’s flaming loving eyes
Watched him as he bled

So now at twelve he’s been expelled
Taken off with cuffs and locked up tight
the school with thought to educate
Seems more like word eradicate

He just wanted to show his friends
He had one cause they said he lied
No hurting was in his mind you see
To belong was where he wanted to be

It didn’t feel easy in the back of that car
Without his mom on this trip to far

Well there is no stopping a mother for love
Is what God gave them to do with above
So she has a lawyer and is claiming the school
Needs to see these children then find a tool

That helps them learn and gain control
With out being made to feel so bad
Within her love is determination
That they find a place in a class for glad


© Copyright 2002 Martie Odell Ingebretsen - All Rights Reserved
Mistletoe Angel
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1 posted 2002-06-06 08:03 PM




(tears fall down my cheeks) Oh Martie, this poem made me cry because of three big thoughts. First, I felt so very sad for the world today and how it is so harder than ever to fit in and be cool without getting in trouble, for I believe the true way to be cool is to be yourself, then I felt sad because it saddens me to see many public schools incapable of understanding and sympathizing with those who have learning differences and fulfilling their needs, and then finally I hoped at the end that maybe, just maybe her kid will find his place and that finally he will be accepted! (sigh) This touched me so deeply, sweet friend, God Bless You, we all love you so much! You have such a beautiful heart, sweet Martie, thank you for sharing!



May love and light always shine upon you!

Love,
Noah Eaton

"Underneath your clothes there's an endless story..."

Shakira

Sunshine
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Listening to every heart
2 posted 2002-06-06 08:03 PM



Ah...yes...perseverence...

Magnus
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3 posted 2002-06-06 08:07 PM


Martie...I have an 8 year old daughter that
is all those D's so to speak...(ADHD)...

It is a struggle for her (and us) on some
days...  And you are right....the schools
are not well equipped to deal with children
that don't fit that mold which allows them
to be within a large classroom full of other
children....

They have problems focusing, being quiet,
being still... And they so much want to be
like everyone else...

My heart goes out to him and his mother...
I hope they win....

Enchantress
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Canada eh.
4 posted 2002-06-06 08:10 PM


Martie, this is heart-wrenching..
How sad this world can be at times.
Very well said...Hugs.

~Somewhere in my heart I'm always
dancing with you in the summer rain~

ethome
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since 2000-05-14
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New Brunswick Canada
5 posted 2002-06-06 08:15 PM


Martie
I'm with Magnus....my heart goes out to the mother and the son......There has to be something done to educate more people about this. Then there has to be a program of practical application put into action.........It's an awful feeling to be left out.
Thanks
Martie!

Martie
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6 posted 2002-06-06 08:16 PM


I was getting my hair done...my hairdresser has been a friend for years...and she has shared much of her frustration with me..but this was her story today..and it touched me a great deal.  I was a teacher for many years and had children with ADHD in my class.  I know the frustration for a teacher of trying to find ways to "teach" them.  I feel this issue has been swept under the carpet too often, and the children are the ones that suffer, as are well meaning teachers who also would like to help, but because of large class size and many other stumbling blocks, are unable to.  That is never the way it should be!!  Thanks for reading..and Barry, thank you for letting me know about your daughter.
Balladeer
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7 posted 2002-06-06 11:06 PM


Your poem states their case very well, Martie...and their frustrations.
Madame Chipmunk
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Michigan
8 posted 2002-06-06 11:16 PM


Thanks for sharing this sad but beautifully written piece, Martie...
I too, used to be a teacher and in those olden days, all they did for those poor kids was to give them Ritalin....which in my opinion, never seemed to do much good.

I have also found out that there are some kids whom you would never guess, had ADHD, and yet they do.
My older son, Eric was an overconcentrater.
Once he started doing something, it was impossible to pull him away from it...he was concentrating so deeply.
For years, no one ever called it ADHD...but when Eric was in med school and he did his rotation in pediatrics, he learned that he had ADHD as a child because that is one of its less common symptoms.
It makes me wonder how many other kids have it and are never diagnosed because they have symptoms which most people don't know about.
A wonderful write, Martie...and my sympathies to your friend.

~ loving hugs

Lyra

copyright2002 Lyra Nesius

"poetry is life distilled"  Gwendolyn Brooks

Martie
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9 posted 2002-06-07 11:26 AM


Thank you, Michael and Lyra...for reading and replying.  I called the mother up after I wrote this..and read the poem to her..she was in the middle of a weave.  It made her cry.  I think she was grateful to know that someone was in her corner and understood.  
Interloper
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Deep in the heart
10 posted 2002-06-07 11:43 AM


A neglected subject well presented

Fool, said my Muse to me, look in thy heart and write.

suthern
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11 posted 2002-06-07 03:36 PM


She couldn't have asked for a more compelling presentation of her story. *S* This is excellent, Martie. *S*
bags123
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since 2002-06-06
Posts 128

12 posted 2002-06-07 03:50 PM


Hi Marti,
I too have a daughter with one of those combinations of D's. We have struggled to even get the school to admit to the problem even though her pshycologist has written to them. I'm appalled at the stonewalled reaction the school has regarding the problem. It's so much easier to suspend her or give her detention than address it in any real terms. About time someone used this as a topic for a poem. You did a great job. Thanks

Auguste
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By the sea
13 posted 2002-06-07 04:28 PM


yes, the "D's" are certainly very worrisome.  Nice work, my friend.

Michael

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