PED

Hi Folks,

Funny how you run into folks over at Charlie's Market. I was over there the other day... just to pick up some odds and ends... when I ran into Mrs. Kwalchek. She wasn't always a Kwalchek mind you... used to be Cindy Lou Bainbridge... lived over by Ben and Sally Rutledge on the cul-de-sac they put in a bunch of years ago now to the south of Biggsbee. Was gonna be a real big development... somehow that never happened... theyse just put in the first few houses before the company went bankrupt... somethin about the owner runnin away to Brazil with some model he'd met at a home convention over in Duluth.

Anyway Cindy Lou up and married Andy Kwalchek... parents didn't really approve since he was a dirt farmer with no real prospects... at least according to them... to Cindy Lou he was a slice of heaven just placed here on Earth for her. Parents disowned her just the same. Lucky for her Andy was a real hard worker. Got his folks' farm running like a top. Even expanded it to almost twice its size. Yeah... he's doing real well for himself. Course he does spend 16 hours a day out and about the farm doing something or other. There always seems to be something that needs fixin, a field that needs plowin, or a fence that needs mendin. Hard work farmin... still in all, they managed to find the time to have three babies... bang, bang, bang, over a three year stretch and raise 'em 'til theyse in school now. Suppose that's why Cindy Lou felt the need to tell me about the parents-teacher conference for her oldest boy Johnnie. It started all innocent enough with me asking how the kids liked school. She said just fine, just fine... but pretty soon she just blurted about how she was concerned about her Johnnie due to what some teacher told her last year at their Spring meeting at the school.

Cindy Lou said it all started Ok with the Teacher... Brightly... Charles Brightly I think she said... welcoming her and Andy. She told me the whole thing right there in the middle of the soup aisle. I have to tell you… listenin to her tell that story it was just like I was there. Everything just kinda came to life right in front of me. If I close my eyes I can see it all now… (Jon leans back and seems to drift off.)

It’s just an ordinary schoolroom with nothing much to distinguish it from any other anywhere in the country. Neat rows of student desks are arranged in parallel with some storage cabinets at the back of the room on ether side where class materials are kept. In between are a row of hooks for coats and such and long rubber mat where the kids can put their boots when it’s wet and others things when it’s not. The inside wall of the room is covered in children’s art projects hanging in between caulk boards with science illustrations. A row of large windows runs the length of the outside wall of the classroom. On the same side as the windows, the teacher, Charles Brightly, is sitting behind a large desk to the left of the chalkboard as you look from the back of the room. He rises as two parents enter the room through a door to the right of the chalkboard.

(Charles Brightly) “Come in Mr. and Mrs. Kwalchek. I'd like to welcome you to our second parents-teacher meeting for your son John.” (Shakes each of the hands and then ushers them to two plastic chairs placed in front his desk, obviously just for the meeting. After seeing them seated, he returns to his own chair behind his desk where he looks through some papers and readies something that looks like charts. Finally ready, he looks up at the Kwalcheks and begins.)

“As you know, sixth grade is a time of transition, when truly talented students begin to shine, excelling in their assignments and overall schoolwork. Unfortunately, John isn't one of them. As we talked about last time, your son has been experiencing difficulty in class.” (The woman tentatively raises her hand.) “Yes Mrs. Kwalchek?”

(Mrs. Kwalchek) ”What do you mean, he’s experiencing difficulty?”

(Charles Brightly) Well… he seems to have problems understanding the class information … (looks intently at both parents) and quite frankly his homework… well his homework is abysmal.

(Mr. Kwalchek) Abysmal?

(Charles Brightly) Ah… oh… right… Abysmal… It means terrible, bad… it means that his homework is wrong, incomplete, or simply not turned in at all.

(Mrs. Kwalchek) I don’t understand how that could be. He always seems to be working on something school related when he’s not out helping his father with the farm.

(Charles Brightly) (Studies the papers in front of him. Chooses one which he regards for a couple of seconds, nodding, before he turns his gaze back to the Kwalcheks.)Ah… yes… well Mrs. Kwalchek I’ve considered this matter long and hard. I’ve done quite a bit of soul searching to see if there was something I could do differently. I’ve even spent a fair bit of time on-line doing research to see what the problem might be…

(Mr. Kwalchek) And…?

(Charles Brightly) And I’ve come to the conclusion that John is suffering from Problematic Evolutionary Development or PED.

(Mrs. Kwalchek)PED?...

(Charles Brightly) PED. It’s a developmental deficiency that experts have recently begun to diagnose. I afraid it appears to be genetic in nature… being inherited from one or both of a child’s parents.

(Mr. Kwalchek) Just wait a minute…

(Charles Brightly) ( Ignoring the interruption and continuing right on) “It’s very hard to detect at first. Usually the first indication that a child has PED is when they begin scoring heavily on the Distinctive Underachieving Measurement Bracket.” (Reaches to the papers on his desk and holds up a largish poster board with a chart on it. The letters DUMB are prominently featured across the top of the chart. Moves his hand across it as he talks to illustrate his points.) “As you can see here on the right side is where most children are. For the most part they fall into the upper reaches of the DUMB sector of their age group. The spectrum of the bracket runs from overachieving children here… (Motions to the high end of the bracket) to those who score very heavily on the DUMBness scale. I’m afraid that John’s scores (places his finger wa-a-y low on the chart’s bracket) show him to be in the bottom sixth of all students measured.”

(Mrs. Kwalchek) (Obviously very concerned) “What.. I mean… do they have any idea what could be the cause?…”

(Charles Brightly) (Warming to his subject) Why yes… yes they do. All the factors uncovered by science indicate that it is genetic in nature. It is quite likely that one or both of a low scoring child’s parents were in this distinctive group while they were in school.”

(Mr. Kwalchek) (Clearly not understanding the implication) “Distinctive… yea… I like the sound of that.”

(Mrs. Kwalchek) (Gives her husband a dirty look before nudging him sharply with her elbow) “Tell me Mr. Brightly… is there any hope for Johnnie?”

(Mr. Kwalhcek) (Rubbing his side where his wife’s elbow had dug in) “Uh … yeah… is there a treatment?”

(Charles Brightly) (Laying the chart down in front of him and sitting more straight in his chair with his hands folded on the desk in front of him. Looking remarkably smug for some reason) “I’m afraid not. In almost 100 per cent of those individuals identified as being afflicted with DUMBness, it seems to stay with them their entire life.”

(Mrs. Kwalchek) (Leaning forward earnestly in her chair) “But you said in almost 100 per cent of individuals…”

(Charles Brightly) (Frowning a little at this) “Well yes. There is a slight chance of recovery. Studies have shown that with proper care and attention… up to 5 per cent of those with DUMB scores where John is ranked have a chance of living a normal life.”

(Mr. Kwalchek) (with a quizzical look on his face) “So he might recover?...”

(Charles Brightly) (His face smoothes back into what might be described as the superior teacher look) “There is a chance… but I have to caution you that in John’s case his DUMBness is acute and has thus far resisted all attempts to resolve it.”

(Mr. Kwalchek) But still… there is a chance…

(Charles Brightly) Yes, yes… but it will require years of hard work and dedication on both your part and John’s… and even then…. (Shakes his head) I can’t promise anything. Still I want to thank you for coming tonight. (Getting up and ushering the Kwalcheks from the room. Pats them comfortingly on the shoulders as they leave then returns to his desk where he sits down once more and shuffles through more papers. Sighs) Only six more to go…”

(Jon Frenworthy) Wow now… That visualization stuff really works. For a moment there it was though I was really in that classroom. Boy oh boy, that Cindy Lou really knows how to tell a story. Yes sirree, she and Andy were plum upset when they left that teacher’s meeting. Fit to be tied they were. Here their son had some genetic disorder… PED… and they was all the blame for it. Thing is, they couldn’t quite wrap their minds around it all. At home Johnnie seemed real quick with things… real handy…always fixin this or that. His daddy’d only have to show him something once and that boy could do it. Something didn’t smell right at the fish store… if you get my meaning.

Well first chance they got, they took Johnnie to one of them developmental specialists in Barringston. Had to drive three hours just to get there. That specialist ran Johnnie through all sorts of tests. Couldn’t find nothing wrong with him no matter which way he looked at it. Finally he just asked Johnnie to read some letters, numbers, words and sentences off a chart. Johnnie seemed real hesitant to try… had to be coaxed to do it… and well when he did it all just came out wrong. Oh he got the letters and numbers Ok… although he was a mite slow at it… but when they moved on to words and sentences, well… Johnnie just kinda gave up… said he just couldn’t make it all out very well.

Well that was an Ah Hah moment as they say. That specialist did a bunch more tests and finally figured out that Johnnie had dyslexia. Set up a regimen right away to help him deal with it. Cindy Lou and Andy were so relieved that they went ahead and told the specialist everything that the teacher had told them. Well that specialist was so shocked that she up and called the principal, the mayor, and the school board… laid into them real good about them letting some half cracked, hare brained idea about Problematic Evolutionary Development be spread around like that. Well all I can tell you is that Charles Brightly found himself with a pink slip… had to leave town real quick. Hazel Mathers said she saw him headed out to his car carrying boxes full of papers and charts and stuff. Seems he was in a hurry to leave for some reason… crammed that stuff into his trunk, jumped into the car and was off. Hazel hasn’t seen hide nor hair of him since. She did mention though that she’d heard he’d gotten a job over in Larkspur at their school. Children’s counselor I think she said…

Well that’s it for now. ‘Til next time. Jon