Cognitive development is defined as the act or process of a child developing in terms of information processing, conceptual resources, perceptual skill, language learning, and other aspects of brain development and cognitive psychology compared to an adult’s point of view.
I have had a lot of different doctors. For a lot of different reasons, too. One doctor when I was really young told my mom that I had trouble paying attention. Another doctor when I was younger would sit me down and play games with me, to see how I followed the rules and what strategies I used. I had this one doctor that would give me these cards with pictures on it that would show what to remember to do when in the classroom. This included remembering to write down assignments, checking my backpack for all necessary materials, that kind of small stuff. There were others, but not for longer than two or three weeks. Growing up I had problems with organization, following directions, and just paying attention overall. I was always losing things I needed and forgetting homework assignments. I was prescribed different kinds of medicine. I can’t remember the first medication I was ever prescribed, but I can say that they never really made me feel any different. A few psychiatrists who I do remember would have me take hour to two hour-long tests so they could study my cognitive development. They thought that if they could find out how my brain worked than they could make sure that I didn’t screw up later in life. But to be honest, I did not feel comfortable with a bunch of adults telling me, a little kid, what to do so that I wouldn’t fail. These doctors should have understood that just like any other child, I need to let my cognitive skills develop on their own, and not with any extra help. As I got older I stopped letting these people make these decisions for me. I wanted to challenge myself; I wanted to not be limited by whatever kind of disability Dr. Whatever his name was told my parents I had. Since I made that decision I could not be better off. I guess I wasn’t the one who had a problem paying attention.
I think that your parents were concerned with your well being and that is why they took you to the doctors so often. Other than that, on the topic you have written about, I feel since you have had personal experience you know what your talking about and have wrote a very good blog.
It sounds like your family was concerned you had attention deficit disorder when you were younger. Whether or not you actually did, you seem to be very unappreciative of the fact that they were just trying to help you. My brother has ADD, and he never had much of a problem in school because he was just a really smart guy, but he never did anything about his problem, and when he got to college, he became so overwhelmed he ended up dropping out. ADD can be really debilitating, so I can’t blame your family and doctors for wanting to help you as much as they could as early as they could once they suspected it. Of course, no child wants to be told what to do by adults, but do you really think you knew, when you were “a little kid” more than they did? If you do, in fact, have ADD, then you are not “like any other child”. You have a neuro-developmental disorder, and that’s serious! It’s not something that just goes away with time, and you can’t be left to your own devices to “outgrow” it. I, myself, have a pervasive developmental disorder, and the older I got, the worse it got until I finally got help for it. Maybe they were wrong and your cognitive development was just a bit delayed, but if you still have problems with organization, memory, and paying attention, you may want to consider getting some help for it, because it won’t just go away on its own. In regards to the medication, their effects are often very subtle. It may not have seemed like it was doing anything, but I’m sure your doctors had good reason to give it to you.
I apologize if I sound overly critical. Judging by the end of your post, you seem to be doing very well. It’s very important to overcome your weaknesses, not to allow them to limit you, and you seem to have done that. Still, you should never assume you, as a little kid, know more than a trained professional. If they suspect you have a disability of some sort, do not disregard them and say “It’s my life!” Psychiatric disorders are far more serious than you seem to be giving them credit for, so there’s really no need to be so resentful towards the people that were only trying to help you.