WBTA AM 1490 Batavia, New York

Comment by Debra Shultz on 'More Testing at LeRoy H.S. as Anger Rises'

Debra Shultz — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 21:09:40 GMT

Superintendent Kim Cox is doing an absolutely wonderful job in providing information to us all in a professional, intelligent, and most importantly, caring voice. I commend her, especially under the stress she must be feeling. On the other hand, in my opion, the moderator for this forum took the school a couple of steps back, leaving the school in an unfavorable and untrusting light with already anxious, concerned parents and the community. Being uncaringly curt is NOT going to help the schools view from very concerned parents and the community. And it certainly will not help anyone to feel good about putting trust in the school rather than looking to the media. A polite, firm and caring moderator is desperately needed to move forward in a positive, reassuring light. Also, a bit more time would have been beneficial. I did not have the opportunity to make a statement I feel is very important. That being; The community needs to stand behind our school and for that to happen, our school needs to stand behind our community and deliver continued information. Providing caring, informative and timely answers to our questions is very important. If we get the answers from our school, there should be no need to seek them elsewhere and we will be able to calm our childrens concerns as well as our own.

Comment by Frank P on 'More Testing at LeRoy H.S. as Anger Rises'

Frank P — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 22:45:42 GMT

Kim Cox should be fired. She handled this in a very distrusting unprofessional manner.She thinks the kids made this all up.To eject national environmental experts form helping was so wrong. Fire her. Its all about the kids we hear at budget times. Now its all about a hurry up and get this behind us no matter how much the kids suffer. Fire her.

Comment by Allan S on 'More Testing at LeRoy H.S. as Anger Rises'

Allan S — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 19:03:26 GMT

I've been following this story in the national media, and my problem with the diagnosis is that this "conversion disorder" argument sounds just what they were saying about Lyme disease clusters 20 years ago. You can do all the studies you want on the presence in blood samples of various metals and other known pathogens that equate to known potential environmental risks. But what happens if the pathogen is organic (a virus or bacteria or whatever) that isn't known? With a biochemical signature that's not known yet? With a presence at only certain locations/in certain types of tissue? With a completely unknown organism and symptomatic lifecycle? It's pretty difficult to test for such a presence unless you know what you're looking for going in.

If you don't, the potential for mis-diagnosis is huge.. and that's exactly what happened with lyme disease (which was, for the first two decades or so of its epidemic spread, routinely diagnosed as a psychosomatic disorder when, in actuality, the pathogen involved was slowly eating away at the brain tissue of its mostly young victims).

These things take time to figure out, and anyone determined to quickly go on TV with a diagnosis of Conversion Disorder, is, in my opinion, something of a potential quack. Sure, you should provide counseling and psychiatric care in the meantime, but you shouldn't stop looking for other potential causes.