Experts!

I've been thinking a great deal about experts lately. In my job as an educational diagnostician, I work with many experts, including a variety of therapists.

I've also seen many parents fooled by so-called experts. One mother brought me a letter written by a family friend, who is also a family therapist. This "expert" stated that the child in question didn't have Pervasive Developmental Disorder, and did have Attention Deficit Disorder. Legally, she's not qualified to make either diagnosis. Federal law requires PDD be diagnosed by a team, and ADD requires the expertise of a medical doctor.

At least no money changed hands in this case. Other parents have paid thousands of dollars for evaluations the school couldn't legally accept as valid because the evaluator didn't have the proper credentials. My heart aches for these families who have wasted precious resources on invalid reports.

I was called just this afternoon by a friend who told me of a coworker who had been fired. She had falsified her credentials, and had been discovered. This phony was considering filing a lawsuit against her former employer, even though she was the liar.

Now I wonder about experts. We trust their judgement, rely on their opinion, and make major life decisions from their input. Where is safety?

Those of us who believe in the Gospel of Jesus Christ know only one true expert, whose "evaluation" can be accessed through the Holy Ghost. I pray we can learn to rely on this spirit to help us identify the true experts in our lives.