Eli is getting high nineties in his tests. He is well
behaved, intelligent and studious. But sometimes he makes
spelling mistakes. He also makes occasional mistakes when he
reads, though his accuracy is definitely above average. But
Eli is not perfect.
Because of the spelling errors, Eli's rebbe recommended that
he go to an educational psychologist for evaluation. To help
Eli achieve total accuracy in his reading, Eli's principal
recommended that he go to a reading specialist. Eli's mother
took him to a doctor who suggested she take him to a
physiotherapist. The physiotherapist looked at the way Eli
bounced a ball and told his mother that even though Eli could
bounce the ball better than she (the physiotherapist), there
was definitely room for improvement. She recommended a course
of therapy.
Eli's mother told me the above scenario last night. She is
worried because Eli is now beginning to demand from himself
total perfection and he feels upset with himself when he
makes mistakes.
Eli has already completed a course of remediation and his
reading has improved beyond recognition. However, it was not
yet 100% accurate. The remediator knew that but felt that the
extra effort needed to achieve further improvement would not
be `cost effective.'
*
Any type of remediation or therapy is invasive. Apart from
the financial cost, the parents and the child are paying
other costs. The parent is having to take the child to the
remediator; perhaps he has to take him out of school and even
pressure the child to cooperate. The child is losing time
which he could spend doing other activities, with his peers,
which might also be beneficial to him -- perhaps more
valuable than the amount of improvement the remediation might
effect. The child might also be losing positive self image
and there is risk of other negative side effects which can
come from over-pressuring a child.
At first, the negative effects of the poor reading (or
whatever) are so great, it is worthwhile suffering these
costs and risking possible side effects. However, as
remediation progresses, each session will effect less
improvement and there is the likelihood that parent-child-
remediator pressures will increase. So you will achieve
diminishing returns for your efforts and `pay' more and get
less.
So the remediator felt that Eli had reached the point at
which attempting to effect further improvement might do more
damage than the good the improvement might effect.
The question is whether a lack of perfection is to be
labeled as a critical problem which must be dealt with.
There are some activities for which 100% is essential. If Eli
is a jet pilot or a brain surgeon, then his work would need
total precision and accuracy. However, Eli is a ten-year-old
boy doing 6th grade school work, and well.
At that age, Eli should have ample time for playing and
enjoying life. Over-stressing his neurological system at this
age can sow the seeds for many physical, mental and emotional
problems in later life and also affect the way he will relate
to his own children.
Each of the `experts' in the above scenario mean the best for
Eli. They are genuinely concerned that Eli's lack of
perfection will impair his chances of being successful when
he grows up.
