Rethinking Diagnosis in Children: What If They’re Not Broken?

TL;DR

➕ This is a part 2 of this blog post

※ Rethinking diagnosis in children means recognizing how often we label difference as dysfunction.

※ What we call disorders are sometimes biological mismatches with unnatural environments.

※ Medicalizing neurodivergence, gender nonconformity, or emotional sensitivity can erase a child’s strengths.

※ The endocannabinoid system (ECS) reveals that identity, emotion, and health are deeply connected—not separate compartments.

※ We need a better framework for what’s “normal”—one built around the child, not the system.

The Hidden Curriculum: What Kids Learn About Health and Identity

Children aren’t just learning about their bodies—they’re learning what kind of bodies are allowed.

Before they can write their names, most kids have a sense of whether they’re “too loud,” “too weird,” or “not normal.” This isn’t by accident. It’s the accumulation of small messages: the way we respond to fidgeting, how we react to tears, who we praise for sitting still and who we ask to “try a little harder.”

This is how children learn emotional regulation—and how they begin to internalize a lifelong tension between who they are and who they’re expected to be.

The result? Many children grow up not trusting their instincts, their energy, or even their bodies.

When we don’t question how kids learn about identity, we risk confusing survival strategies with disorders.

When the System Diagnoses the Mismatch

ADHD is a real condition—but we need to ask: why does it show up so often in schools where kids are told to sit still under fluorescent lights, absorb abstract material without movement, and suppress all physical spontaneity?

What we often call attention deficit is actually a mismatch between environment and biology.

These kids aren’t broken. They’re functioning in conditions their bodies were never built for.

Think about it: thousands of years ago, the same kid might have thrived herding animals, harvesting food, or sprinting between tasks. Today, they’re medicated to handle standardized testing.

This isn’t a takedown of medication—plenty of children are helped by it. But it is a call to reconsider whether rethinking child development environments might reduce the need to pathologize half the classroom.

What if we designed schools around child biology—not just classroom control?

What if instead of forcing a fit, we fit the environment to the child?

When Neurodivergent Kids Don’t Fit the Social Script

Some kids aren’t outgoing. They don’t smile on demand. They don’t want to role-play social scripts that feel performative. That doesn’t mean they’re disordered. It means they’re wired for a different kind of connection.

Still, many of these kids are diagnosed with social communication disorders, labeled “rigid” or “uncooperative,” and sent to therapy to practice being someone they’re not.

What we’re calling dysfunction may actually be introversion, depth-seeking, or sensory self-preservation.

But there’s no obvious “club” for that.

So where do these kids find friendships that make sense? Who designs peer experiences for the kids who don’t fit the selfie-snapping, extrovert default?

Not every child who struggles socially needs to be fixed. Many just need spaces where neurodivergent kids can connect meaningfully—on their terms, not ours.

The Cost of Forcing Normal

We talk a lot about “getting kids back to normal.” But if normal means:

➕ Being able to sit still in artificially lit rooms

➕ Hitting milestones based on testable behaviors

➕ Socializing in prescribed, neurotypical formats

…then maybe normal is the problem.

What is normal child development supposed to look like in a world where every child is unique—but the expectations are identical?

We don’t need more interventions.

We need to reconsider whether the standard is worth returning to in the first place.

When Gender Becomes a Diagnosis

If a child’s sense of identity doesn’t match their assigned gender, it’s not a malfunction—it’s a message.

And yet, gender variance in children is still treated as a crisis. A problem to monitor. A phase to correct.

Children learn early who they’re allowed to be, based on:

•How quickly adults correct nonconforming behaviors

•Whether curiosity about identity is met with shame or support

•How much space there is to question the model

The reality is, gender norms in childhood development are more cultural than clinical. But our systems aren’t neutral. They’re built to protect a binary.

Rethinking diagnosis in children requires making room for gender exploration—not medicalizing it.

What the ECS Can Teach Us About Identity, Too

The endocannabinoid system in children isn’t just about pain or sleep—it’s the scaffolding of regulation.

It reminds us that emotions, stress, gut health, mood, and energy are all part of the same conversation. Not separate departments.

It teaches us that identity is never separate from physiology.

That mental health is tied to inflammation.

That behavior is shaped by the environment, the nervous system, and the regulation networks we rarely talk about in pediatric care.

Supporting the ECS isn’t just about cannabis. It’s about honoring interconnection.

It’s about admitting that the blueprint we hand kids needs to reflect reality, not reductionism.

Redrawing the Blueprint

Rethinking diagnosis in children doesn’t mean we stop supporting them.

It means we stop assuming the system’s default is right—and the child is wrong.

It means asking:

Are we designing schools, labels, and treatments around real human diversity?

Or are we still trying to squeeze kids into an outdated blueprint?

Children don’t need our certainty.

They need space.

They need support that honors who they are—not who we expected.

And they need adults who can tell the difference between a disorder… and a different way of being.

🔗 See The Developmental “Normal” Milestones of Children by Age

🔗 “Normal” Children according to The American Psychological Association

🔗 Precision Dosing and Individual Care at CED Clinic

🔗 Pediatric Cannabis Care at CED Clinic

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