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Fish Out of Water

"The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt." - Bertrand Russell

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Bipolar Cleveland shooter asked for help and got none

10/12/07 · 1:02 pm :: posted by petercohen Link to Post/Share

The country was shocked earlier this week when Asa Coon, a 14 year old boy attending Success Tech Academy in Cleveland, Ohio, managed to sneak weapons into school and went on a rampage, shooting four others before killing himself. Sadly, Coon's actions weren't surprising to those that knew him. Why wasn't more done to help him? Coon's story illustrates some of the problems faced by children and adults who suffer from emotional disabilities.

The reports emerging from Cleveland this week show that his classmates and teachers all knew that Coon was headed for trouble and didn't take what he was saying seriously. Now a boy is dead, four others have been wounded, and the community and parents nationwide have questions.

As it turns out, Asa Coon spent time in and out of detention centers and youth facilities after he was removed from his home for assaultive behavior. This is not uncommon for children with severe emotional impairments. Unfortunately, the systems in most states, including here in Massachusetts, are heavily weighted towards treating youth with mental illnesses who demonstrate any violent behavior as young offenders -- criminalizing them, rather than treating them.

Coon even attempted to take his own life prior to this incident. Eventually he was suspected of having bipolar disorder, after spending time in a mental hospital.

Bipolar disorder (once called manic depression) specifically in children and adolescents is relatively new ground for the psychiatric community. Conventional medical wisdom held that children could not develop bipolar disorder. Recent studies suggest otherwise, and it's prevalant enough that children are now routinely diagnosed and treated with pharmaceuticals and behavioral therapy.

But regardless of whether you're a child or an adult, there isn't a blood test you can take or an MRI scan you can have done to show if you're bipolar -- it's a diagnosis that's inferred from how you behave and how others perceive your behavior, and the disorder presents itself distinctly and differently in children and adolescents than adults.

Treatment, diagnosis and management of disorders like juvenile and adolescent bipolar disorder is still at a very early stage. There is a disturbing lack of qualified psychiatrists in this country trained to help children, and the FDA and drug companies lag in qualifying drug treatments for kids, as well. Most drug treatment happens "off label." In other words, psychiatrists treating children write prescriptions for drugs certified for use with adults suffering similar problems, not vetted for kids.

Sometimes those drugs work well, sometimes they don't. In this particular case, Coon went off his meds all together, and went wildly out of control as a result. He was also ostracized from his classmates and suspended from class, which I imagine didn't help very much to reduce his sense of isolation and helplessness.

Bipolar disorder is often comorbid -- a medical term meaning present in association -- with other emotional or mental disorders. Studies suggest that comorbidity with other diagnosible mental illnesses is actually the rule for bipolar disorder, rather than the exception. So it's entirely probable that Asa Coon's problems went far beyond bipolar disorder, but we'll never know, because he's dead. After crying out for help and receiving none, he's dead.

In interview after interview with his classmates and others that knew him, it's noted that Coon told everyone that he was going to be violent. In fact, one student interviewed by a local television station claims that she and others at the school had tried to intervene with the school's principal, but couldn't schedule an appointment. "... it would always be too busy for it to happen," she said.

Now the community in Cleveland is reeling from what happened. A city spokesperson says the CEO of the municipal school system is meeting with the mayor of Cleveland today to discuss security. That's putting the cart before the horse: It's going to be yet another wrong-minded discussion about metal detectors, security guards and "Code Blue" drills.

I wish they'd discuss instead how to recognize the warning signs that kids such as Asa Coon are headed for trouble, and how to get them the help they so desperately need, and in Coon's case even asked for, before something like this happens again.

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Why I ran for school committee and failed

10/09/07 · 8:47 am :: posted by petercohen Link to Post/Share

Over the summer I was flipping through the Mashpee Enterprise when I saw a small article noting the opening of a seat on the Mashpee school committee. The Mashpee school committee was soliciting individuals who were interested to apply, so I did. Knowing that the two most recent additions to the school committee ran unopposed, I figured I had a good chance, but as it turned out, I didn't get the position.

Normally, the school committee seats are elected, but this was an exception. The seat was vacant because the previous person who held the seat left before their term was up, and the committee decided that rather than leave the seat unoccupied until next May, when the next town elections will be held, they'd fill it. Whoever got the seat would only have until May, then they'd have to campaign.

As it turns out, I was one of three people who stepped up to fill the slot. And of the three, I was the least qualified, of that I'm sure. Kathy Lynch was one of them -- she's a veteran of the town finance committee and school committee, which made most of the selectmen happy. They knew if she got the spot they'd get someone with a fair degree of experience navigating the treacherous waters of town budgeting.

Kathy Stanley also offered. She's the former president of the Quashnet school PTO and a very experienced school volunteer, and while she didn't have any experience running numbers with the school committee, she was enough of a known quantity to give them enough comfort to recommend her for the position when they met with the selectmen a few weeks later.

The selectmen and school committee deadlocked each other during that meeting -- the four voting selectmen (who were down a man, as one was on vacation) wanted Lynch, the four remaining members of the school committee wanted Stanley. At the next meeting, with the full body of the selectman, Stanley was ultimately chosen.

It was an interesting process, to be sure. I'm grateful for having been considered in the first place -- that was quite rewarding. And I'm really happy with the way things turned out; I'm sure that Kathy, whom I've known for years, will do a great job.

What sticks out for me the most, however, is how quickly things change in town government. Richard Bailey and Ralph Marcelli, the two most recent additions to the school committee prior to Kathy Stanley, ran unopposed for their seats.

But the open seat vacated by Rebecca Romkey was contested by three different people, all from very different walks of life, all representing very different perspectives within the community. That says something about how important the schools and the school committee are, at least to us. And hopefully it's indicative of what will happen next spring when elections come around again.

For my part, I haven't decided if I'm going to run -- there will be at least two seats up for re-election, but obviously anyone facing an incumbent candidate is facing an uphill battle. Something Marcelli told the selectman sticks in my craw, however, and it makes me think that maybe I should run -- if not next May, then at some point.

Explaining his position on recommending Stanley to the selectman, Marcelli told them that he felt my involvement with the Mashpee SEPAC -- the Special Education Parents Advisory Council -- disqualified me from his consideration. The SEPAC already had a strong enough voice in town, he said, and they didn't need a seat on the school committee.

I'm not sure, in retrospect, which assumption put me off more: that Marcelli apparently thought that with me, he was getting the whole SEPAC, despite that one of the questions his colleagues asked during my interview involved separating my personal interests out from those of the committee's; or the assumption that special education parents in town didn't deserve a stronger voice.

Either way, I think he's wrong. And I don't think there's anything inherently contradictory there -- you can remain sensitive to people's needs without letting your own personal interests overwhelm your objectivity. By that measure, anyone with kids wouldn't be qualified to run on a school committee seat.

The bottom line is that if I do run again, it'll be up to Mashpee voters to decide, not him.

Anyway, it's something to chew on.

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No iced coffee at Dunkin'? Has the world gone mad?

10/06/07 · 5:56 pm :: posted by petercohen Link to Post/Share

I travel out of state for my job several times a year, and when I get to the west coast, I invariably have to shift my taste for coffee from Dunkin' Donuts to whatever the local chain is. More and more it's Starbucks. This makes me unhappy. Not because I hate Starbucks. But it's because Dunkin' coffee is a little taste of home, and anything that reminds you of home goes a long way on the road.

What irks me more than having to go to Starbucks, however, is finding a Dunkin' Donuts out of this region, because it's a crapshoot if you'll get someone who's familiar with the way Dunkin' is supposed to be. Order a "regulah" outside of New England, and you're taking your life into your hands -- it might come to you black, instead of with cream and sugar like God intended.

A couple of years ago I stopped at the Dunkin' Donuts kiosk at the food court in the American Airlines terminal at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago. I had a short layover and an early flight that morning, and I needed caffeine.

I got up to the counter and ordered my usual on-the-run drink: A medium iced coffee, milk only, no sugar. Quick caffeine injection, no waiting for it to cool down from volcanic temperatures. No chance of the beans getting burned and bitter.

"A medium what?" the woman asked, staring blankly.

I repeated the order.

"You want ... iced coffee?" she asked incredulously.

Yeah. Iced coffee. Medium. With milk. No sugar.

"We don't have iced coffee," she said, shaking her head from side to side, emphasizing "iced" like I'd just asked for the Tooth Fairy to make me a cup.

It took me a moment to register this. A Dunkin' Donuts that didn't have iced coffee. Had the world gone mad?

"You've got soda, right?"

"Yeah, you wanna soda?"

"You've got ice, right?"

"Yeah, a medium soda with ice?" she asked, reaching for the cup.

"No, fill the cup with ice and then pour the hot coffee over it, and leave enough room at the top for about two fingers' worth of milk, mmmkay?"

I know, it was going to make it watery -- that's why Dunkin' Donuts "double brews" their iced coffee, to make sure it's full strength -- but it was better than nothing. And would certainly be better than the cola that she was getting ready to pour.

"I wouldn't even know how to charge you for that," she said, the look in her eyes and on her face telling everyone that I was obviously deranged, and that TSA needed to restrain me from traveling any further, immediately.

"I don't care what you charge me for it," I said, imploringly. "Please, just make me an iced coffee."

Now, I think it was just that kiosk at the airport, because I've been to Dunkin' Donuts in Chicago since, and they do indeed have iced coffee.

Anyway, the standoff drew out for another few moments, enough that another impatient traveler or two stacked up in the queue behind me. Our eyes locked on each other, the young woman and I were waiting for someone to make a move. And it wasn't going to be me. I was singularly focused on my goal, and nothing could steer me away.

"Okay," she said, "But just don't tell anyone I did this. We don't usually serve iced coffee."

"You're secret is safe with me," I lied.

What's a SEPAC, and why do I care?

10/06/07 · 12:30 pm :: posted by petercohen Link to Post/Share

Every school district in the state is supposed to have a SEPAC

It isn't easy to have kids with special needs. One of the worst parts about it for the parents is the isolation we feel from other families in our community. Sometimes it's self-induced, sometimes it's thrust upon us by too many uncomfortable situations with others who don't understand or are disquieted by our children's physical, emotional or mental disabilities.

About a year ago I sat down with a bunch of other parents of kids with special needs in Mashpee and we started to talk about this. Our actions ultimately led to the revival of the long-defunct Mashpee SEPAC, or Special Education Parents Advisory Council.

As it turns out, each school district in the Commonwealth is supposed to have a SEPAC, and many do. Mashpee's had gone idle a few years before because parents were busy -- busy with second jobs, busy taking care of their kids, just busy -- and hadn't been able to participate. So we had to start from the ground up, all over again.

We now have monthly meetings at the Quashnet school library, a terrific Web site that I'm proud to say my wife runs, and an active user base which talks with each other on a daily basis over our e-mail list server. It's a great feeling to be a part of something like the Mashpee SEPAC, and at last, that sense of isolation is starting to dissipate.

It's been a bit of a rocky road, though. The overtures we got from the school district and the school committee were certainly friendly enough, but we could never get the cooperation we needed from the special education director herself. Enough was finally enough over the summer, and our president and then-vice president read an open letter to the school committee during a public meeting expressing a vote of no confidence in the director.

Shortly thereafter, the district announced that the director was retiring. I'm not saying that our SEPAC's letter led to that action, but it'd be a lie for me to say that we were disappointed with the decision. And after that letter was read, the school committee opened a dialogue with us that's most recently led to a member of the committee being appointed as our official liaison. That should help to keep the flow of communication open between the school committee and parents of special needs kids in Mashpee.

Anyway, that, in short, is an explanation of what a SEPAC is. And if you don't have a kid on an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) or a Section 504 accommodation plan, you may very well not care about them. But for those of us that do, they can be incredibly important and really powerful organizations that help to empower us and give us a voice in the community. A voice we didn't have before.

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Pleased to meet you, let me introduce myself

10/05/07 · 3:03 pm :: posted by editor Link to Post/Share

I call this blog "Fish Out of Water" because I lead a really peculiar life that's full of ironies and contradictions.

Raised as the only child of a single parent, I never expected that I'd be married, let alone have kids. But I have as conventional a lifestyle as I ever could have imagined: Married since the early '90s, father of three kids, raising them in an exurb of Boston, a vacation paradise known the world over.

icod Swinging in the other direction, I have a very unconventional career. I write about video games, and I write about Apple -- the company that makes the Mac, the iPhone and the iPod. That puts me on the outside when friends and relatives ask me for help with their Dell or HP computers, because they run very differently from my Macs.

I'm also a veteran telecommuter. Unlike all of my friends and neighbors, I don't have to drive to work. Heck, most mornings, I don't even put on pants. And because of what I do with games, a lot of my sons' friends think I have the greatest job in the world.

Raising kids under normal circumstances is difficult. We've been thrown a curveball because two of our wonderful children have special needs. Their needs are on the social/emotional end of the spectrum, and my wife and I are very involved in special ed in our area. That's led to its own share of problems and peculiarities, and it's been very eye-opening, especially because we live in a region that's as perennially strapped for educational money as Cape Cod is.

Anyway, "Fish Out of Water" is where I'll post thoughts about being a dad, special ed activist, living on Cape Cod at a time of tremendous upheaval and change, being a Mac nerd and anything else that pops into my head. I hope you'll come along for the ride.

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About This Blog

fishoutofwater Peter Cohen washed ashore on Cape Cod more than a decade ago. A child of the 80s, who was told more than once he was wasting his life playing video games, he now gets to write about them for a living for an Apple-focused computer magazine. He and his wife are raising three kids in Mashpee, where they're both very involved in special education-related issues. This blog collects Peter's thoughts on being a dad, a nerd, and occasionally feeling like a fish out of water in a region named after a fish.

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