The woo in my backyard

softstuff said:
On their website the "Psychic and Enlightened Children" are mentioned as being "Indigo Children". ...
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It's not all entirely negative, because some of these belief systems encourage people to treat such children with respect and to find ways of accommodating their needs and encouraging them in their areas of potential, rather than just denigrating them as troublemakers. For instance, from this web page: Indigo Children in the Classroom: ADD Kids & Trouble-Makers May Be Smart, Troubled, Intuitive Indigos

It is estimated that 60-90% of the children in today’s schools are indigo kids. This makes it even more urgent to create an environment in which these children can learn and flourish. ...

The key to teaching indigo children is respect. Indigo kids must be respected before they will respect and pay attention to their teacher.

Almost as importantly, indigo kids need to be challenged and to have their intelligence welcomed. They usually “check out” and become disruptive in class when they are bored, or have no outlet for creativity. ...
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It's been observed entirely independently of any New Age-type trappings that the best may be got out of lively young schoolboys if instead of making them all sit quietly at desks, which isn't really natural for people of that age to do, teaching techniques can be developed that allow them to be more active in the classroom, for instance by playing games where they get exercise.

The down-side to this stuff may, as you suggested, be that those promoting these New Age ways of viewing things might not recognise genuine medical problems for what they are. Also, the examples the OP gives do seem to be a lot more way-out! Researching and then countering such misinformation where you see it with genuinely scientific information will hopefully help correct misconceptions people have developed by buying into this stuff.

With some beliefs though, it might not be that clear-cut, because scientific information about some characteristics of children who might have special needs like this is still inconclusive because research is still in the fairly early stages. See a conversation about ADHD and other matters in a thread I had a lot of involvement in a while ago called 1 in 5 Young Adults Have Personality Disorder, Study Finds , for example, where to what extent ADHD is neurological and to what extent it's just on the continuum of natural disruptive behaviour or a product of environmental circumstances was discussed. My most recent post in the thread is an example of how the causes of some childhood behaviours are still under discussion and investigation. You can see it here if you're interested, and then maybe look at some earlier posts.

Still, countering psychic stuff with scientific information, such as the latest on research into what can cause speech problems in children and what can and should be done about it, would hopefully help a lot.
 
softstuff said:
If there was a guy selling a bottle of "Mr Dexters Magical Elixir" from a painted caravan crying out what I wrote earlier, there would likely be an outcry. But for some reason we've moved from the travelling trickster to someone who is able to set up camp, charge more and somehow make the same claims with an air of authority and legitimacy. I need to take some action that's for sure.
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You need one of these to park in front of the woo station.

Also, that poem? Awesome. My first nomination.
 
Personality disorders are completely distinct and separate from attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder, which is, in turn, utterly different from obsessive-compulsive disorder, substance abuse, bipolar disorder and a number of other psychiatric problems that were lumped together in a totally indiscriminate way by the uneducated author of the original AP article which was reprinted for Fox News. It certainly didn't give an accurate view of the original study. If this is supposed to be an anti-psychiatry argument along the lines of why Ritalin is evil, then just come out and say it, but personally, I think that this kind of nonsense should be left to Scientology.
 
Baby Nemesis said:
It's not all entirely negative, because some of these belief systems encourage people to treat such children with respect and to find ways of accommodating their needs and encouraging them in their areas of potential, rather than just denigrating them as troublemakers. For instance, from this web page: Indigo Children in the Classroom: ADD Kids & Trouble-Makers May Be Smart, Troubled, Intuitive Indigos



It's been observed entirely independently of any New Age-type trappings that the best may be got out of lively young schoolboys if instead of making them all sit quietly at desks, which isn't really natural for people of that age to do, teaching techniques can be developed that allow them to be more active in the classroom, for instance by playing games where they get exercise.

The down-side to this stuff may, as you suggested, be that those promoting these New Age ways of viewing things might not recognise genuine medical problems for what they are. Also, the examples the OP gives do seem to be a lot more way-out! Researching and then countering such misinformation where you see it with genuinely scientific information will hopefully help correct misconceptions people have developed by buying into this stuff.

With some beliefs though, it might not be that clear-cut, because scientific information about some characteristics of children who might have special needs like this is still inconclusive because research is still in the fairly early stages. See a conversation about ADHD and other matters in a thread I had a lot of involvement in a while ago called 1 in 5 Young Adults Have Personality Disorder, Study Finds , for example, where to what extent ADHD is neurological and to what extent it's just on the continuum of natural disruptive behaviour or a product of environmental circumstances was discussed. My most recent post in the thread is an example of how the causes of some childhood behaviours are still under discussion and investigation. You can see it here if you're interested, and then maybe look at some earlier posts.

Still, countering psychic stuff with scientific information, such as the latest on research into what can cause speech problems in children and what can and should be done about it, would hopefully help a lot.
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Thanks for that, I'll be looking a lot further into it, it does interest me. Kinda funny really since I'm childfree!

I think the particular woo-meisters from the weekend were way past the idea of supporting and encouraging the needs of children and more into the idea of psychic and paranormal abilities.

This page at least leads me to think so:
http://www.absoluteempowerment.com/Psychic_Children.php
In fact, click on the links to the "types" of children. The mention of Atlantis and Lemuria... I'm thinking there's a bit more woo than good sense going on here.

My next step is some serious research over the next few months, and a solid understanding of not only what they're promoting in their seminars, but also the scientific counterarguments as you rightly mention. They're back in February apparently, so by then I need some kind of plan.... one that won't get me arrested preferably, but that may promote a bit more skeptical thinking for some of the attendees.
 
softstuff said:
My next step is some serious research over the next few months, and a solid understanding of not only what they're promoting in their seminars, but also
the scientific counterarguments as you rightly mention. They're back in February apparently, so by then I need some kind of plan.... one that won't get
me arrested preferably, but that may promote a bit more skeptical thinking for some of the attendees.
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Do you think you'd be allowed to put posters up in the hall giving people scientific information? Or create leaflets and hand them out to people on their way in or out? Hopefully by February you might have thought of a more sophisticated plan, whatever it is.
 
softstuff said:
I think the particular woo-meisters from the weekend were way past the idea of supporting and encouraging the needs of children and more into the idea
of psychic and paranormal abilities.

This page at least leads me to think so:
http://www.absoluteempowerment.com/Psychic_Children.php

In fact, click on the links to the "types" of children. The mention of Atlantis and Lemuria... I'm thinking there's a bit more woo than good sense going
on here.
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I've had a look at that website now, and whereas some of the stuff on there sounds very bizarre and possibly harmful, there's this page: Child Behaviour Problems which is mainly free of wacky stuff and is in fact mainly in line with good psychology. They might go into more detail in their seminars about stuff that could help parents quite a bit. For instance, it says:

... Some of the techniques used to make a child safe include: ...

2. Boundaries – Healthy boundaries give children a sense of safety. They know their limits and where they be can accepted and loved. It is also part of the integration process children learn when they are maturing and learning so that the children understand what is acceptable as an adult and what is not.
These boundaries are not limiting for a child but guide them to what appears safe to them, others and the environment. ...

4. In with the good and out with the bad – As parents, if we choose not get involved with the ‘bad’ behaviour and react less, the child learns that this does not get attention. The opposite applies to when the child does something loving, where there is more attention we give the learning lesson for the child is that they are rewarded. ...
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The thing is that people don't need to pay enormous amounts to get a wealth of advice on parenting techniques, and nor do they need all the woo stuff in combination with it, naturally. There are cheap self-help books that give lots of good advice on how to help parents with children having tantrums, for example, and as I said, a lot of information is even free and easily accessible online, for instance this: Parenting Difficult Teenagers.
 
Baby Nemesis said:
I've had a look at that website now, and whereas some of the stuff on there sounds very bizarre and possibly harmful, there's this page: Child Behaviour Problems which is mainly free of wacky stuff and is in fact mainly in line with good psychology. They might go into more detail in their seminars about stuff that could help parents quite a bit. For instance, it says:



The thing is that people don't need to pay enormous amounts to get a wealth of advice on parenting techniques, and nor do they need all the woo stuff in combination with it, naturally. There are cheap self-help books that give lots of good advice on how to help parents with children having tantrums, for example, and as I said, a lot of information is even free and easily accessible online, for instance this: Parenting Difficult Teenagers.
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I do worry though, that when people get a bit of good parenting advice which will probably work, but it comes dressed in a woo-suit, that they'll believe the rest of the stuff also.

Perhaps the approach to take is the helpful one, provide some sort of literature which supports the good ideas even promoted by the conference organisers but which avoids the woo and maybe debunks some of it too.

I know it won't be possible to put posters around, or do handouts, I'm going to have to think of something more creative.
 
Baby Nemesis said:
It's not all entirely negative, because some of these belief systems encourage people to treat such children with respect and to find ways of accommodating their needs and encouraging them in their areas of potential, rather than just denigrating them as troublemakers. For instance, from this web page: Indigo Children in the Classroom: ADD Kids & Trouble-Makers May Be Smart, Troubled, Intuitive Indigos
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What's the passenger though? Is it some good advice with a bit of woo along for the ride, or a whole heap of woo with a facade of seemingly sound advice? Either way it's filling peoples heads with nonsense. I'm reminded of heavily spiritual yoga classes, they ruin some perfectly good stretches and relaxing breathing with spirit guides and chakrahs.
 
sadhatter said:
You know i have a tendancy to make the comment that New-woo is reading more and more like a list of D and D powers, races, abilities, etc. But seriously this one takes the cake.

Though i mean seriously, these would make for some fairly poor charecters, i don't think a 15th level star child would be a decent adventurer.

Word to the woo, at least make the powers cool, i mean where are the fireballs, cone of cold, Fast healing, damage reduction, etc? If your going to B.S. at least put a little effort into it.
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My thoughts exactly. Star child beats Aqua child; Aqua child beats Crystal child; Crystal child beats Star child; Rainbow child takes on the form of one of the others for each battle, randomly determined at the start of battle. Congratulations! Your Crystal child levels up. +5 alchemy.

I think it would take me about half an hour to make this a fully codified game. It could be kind of fun, except that with the quantum physics in there, every time you measure who is winning, you change the outcome.
 
softstuff said:
I do worry though, that when people get a bit of good parenting advice which will probably work, but it comes dressed in a woo-suit, that they'll believe
the rest of the stuff also.

Perhaps the approach to take is the helpful one, provide some sort of literature which supports the good ideas even promoted by the conference organisers
but which avoids the woo and maybe debunks some of it too.
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Yes I suspect this is a problem as well, and might even have been deliberately calculated by those people to draw people in - if people hear things they recognise as good advice and even recall childcare experts on television saying it or something, they might be more likely to trust that the people saying it are legitimate authorities when they talk about all the woo stuff so they'll be more likely to believe it.

So it probably is a good approach to do a combination of giving good information about childcare and advice on where more can be found out cheaply and easily via trustworthy sources, and debunking the wacky stuff.
 
Now here's a bit of that website that could be dangerous: The Crystal Child

... The main physical disease they will repetitively have is the nervous system, brain disfunction and digestive problems. These children will be nervous. This affects the brain function, sometimes creating headaches, bacteria around the brain and any other concepts relating to the nervous system/brain, such as epilepsy, migraines, blurred vision and vertigo. This can also affect their auditory canal, hearing, ear bones and the throat area creating many sore throats and ear aches. The reason for this is that they work on a high frequency such as dolphins and dogs, and the Earth realm is of such a dense vibration.
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That might lead some parents to think that totally inappropriate treatments are best for their children, or that it would be impossible to treat them with conventional medical techniques.

So there's something that could do with a good public debunking.
 
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