Dr Phil on Nickelodeon

I plan to record this and preview it before letting Robin watch it. I don't normally like Dr Phil, so we'll see how he does with these kids and these disorders. I thought some others might benifit from this, also.

By Happynerdmom on Wednesday, December 15, 2004 - 06:19 pm:

Thanks, Cat! I don't know if we'll be home, but I'll definitely tape it. I usually do like Dr. Phil, and since my son has dyslexia and ADD, I will be interested to see what he has to say.

By Gammiejoan on Wednesday, December 15, 2004 - 06:40 pm:

Thanks! I'll plan on watching this. I'm curious regarding your reasons for not normally liking Dr. Phil. Personally I like his approach regarding many issues, but sometime I'm a little "put off" when he talks with parents about their children. It's just my feeling that he tends to downplay the possibility of any real disorder and instead tends to make everything more of a behavioral and/or ineffective parenting issue. Also he sometimes makes it sound as if the solution to the problem is more simple than I have found it to be.

By Tink on Wednesday, December 15, 2004 - 07:12 pm:

I'll try to watch this, too. Although it doesn't look like they will be covering Seth's disability, I think Dr. Phil has a good no-nonsense approach to a lot of issues. Yes, he does oversimplify but so many parents decide that the obvious ways aren't working but it is due to inconsistency or a lack of planning. I am interested in seeing if he has different ideas for our special kids.

By Lauram on Thursday, December 16, 2004 - 10:57 am:

I have to say I'm a bit skeptical myself about this. I think I'll watch it, but I won't let me son watch it until I preview it (I'll tape it). I could see it going both ways. I do tend to agree that sometimes he downplays issues and that's the source of my cynicism. I've heard way too much "blame the parents" on these topics. I'm willing to give it a go, however.... Thanks, Cat!

By Lauram on Monday, December 20, 2004 - 10:54 am:

This was pretty good. I taped it an watched it with my seven year old. He seemed to like the message that you're not alone. I also liked the message that our differences make us unique and special. My ds really identified with one of the ADHD kids and one of the OCD kids (the one who stepped on leaves). He was disappointed there wasn't a Tourette kid because they mentioned it at the beginning. I told him that kid was probably just to shy to talk!

By Cat on Monday, December 20, 2004 - 02:31 pm:

I did tape it (replay), but haven't gotten a chance to watch it yet. Thanx for the review, Laura. Hopefully I'll get to watch it tonight.

By Happynerdmom on Monday, December 20, 2004 - 04:21 pm:

I enjoyed it, too, and my ds said he identified with a lot of the kids. (All the ones with dyslexia and ADD.) My dh watched it, too, and I think it was good for him to watch! Sometimes I think he has as much trouble dealing with my son's disabilities than my son does. He mentioned that he liked the message that our "disabilities" aren't good or bad...just different. I also liked that they talked about the strengths, and how not to think of yourself as your disability.

By Cat on Wednesday, December 29, 2004 - 11:43 am:

I finally got around to watching this yesterday. I think it was well done, but really only touched the tip of the iceburgh. They never mentioned bipolar by name, but there were several kids with "depression". Robin half watched with me (was in the room, but I couldn't really get him to pay attention). He did ask me "Why aren't I on that show? I could say, "I'm bipolar and ADHD." " We did have a discussion about what he's good at (math, gameboy, karate, swimming), so that was good. I really don't think Dr. Phil contributed much, but he did have good things to say about focusing on the good in the kids. I'd love to see a more in depth program done. Just my thoughts and mho.

By Tink on Wednesday, December 29, 2004 - 05:29 pm:

I agree, Cat. I think it was meant more to inform children that these problems are out there and that these kids need to be treated normally and compassionately. BUT I'd like to see Dr. Phil do a more in-depth program or series for the parents of these kids. All in all, there wasn't anything to turn me off but I wasn't super impressed, either.

By Lauram on Wednesday, December 29, 2004 - 07:09 pm:

I think it was a good show geared at kids. Certainly a parenting show would be great too. It had to be short though for the kids I think. I agree it was just the tip of the iceberg.....