To Whom It May Concern

Blah Blah Blah... 98/JMACP                      {Nik-Note: Set in mid-1998 }

Medical professionals should also consult my extensive 'Social Report' referenced above, but this document provides a non-technical summary plus clarification of essential aspects of this difficult case.

John MacPherson is a genuinely nice boy. Thoughtful, kind, polite, well-spoken, diligent and unflinchingly honest, he does not swear, smoke, drink, do drugs, or run with a gang. However, these attributes plus his striking ginger hair make him a 'Trouble Magnet'.

John may look a child, but appearances are deceptive. Though quiet and modest, small and slight for his age, there is an astute, uncompromising mind behind those so-sad, green eyes. John has a wry wit, insight beyond his years and a rare passion for learning. He is very well read. I consider myself a fast reader, but John is in a different league. I know few such.

Unfortunately, John is 'Damaged Goods'. He was urgently referred to me by the canny Social Worker allocated to his parents' divorce proceedings. In her savvy words, 'Summat is verra wrong with yon puir laddie...'

It is tragic that so many divorces involving children become running battles over up-keep, access and custody. These polarise, damage and impoverish all involved.

For once, thankfully, there was no such argument. The clever teenage daughter was leaving for university via a Summer internship. The meticulous teenage son, two years younger, had won a prestigious engineering apprenticeship, which included room & board with a local family.

Adolescent John was less fortunate; his mother wanted no further contact with him. Despite their stiff courtesy, it was clear that this feeling was mutual. Sadly, she'd set her heart on another daughter, suffered severe Post Natal Depression (PND) and, though dutiful, never fully accepted him. After raising John as an un-loved step-child, she now blamed him for the divorce.

Although close to John, his father reluctantly recused himself. The mobile nature of his essential Y2K IT work precluded provision of a stable family home for years to come. Though boarding school was suggested, John's circumstances made that an inappropriate environment. A trawl of immediate relatives found much sympathy, but no takers due to domestic exigencies. An obscure relative offered to ward John, but lived 400 miles away in South-West Wales.

My task was two-fold; to identify then resolve young John's problem, and to evaluate his potential guardian.

I began with John's family history. His parents met whilst working at a national bank's call-centre, here in 'Silicon Glen'. Peter was the site's skinny, tongue-tied, IT guru. Susan, then a pretty brunette, was the hot-shot, day-shift supervisor, rapidly promoted due to her 'Gift of the Gab'. They seemed a perfect couple but, in truth, were cruelly mismatched. Though they tried to keep their marriage together for the sake of their two children, it gradually descended through incessant bickering to endless arguments. A third child seemed a possible solution, a way to 're-boot' the relationship. Sadly, this plan back-fired.

Young John endured the slow disintegration of his family unit with courage and dignity. Unfortunately, he internalised his parents' increasingly toxic relationship to a degree I would describe as 'encysted'. The resulting Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) blighted John's school-work and compromised his social development. His family doctor glumly described him as 'dour', with which grim assessment I must fully concur.

Over a series of difficult counselling sessions, I slowly determined that John counted few friends beyond his father, his brother and the neighbours' cats. He did not play video or board games. He did not participate in track, field or court sports. He followed no team. Instead, John studied diligently, scoured local libraries for anything new, read voraciously, watched documentaries, attended his after-school Science Club and Judo dojo, did katas with his brown-belt brother and learned professional-level programming on his father's home computer. Weather permitting, John often headed for the near-by 'Country Park' on his modest mountain bike to 'chill out' along its quiet trails.

Please note that, like his father, John has a 'tin ear' for music. John cannot sing, play an instrument or carry more than the simplest of tunes. Like father and brother, he also has a 'tin ear' for French & Gaelic pronunciation, so aural emphasis on tone-critical languages is inadvisable. However, as his father is now a roving IT Consultant who bounty-hunts arcane Y2K bugs, it is not surprising that John is skilled in two major computer languages and competent in several more.

John did not flaunt his eclectic reading or undoubted intelligence in class. His school reported that John was a 'shy loner' who was 'very reluctant' to participate solo, much preferring that others take the lead. Did no-one realise John had learned most of the current material from his sibs' text-books five years ago ? That he'd continued to track his sibs' disparate studies to GCSE level and beyond ?

Now spoon-fed what must seem dull kindergarten pap, with his parents' nightly arguments endlessly echoing in his head, how could John muster much enthusiasm ? At least, with team-work, others would share the credit should he 'open the throttle'...

It is most unfortunate that scant cognizance was given to John's off-curriculum activities such as the lively, after-school Science Club. This was where a very different John could be found, had any-one cared to look. His well-informed passion for those complex, ever-evolving disciplines of Astronomy and Geology contrasts uncomfortably with that 'reluctant' report. Similarly, his reported disinterest in sport ignores both his modest but effective 'Junior Judo' and his brisk mountain biking.

All these personal details took numerous, slow counselling sessions to acquire and collate. Probing John's complex psyche was fraught. He has severe trust issues, especially with authority figures. Though John declined to explain fully, I surmise that several must have failed badly. Others certainly 'Ticked OFSTED Boxes' without taking a wider view. All such authorities are now 'On Probation' until proven competent. I, too, was judged thus. Until I realised John's minimal replies' vocabulary was not that of the shy child he seemed, my attempts to build a rapport broke on his courteous but resolute reserve.

Though still hyper-wary, John was more co-operative after my apology. Slowly, I built a grim picture of a very clever boy ham-strung by PTSD. With formal intelligence testing unfashionable, I had difficulty assessing John's mental capacity. He ruefully admitted to having flunked a 'Mensa' test. The truth, like so much else about John, was more complex. When John's clever sister got very high scores for her Key#2 SATS, father, daughter and both sons took the 'Mensa' test together. Father and daughter passed with ease. Both sons 'failed'. I wondered if those results were 'raw' rather than 'age corrected' as, two years later, John got remarkable Key#1 SATS. Asked about his pending Key#2 SATS, John grumbled, "Level 5 was easy. I could have done Level 6, but my school left it too late."

Curious, I showed John a 'Civil Service' pre-application evaluation. This ingenious, multiple-choice, pattern-matching test is considered foolproof. John studied its first question with increasing puzzlement, briefly sampled a few more, skimmed the rest of the booklet then returned it, saying, "That's clever; they're all 'right' answers ! It measures how fast and deep you think !" He was correct. I felt so proud that he'd allowed me to share his insight for, with that notorious test thus deconstructed, John could have kept quiet and scored as he pleased...

That, though, was a rare window into John's hyper-wary psyche. Frustrated by our slow progress, I suggested a session of hypnotism to relax him. When John reluctantly accepted my offer, neither I nor a more skilled senior colleague was able to 'put him under'. John is 'Highly Resistant' or better. This is rare for an adult, truly remarkable for an adolescent.

Intrigued by this discovery and, perhaps, moved by my dismay, John quietly admitted to three major fears. The first, naturally, was his life-changing move to South-West Wales, with its many unknowns. Second was potentially losing his mind to 'Stupid Pills'; he'd seen a neighbour's sassy daughter fade from radiant to dullard on epilepsy medication. Third, and most unexpected, John dreaded 'Going Bad'; during his clever sister's stormy adolescence, she'd turned on him. They were still estranged...

Fortunately, I was able to address all three concerns.

John's sister, mortified to learn of her angst's legacy, promised a reconciliation. My calls to John's potential guardian, Ms. V. Jones PhD, Anthropologist and author, determined she was an excellent candidate. Her quick wits would surely stretch his, while her isolated house should provide ample space and time for John to heal and grow.

Although my preferred treatment regime would combine anti-depressants and anti-psychotics, such were clearly inappropriate. To ease, debride then purge John's debilitating PTSD, I proposed an open-ended course of 'Expressive Dance & PsychoDrama'. However, John's impending move to Wales precluded commencement.

Should the opportunity arise for John to attend such, I most strongly recommend uptake. Meanwhile, though John has scant interest in Dance or Drama, whether for entertainment, education or leisure, I would consider his extensive participation in both to be highly beneficial. Without the synergy of pharmaceuticals, however, healing will be slow. Though John's progress may appear negligible, he must persevere or implode. John recognises these activities will take him far beyond his 'comfort zone', but accepts their therapeutic value.

Surprisingly for a born 'Science Streamer', John does have relevant abilities. To assist with Drama, he has a disconcerting aptitude for rôle-play. Given a minimal outline, John can rapidly build a plausible character who'll confound a searching quiz. Pressed, his terse explanation invoked algorithms, tropes and archetypes, extrapolation and interpolation...

For Dance, consider John's 'Junior Judo' skills; quick and nimble, he has unerring 'Situational Awareness' plus excellent hand/foot/eye co-ordination. The patience to repeat complex katas ad-nauseam must help, too.

Mention of John's self-defence skills brings me to a curiously coy aspect of his generally disparaging school report. How does such a 'shy loner' collect a dozen, under-stated 'Social Commendations' for 'Personal Intervention' ? John has multiple citations for his 'Destruction of Toxic Contraband', 'Recovery of Stolen Property', 'Termination of Anti-Social Behaviour (Bullying)' and even 'Interdiction of Prohibited Sharps'...

Simple; John is a 'Trouble Magnet'. His striking ginger hair, slight build, good manners, wry wit and unflinching honesty attract anti-social elements like a work-shop swarf catcher.

John has zero tolerance for such. And, when push comes to shove, he will fight, per his Highland Clan's forthright motto, like a riled Scottish Wildcat. Despite his slight build and modest 'Junior Judo' training, John's speed and skill leave his opponents deterred or downed. John also admits to some 'Army-Type' man-stopper moves, but will not discuss those beyond stating, 'They work.'

John's robust tactics came to my notice by accident. Whilst waiting to be 'buzzed' into our building's entrance, he was accosted by two unkempt 'street people'. They demanded a donation. John refused to yield his cross-town bus fare. One man produced a small, but dangerous knife. Without hesitation, John parried, disarmed and felled him, then tripped and disabled the second, who'd turned to flee. Job done.

Our 'slow-scan' CCTV caught only a glint of knife, one down and one sent headlong. Shaken by that, I did not expect the senior attending Police Officer to greet John with a wry, 'Och, Laddie, 'tis a puir brace you've bagged today !'

That incident's lingering institutional embarrassment may explain the oft-grudging nature of John's commendations. I must surmise that, if trouble does not find John, he may track its spoor and smoke its den.

That incident also revealed that John, like his clever sister, had inherited their mother's 'Gift of the Gab'. When our now-former manager snarled at John for the extra paper-work he'd caused, I feared a tantrum or third 'man-stopper' move. Instead, though usually given to scant few words, John opened the flood-gates. I listened, bemused, as John politely but implacably quashed that thoughtless functionary's bluster, before extracting a fulsome apology...

During our final session, with John's triple fears allayed and my concerns abating, our free-ranging discussion drifted to ethics. John astonished me by mentioning that, when he was six, he was precociously granted a silver Sgian Dubh by his dying grand-father, who was a Clan Elder and a highly respected Naval Architect. Then, upon 'Blood and Blade', John was bid, 'Strive against Evil'. This grim geas certainly explained both John's implacable opposition to tyranny and oppression of any ilk, and his galling frustration with his parents' increasingly dysfunctional relationship.

For the record, John was also bid, 'Strive against Fools' and, 'Marry cannier than your puir father'-- Both sage sentiments !

To conclude:

John MacPherson is a genuinely nice boy, gifted with formidable intelligence, unflinching honesty, and a surprising range of skills. Currently, he carries much emotional baggage. Treated responsibly, he should become a wonderful student, an asset to school and community. Hopefully, his PTSD can be purged to let him grow into a very nice young man.  

Mishandle him at your peril.

PP Squiggle.