Differences That Bring Us Together
By Clark McKown, Executive Director
All children who come to RNBC are, of course, individuals. Many declare themselves with outsize personalities. There are, however, two challenges many RNBC children share. See if you can catch the common thread:
Jack is a seventh grade boy who attends a small private school and has been with the same 30 or so classmates since Kindergarten. Jack is bright, funny, and friendly. He loves spending time with friends and is very outgoing. He can “read” others’ emotions and loves nothing more than a fast and hilarious back-and-forth with a friend who can keep up with his wit. Jack runs like a motor all day long. Most things that enter his mind come out his mouth. Over the years, this has become an irritant to his classmates. Now, in seventh grade, Jack is no longer invited to parties and sleepovers and is left out in the lunchroom and playground. He has increasingly been the target of unkind behavior that borders on bullying. Jack is also the first to admit he is disorganized. His parents joke that his backpack, locker, and bedroom should be declared disaster areas and receive FEMA aid.
Aaron is a ninth grade boy who attends a large public high school. He is incredibly passionate about old movies. In fact, his knowledge of 1940s-era moves is nothing short of encyclopedic. He has sketched out the storyboard to a wildly creative film, and hopes one day to succeed in Hollywood. Aaron yearns for friends, but in his interactions, he quickly runs into trouble. He can’t read peoples’ facial expressions. He can’t tell what other people think or intend. Sarcasm and jokes completely befuddle him. He doesn’t know how to cope with the routine conflicts that arise between youth. Other kids think Aaron is strange and, while they are forgiving of his awkward style, no one seeks his company, and when he reaches out to others, they politely decline his invitations. Aaron focuses well and can organize a task that is in front of him, but he doesn’t know how to set a long-term goal, and figure out the steps he needs to take to achieve that goal.
In many ways, Jack and Aaron could not be more different. You may have already guessed that Jack’s primary diagnosis is ADHD; Aaron’s is autism.
Despite their differences, Jack and Aaron share two important challenges. They both struggle mightily to connect with peers and they both have very poor executive function skills.
And they each have strengths and challenges that are not reflected in their diagnoses and that are not related to their shared challenges.
RNBC’s commitment to exceptional service is reflected in getting to the bottom of and addressing the things that interfere with a child’s ability to be successful. When RNBC clinicians conduct comprehensive assessments, they clarify children’s diagnostic status. They also dig deep to understand the barriers to social, emotional, and academic success, and use those findings to develop detailed and tailored educational and treatment plans. Members of our research team often collaborate with our clinicians to use cutting-edge methods of assessing social-emotional learning skill, yielding actionable insight. Our educational consultant works with school teams to develop an education plan that fit their needs. Boys like Jack and Aaron participate in our unmatched social skills group program, providing treatment and support throughout the school year. Our psychologists provide individual and family therapy. Our medical team supports the medical needs of children. And our education team provides a rigorous method of executive functioning tutoring to help kids get organized and become the masters of their own ship.
What sets RNBC apart—and what makes me most proud of the exceptional work we do—is our rigorous commitment to fully understanding each child’s needs, and the great ends to which each and every member of our team will go, individually, and together, to set things right.