should an adult with mental health disorder work in a primary school?

Question

should an adult with 20+ different personalities (Dissasociative Identity Disorder- Multiple personalities) be allowed to work as a learning mentor at a primary school?

Could I assume that she hasn't disclosed this information on a C R B?...Would she have to? Are head teachers normally okay with this sort of 'disorder'??!!

Zaylady..you answered this question with a statement about how " 1 in 20 people have Dissasociative Identity Disorder" I'm unable to contact you as you wont recieve IM or e mail. Could you contact me and let me know where these stats were published please?

to futher the question, alot of replies are of the opinion that "If the children aren't in danger..why not"....How would you know if the children were in danger or not?
People with D I D 'switch' from one personality to another with little or no control over who is "IN", ie, the personality who is in control of the physical body. Alot of personalities will be younger than five years old. The personality that was successful in 'getting the job', ISN'T always the personality that carries out the job as many different personalities will 'surface' during the course of the working day. The stresses of working as a learning mentor with young children who have barriers to learning because of all different types of problems (alot of them emotional) can act as 'triggers' to cause a personality to surface. Personalities will be at different ages and stages of development dependant on how much time that personality gets to spend interacting with the real world. would you trust them with kids

Answer 1

I wouldnt send my kids to that school if I knew of the disorder...

Answer 2

ODD is a behaviuoral disorder usually associated with ADHD. It basically means thay do the opposite of what they are told to do. Unlike ADHD which is a medical condition, ODD is a learned response. Usually due to misshandling and lack of support from the ADHD. It's not really a mental illness in the sense that you suggest, merely a behaviour pattern learned at a young age. It can be treated by child psycologists, but not medically. If left untreated the child is likely develop juevenile dysfunction and is likely to be in trouble with the law. Such is the nature of the defiance usually against authority. M N : I now it's two totally different disorders. I said associated, If you have ADHD you often have ODD as well. ADHD usually has another disorder associated with it. I know, my nephew has both and all the books, seminars and experts all say the same thing. "ODD rarely travels alone - Comorbidity It is exceptionally rare for a physician to see a child with only ODD. Usually the child has some other neuropsychiatric disorder along with ODD. The tendency for disorders in medicine to occur together is called comorbidity. Understanding comorbidity in pediatric psychiatry is one of the most important areas of research at this moment. Common patterns of comorbidity ODD plus ADHD If a child comes to a clinic and is diagnosed with ADHD, about 30-40% of the time the child will also have ODD" - a quote from that last link

Answer 3

Many people with DID are fully functional in society. Unless she has a history of getting into trouble or behaving inappropriately, then there is no reason to "out" her disorder to everyone.
One problem with society is that it is grossly uneducated about DID. The most people know about it is by watching the movie "Sybil" which depicts a woman who is a possible threat to herself and others. The fact is, 1 out of 20 people have DID. Are they criminals? Some of them are. But most of them are your neighbor, the lady at the checkout, the guy sitting next to you at church, your bus driver, and every other daily person you might know. They have learned to deal with the disorder and live healthy lives, same as people with depression or diabetes.
Read up on the subject. Learn about it, before labeling such people as a possible threat to children.

Answer 4

Under a teacher who is versed in the disorder (specifically for that person), why not? Pretty good life lesson for the kids as well - they'll figure out fast that the 'mentor' is different... but if he/she is good, works well with the children and is popular with the children, they'll be much more understanding and much less bigotted to people who don't fit the 'norm' (whatever that is!).

Answer 5

I sure see tons of bigotry in the other answers.
I see NO reason this person should be excluded. Do any of you know about the ADA (Americans With Disabilities Act)? It's clear none of you know anything about mental health and the rights disabled people have in the workplace.
People with these mental health problems are not dangerous! If she is good at her job, leave her alone!

Answer 6

Hmmm, that's a tricky one. Mental health disorder covers many different situations - from depression to more serious things.

Presumably, no crime has ever taken place, so I would imagine it is down to the discretion of the head.

The person in question should speak to their doctor or psychiatrist who'll have a better idea of whether or not it's worth applying for this job.

Answer 7

It depends on what sort of mental disease, if it is a violent nature, I would say nope. Some mental health patient are very talented and majority of them are very shy, this is a good training for them to meet more people and increase their circle of friends. They could be more confident in future and probably leads to a normal life. If a chance !!!

Answer 8

I would say as long as she is not a threat to the children she is probably OK...I do think she should have reported on her application any mental disorders she has and they can make a decision to hire her accordingly...If not you may want to drop a bug in someones ear at the school to make your concern known so they can check into it...After all the safety of the children is really the ONLY thing that matters..ss

Answer 9

I feel that this person should definately not be allowed to work in a primary school, atleast during school hours. If a person is capable of holding down a job such as janitorial work while the children aren't on the premises, then I see no objection.

Answer 10

not that is so not okay. its dangerous in fact. does this person exhibit violent behavior in any of the personalities? even if not there is no way to tell if another personality will develop that does. also kids are mean. working in that environment may not be helpful to the person with the disorder. it needs to be reported. parent would flip out over this

Answer 11

If the children are not in danger , why not?