Ethnogenic Disorders
I needed a new word. So I made one. We have iatrogenic diseases. These are diseases generated by physicians. I think we are entitled to ethnogenc diseases. And, for the benefit of mental medicine, ethnogenic disorders. An ethnogenic disease is one generated by the culture. Obesity might be considered an ethnogenic disease generated by western culture.
The reason I need the word is to talk about dyslexia and AD/HD. I did talk about dyslexia before. The research I cited noted that children code words in three forms as they learn to read and to spell. They code words by sound, by the parts that signal meaning or grammar, and visual appearance. Dyslexia appears to be a problem with the system that manages coding for visual appearance.
The ethnogenic nature of the problem is obvious. It was not a problem until cultural progress demanded that everyone must learn to read (and spell) fluently. Some people have also argued that the problem is exacerbated by the look-and-say method of reading instruction. In any case, the problem is of cultural origin. Apparently, it can be reduced by cultural intervention of the form of specialized instruction.
One might ask whether dyslexia is a disorder of children, of instructional methods, or of matching instructional methods to the needs of the individual child.
I also talked previously about AH/HD and span of attention. I reviewed the diagnostic characteristics. The line that went through my mind was:
We are Borg. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile.
The list of characteristics describes what used to be called a “difficult child.” That was before we realized that any childhood behavior we don’t like is a disorder and should be treated by medication. In those days, it was a discipline problem and treated with bottom therapy. They called it spanking. But spanking is out of style, so I modernized the language. You can do anything if you call it therapy. Even administer powerful drugs.
The central theme in the list is the child doesn’t do what the adults want. But is this a disorder of the child or of what the adults want? Many of these items relate to span of attention. Is there a “normal” span of attention? Are all children supposed to have it? Does span of attention vary with the task? Does it vary with the child’s skill at the task? Does it vary with the intrusiveness of competing stimuli? Does it vary with age? Do adults know what it is reasonable to want in a span of attention?
The source I used for my previous comments said: As many as 3.8 million school-age children, most of them boys, are believed to have attention deficit disorders.
The passive voice, you will notice, let them evade the question of who did that believing. I found that the number of children in grades K-8 is (census bureau, projected for 2005): 38 million. That says that about 10% of the kids have ADD, if you believe those anonymous believers. This is good news for people who will make a career out of studying the disorder. And for the pharmaceutical companies who will sell pills to treat it.
My assessment is that when 10% of your population has a disorder, this is a really serious disorder. Or else the diagnostic criteria are too loose.
I’ll get back to this (unfinished) task later. I need to switch to another unfinished task now. Fortunately, I am an adult. So this switching is culturally acceptable. Not an ethnogenic disorder.
The reason I need the word is to talk about dyslexia and AD/HD. I did talk about dyslexia before. The research I cited noted that children code words in three forms as they learn to read and to spell. They code words by sound, by the parts that signal meaning or grammar, and visual appearance. Dyslexia appears to be a problem with the system that manages coding for visual appearance.
The ethnogenic nature of the problem is obvious. It was not a problem until cultural progress demanded that everyone must learn to read (and spell) fluently. Some people have also argued that the problem is exacerbated by the look-and-say method of reading instruction. In any case, the problem is of cultural origin. Apparently, it can be reduced by cultural intervention of the form of specialized instruction.
One might ask whether dyslexia is a disorder of children, of instructional methods, or of matching instructional methods to the needs of the individual child.
I also talked previously about AH/HD and span of attention. I reviewed the diagnostic characteristics. The line that went through my mind was:
We are Borg. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile.
The list of characteristics describes what used to be called a “difficult child.” That was before we realized that any childhood behavior we don’t like is a disorder and should be treated by medication. In those days, it was a discipline problem and treated with bottom therapy. They called it spanking. But spanking is out of style, so I modernized the language. You can do anything if you call it therapy. Even administer powerful drugs.
The central theme in the list is the child doesn’t do what the adults want. But is this a disorder of the child or of what the adults want? Many of these items relate to span of attention. Is there a “normal” span of attention? Are all children supposed to have it? Does span of attention vary with the task? Does it vary with the child’s skill at the task? Does it vary with the intrusiveness of competing stimuli? Does it vary with age? Do adults know what it is reasonable to want in a span of attention?
The source I used for my previous comments said: As many as 3.8 million school-age children, most of them boys, are believed to have attention deficit disorders.
The passive voice, you will notice, let them evade the question of who did that believing. I found that the number of children in grades K-8 is (census bureau, projected for 2005): 38 million. That says that about 10% of the kids have ADD, if you believe those anonymous believers. This is good news for people who will make a career out of studying the disorder. And for the pharmaceutical companies who will sell pills to treat it.
My assessment is that when 10% of your population has a disorder, this is a really serious disorder. Or else the diagnostic criteria are too loose.
I’ll get back to this (unfinished) task later. I need to switch to another unfinished task now. Fortunately, I am an adult. So this switching is culturally acceptable. Not an ethnogenic disorder.
posted by Selby Evans at 10:31 AM
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