Today’s show reveals the true, horror story of what too many children go through in our educational system when they are mislabeled, misdiagnosed and wrongfully medicated — this, all in the misguided effort to handle children who are “different.”
Melissa Binstock is now a 22 year-old college student and author of the book, Nourishment: Feeding my Starving Soul When My Mind and Body Betrayed Me.
Visit her website: www.nourishmentthebook.com
By the time Melissa was 11 years old, she had already been diagnosed with 6 disorders, taken 14 different medications, and seen 10 doctors. Some of Melissa’s disorders include Tourette’s syndrome, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, dyslexia, ADHD, anorexia nervosa, and generalized anxiety disorder.
Melissa has been honored for being an advocate for people with mental health concerns by the Tourette’s Syndrome Foundation and Mental Health America, and she has also lectured at Texas Women’s Univeristy and written articles for the National Anxiety Disorder Association and the OCD Foundation about the psychosocial issues children with psychological and neurological disorders face.
As Melissa herself says:
“I am a 22 year old psychology student who recently had a memoir published by Health Conmunications Inc. My memoir recounts my struggle and ultimate success in learning to cope with psychological and neurological disorders, including a learning disorder in reading, Tourette’s syndrome, ADHD, and a learning disorder in working memory. Although I am not yet an expert in the professional sense of the term (i.e. I am still in school), I believe my experience has made me an expert in the sense that I’ve learned to cope with my disorders. Despite my learning differences, I have a 4.0 GPA, have written a book, and, best of all, I am now getting to help others.”
Her book has been declared a “must read” and endorsed by several prominent professionals such as Joseph Janovic, M.D., Professor of Neurology and Director of the Movement Disorders Clinic at Baylor College of Medicine and Ira M. Sacker, M.D., Eating Disorders Specialist and author of Regaining Yourself and Dying to Be Thin.
Please be sure to tune in so you can ensure these horrors do not befall your child.
Roger & Virginia at The Learning Curve www.howtolearneasily.com