History WMG / TheBabysittersClub

clumsiness to the point of knocking things over, causing minor injuries to oneself and bumping into people accidentally. It could be a mild case seeing as he doesn't have other symptoms like problems chewing food.

This also helps to explain why she wasn't tested. Because of the occasional high achievement and the ability to hyper-focus on things the person is interested in, ADHD, especially the non-hyperactive variation, is often misread as [[BrilliantButLazy laziness]] or lack of effort (this would have been even more common at the time, when ADHD was less well-known and understood). Claudia's parents, and even her teachers, may have been under the mistaken impression (as many real-life adults have) that she couldn't have an actual disorder causing her problems because she had a high IQ and occasionally produced good work, so they assumed Claudia had the ability to do better and just wasn't trying hard enough. Especially given that the disorder is notoriously under-diagnosed in both girls and children who aren't white (and again, this was even more true when the books were written), with Claudia checking both those boxes, it's not implausible that Claudia could have it without anyone else piecing it together.

Plus, while ''Claudia's Book'' indicates that Claudia was tested for learning disorders, ADHD isn't a learning disorder and requires a different set of tests to diagnose it. If it doesn't occur to anyone that ADHD is a possibility, they wouldn't test her for it.

* Incidentally, the 2020 series very much seems to support the idea that its version of Claudia, at least, has ADHD. Not only does the series' Claudia expressly mention having difficulty focusing in school, but the series' portrayal of Janine seems to suggest she might be on the autism spectrum; the two disorders are known to co-occur in the same families to a significant extent and are believed to share a genetic link, so Janine being on the autism spectrum makes it more likely that she would have a sibling with ADHD.

* YMMV, but dyslexia actually doesn't seem to fit very well with Claudia's particular difficulties. Dyslexia isn't just having problems spelling, it's a specific set of difficulties in which a person's brain has difficulty connecting written letters and words with their phonetic sounds. First of all, if this was Claudia's problem, she should have as much difficulty reading as she does writing, but that doesn't seem to be the case, she just has trouble staying interested in reading things that don't interest her (but she ''does'' like reading things that ''do'' interest her, which is the major piece here). Secondly, while Claudia's spelling is atrocious, it's not the kind of bad spelling that's typical of dyslexia because her misspellings are always phonetically correct and in fact are sometimes based on Claudia guessing at spelling based on phonetics (i.e. "farrow" for "pharaoh" at one point), which is the exact thing that people with dyslexia struggle with. Some type of learning disability seems likely, but it probably isn't dyslexia. Similarly, dysgraphia also doesn't really fit: motor or spatial dysgraphia would also affect her ability to draw and paint, which clearly isn't an issue for her, and linguistic dysgraphia only affects written spelling (so a person would still be able to spell correctly if they were speaking the spelling out loud rather than writing it), but Claudia seems to have trouble spelling no matter how she's conveying the information.(Dyscalculia ''is'' possible and could explain why math is especially hard for her even compared to other subjects, but her spelling and other academic difficulties are probably something else entirely.)

* Incidentally, the 2020 series very much seems to support the idea that its version of Claudia, at least, has ADHD. Not only does the series' Claudia expressly mention having difficulty focusing in school, but the series' portrayal of Janine seems to suggest she might be on the autism spectrum. The two disorders are known to co-occur in the same families to a significant extent and are believed to share a genetic link, so Janine being on the autism spectrum makes it more likely that she would have a sibling with ADHD.

* Incidentally, the 2020 series very much seems to support the idea that its version of Claudia, at least, has ADHD. Not only does Claudia expressly mention having difficulty focusing in school, but the series' portrayal of Janine seems to suggest she might be on the autism spectrum. Autism and ADHD are known to run in the same families and are believed to be genetically linked.

* There are a couple of books in which a central conflict is that she gets caught up in something (usually art-related) and starts neglecting her responsibilities with the BSC. That kind of hyperfocus (specifically on things that the person finds interesting) is common in ADHD.

Plus while Claudia said that she underwent testing for learning disorders in Claudia's book. ADHD is not a learning disorder, it's a neurological condition, which would have not been picked up in tests like that.

* I can't remember which book, but there's one where she mentions getting a B-plus (a pretty solid grade for her) on a paper after Mimi suggested a topic she found interesting. Being interested in a topic can be a benefit to anyone, but the difference in what they can accomplish with and without that interest is particularly noteworthy for people with ADHD.

* I can't remember which book, but there's one where she mentions getting a B-plus on a paper after Mimi suggested a topic she found interesting.
* In ''Claudia Kishi, Middle School Dropout'', she makes a mention (in a dream, but presumably based in reality) about having remembered her book "today". Having difficulty with the subjects wouldn't explain repeatedly forgetting materials, but more general difficulties with organization and forgetfulness would.

* YMMV, but dyslexia actually doesn't seem to fit very well with Claudia's particular difficulties. Dyslexia isn't just having problems spelling, it's a specific set of difficulties in which a person's brain has difficulty connecting written letters and words with their phonetic sounds. First of all, if this was Claudia's problem, she should have as much difficulty reading as she does writing, but that doesn't seem to be the case, she just has trouble staying interested in reading things that don't interest her (but she ''does'' like reading things that ''do'' interest her, which is the major piece here). Secondly, while Claudia's spelling is atrocious, it's not the kind of bad spelling that's typical of dyslexia because her misspellings are always phonetically correct and in fact are sometimes based on Claudia guessing at spelling based on phonetics (i.e. "farrow" for "pharaoh" at one point), which is the exact thing that people with dyslexia struggle with. Some type of learning disability seems likely, but it probably isn't dyslexia.

* In ''Kristy and the Baby Parade'', she makes two banners for the float and not only misspells them, but misspells each one in a different way. Difficulty spelling alone wouldn't explain that (she could just use the first one as a guide for the second), but additional challenges with focus could. [[note]]Dyslexia could account for minor differences between the two, but they aren't even close.[[/note]]
** In general, Claudia's difficulties with spelling don't quite fit with what's typical of dyslexia. Dyslexia causes words and letters to get mixed around, but Claudia's misspellings are often more significant and sometimes ''way'' off to the point where's it's like she's just guessing (i.e. she spells "pharaoh" as "farrow" in one book); it's more like she just doesn't know, or remember, how to spell those words in the first place.

The whole adoption was a little fishy. It happened much more quickly than international adoptions usually do, there was no home visit from a social worker or anything, no visits by Watson and Elizabeth to Vietnam, just a "oh by the way, we're putting the kid on a plane like she's so much cargo." [[note]]International adoptions at the time might not involve a home visit, but they still wouldn't just put the kid on a plane to the US, even with an adult from the orphanage or something accompanying her -- the parents would have to go to Vietnam to get her.[[/note]] This all might make more sense if Emily was the result of an "indiscretion" on an Asian business trip, and Watson wasn't "adopting" her so much as he was providing the evidence for his paternity (at which point, since she's his kid, it's presumably much easier to claim her than it would be to adopt).

** In general, Claudia's difficulties with spelling don't quite fit with what's typical of dyslexia. Dyslexia causes words and letters to get mixed around, but Claudia's misspellings are often more significant and sometimes ''way'' off (like "farrow" for "pharaoh"), more like she just doesn't know, or remember, how to spell those words in the first place.

** In general, Claudia's difficulties with spelling don't quite fit with what's typical of dyslexia. Dyslexia causes words and letters to get mixed around, but Claudia's misspellings are often more significant and sometimes ''way'' off, more like she just doesn't know, or remember, how to spell in the first place.

Claudia's characterization is actually very typical of inattentive-type ADHD, especially the way it often presents in girls. Admittedly, her characterization changes over the course of the series, but if you follow the general arc, she's intelligent (it's mentioned that she has a high IQ) and capable of high achievement at times, but she's inconsistent, disorganized, and forgetful. Specific instances I can think of include:

In Dawn's Book, it's mentioned by Dawn that her father was staying out all night and not telling anyone where he was going. The fact that Sharon moved across the country and took the kids away from him says a lot. Maybe she wanted to see if he had cleaned up his act while she was gone.

** In general, Claudia's difficulties with spelling don't quite fit with what's typical of dyslexia. Dyslexia causes words and letters to get mixed around, but Claudia's misspellings are often more significant and sometimes ''way'' off, more like she just doesn't know, or remember, how to spell in the first place.

** In general, Claudia's difficulties with spelling don't quite fit with what's typical of dyslexia. Dyslexia causes words and letters to get mixed around, but Claudia's misspellings are often more significant and sometimes ''way'' off, more like she just doesn't know how to spell in the first place.

* In ''Kristy and the Baby Parade'', she makes two banners for the float and not only misspells them, but misspells each one in a different way. Difficulty spelling alone wouldn't explain that (she could just use the first one as a guide for the second), but additional challenges with focus could. [[note]]Dyslexia also co-occurs with ADHD in a not-insignificant number of cases, so her spelling difficulties could be a combination of both -- underlying difficulty from dyslexia or something similar, made worse because of her difficulty in concentrating. Furthermore, the addition of a secondary disorder would cause the dyslexia to present abnormally, making it harder for experts to diagnose that correctly either.[[/note]]

In Dawn's Book, it's mentioned by Dawn that her father was staying out all night.

This also helps to explain why she wasn't tested. Because of the occasional high achievement and the ability to hyper-focus on things the person is interested in, ADHD, especially the non-hyperactive variation, is often misread as [[BrilliantButLazy laziness]] or lack of effort (this would have been even more common at the time, when ADHD was less well-known and understood). Claudia's parents, and even her teachers, may have been under the mistaken impression (as many real-life adults have) that she couldn't have a learning disability because she had a high IQ and occasionally produced good work, so they assumed Claudia had the ability to do better and just wasn't trying hard enough. Especially given that the disorder is notoriously under-diagnosed in both girls and children who aren't white (and again, this was even more true when the books were written), with Claudia checking both those boxes, it's not implausible that Claudia could have it without anyone else piecing it together.

They've already [[AdaptationalSexuality made Dawn's father gay]] and included a transgender child among the babysitters' charges, so this clearly isn't a series that's afraid to show LGBT characters.

This also helps to explain why she wasn't tested. Because of the occasional high achievement and the ability to hyper-focus on things the person is interested in, ADHD, especially the non-hyperactive variation, is often misread as [[BrilliantButLazy laziness]] or lack of effort (this would have been even more common at the time, when ADHD was less well-known), and the disorder is notoriously under-diagnosed in both girls and children who aren't white. Claudia's parents, and even her teachers, may have been under the mistaken impression (as many real-life adults have) that she couldn't have a learning disability because she had a high IQ and occasionally produced good work, so they assumed Claudia had the ability to do better and just wasn't trying hard enough. Especially at the time when the book was set, it's not implausible that Claudia could have it without anyone else piecing it together.

They've already [[AdaptationalSexuality made Dawn's father gay]] and included a transgender child among the babysitters charges so this clearly isn't a series that's afraid to show LGBT characters.

They've already [[AdaptaionalSexuality made Dawn's father gay]] and included a transgender child among the babysitters charges so this clearly isn't a series that's afraid to show LGBT characters.

This also helps to explain why she wasn't tested. Because of the occasional high achievement and the ability to hyper-focus on things the person is interested in, ADHD, especially the non-hyperactive variation, is often misread as [[BrilliantButLazy laziness]] or lack of effort (this would have been even more common at the time, when ADHD was less well-known), and the disorder is notoriously under-diagnosed in both girls and children who aren't white, with Claudia being both. Claudia's parents, and even her teachers, may have been under the mistaken impression (as many real-life adults have) that she couldn't have a learning disability because she had a high IQ and occasionally produced good work, so they assumed Claudia had the ability to do better and just wasn't trying hard enough. Especially at the time when the book was set, it's not implausible that Claudia could have it without anyone else piecing it together.

This also helps to explain why she wasn't tested. Because of the occasional high achievement and the ability to hyper-focus on things the person is interested in, ADHD, especially the non-hyperactive variation, is often misread as [[BrilliantButLazy laziness]] or lack of effort (this would have been even more common at the time, when ADHD was less well-known), and is notoriously under-diagnosed in girls. Claudia's parents may have been under the mistaken impression (as many real-life parents have) that she couldn't have a learning disability because she had a high IQ and occasionally produced good work, so they assumed Claudia had the ability to do better and just wasn't trying hard enough. Especially at the time when the book was set, it's not implausible that Claudia could have it without anyone else piecing it together.

The whole adoption was a little fishy. It happened much more quickly than international adoptions usually do, there was no home visit from a social worker or anything, no visits by Watson and Elizabeth to Vietnam, just a "oh by the way, we're putting the kid on a plane like she's so much cargo." [[note]]International adoptions at the time might not involve a home visit, but the parent would still go to the country to get the child and process the adoption -- they wouldn't just put the kid on a plane to the US, even with an adult from the orphanage or something.[[/note]] This all might make more sense if Emily was the result of an "indiscretion" on an Asian business trip, and Watson wasn't "adopting" her so much as he was providing the evidence for his paternity (at which point, since she's his kid, it's presumably much easier to claim her than it would be to adopt).

The whole adoption was a little fishy. It happened much more quickly than international adoptions usually do, there was no home visit from a social worker or anything, no visits by Watson and Elizabeth to Vietnam, just a "oh by the way, we're putting the kid on a plane like she's so much cargo." This all might make more sense if Emily was the result of an "indiscretion" on an Asian business trip, and Watson wasn't "adopting" her so much as he was providing the evidence for his paternity (at which point, since she's his kid, it's presumably much easier to claim her than it would be to adopt).