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ADD liaison takes a 'closer look' at her students' cases

By Eric Drudis

To the parents who employ her, Judith Sharon Stubbs is an educational pioneer.

"Learning disabilities are no reason to be held back, because everyone has their gifts," Stubbs says. "Schools try to make kids feel special, but it can't always happen. I can make them feel special. I can show them they are."

She is an educational therapist and an advocate for children with learning disabilities. Driven by her "mission" and an "undescribable" passion, Stubbs has mediated between cash-strapped schools and parents demanding the school to help their children with special needs.

"In the world of a child with Attention Deficit Disorder, getting through everyday life is a struggle," she says. "I try to make it something they can manage. ... People don't get over ADD or ADHD [a more prevalent form of the disorder that includes hyperactivity]."

She began her work after discovering her son was among the estimated 1 million Americans with the disorders.

"These people are so bright, and the crime is that they're treated like they are stupid because they don't fit into the square society wants them to," Stubbs says. "I was always interested in this field, but with [the diagnosis of] my child, it became more important to me. I've been helping these children forever."

She says she wanted to make sure her child would get the attention he needed.

"Part of what pushed me out of the school districts is the attitude that we can 'just fix it,' but there are never any resources," says the former elementary and junior high school teacher. "The system is overburdened, and it needs to be changed."

Now she is hired by parents to negotiate with schools and teachers to provide the best possible education for children who suffer from ADD or ADHD. She opened A Closer Look last year, and moved to a Cupertino office three months ago.

"I get people to talk about the needs of a child, and I have the information they need and don't know or don't want to admit," Stubbs says. "I'm not here to make excuses for the child. I've been in the teaching trenches before, and I know what teachers can and cannot do."

She has negotiated with schools around the Silicon Valley after having started her business last year. Although she's stumbled on "lots of red tape," she says she understands special education is very political. But she says she'll keep doing it because it is in her clients' best interest.

Stubbs says she doesn't want children who come to her educational therapy center to keep coming back. She hopes they can learn to understand their own learning process and manage to live independently.

"I try to give them a skill they can use and take with them," Stubbs says.

For years, Stubbs says ADD was treated as an "excuse to be lazy. Experts are finally admitting it is truly chemical and neurological. It isn't an excuse to be distracted."

Several researchers, including Joan Kilbourne, head of San Jose State University's special education department, have called for an overhaul of special education in the United States.

"There is a trend to get everyone to fit into a box," Kilbourne says. "If they can't, they are broken." Stubbs says that especially in this region of the country--with many high-tech jobs and a pervading mentality of the "quick fix"--it is nearly impossible to conduct special education successfully.

"I am not interested in stirring up trouble or taking anyone to court, though," Stubbs says. "I think of myself as a community resource, as an arm for parents. This has been a great path to be on."

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This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, August 12, 1998.
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