Replies

Try being a homeschool parent (if you’re not one). We’re automatically considered suspects at the pediatrician’s office.

A few years ago, a foster family homeschooling was charged with starving their foster kids. It was the big story on the news, and I had a well-child checkup scheduled for my kids at that time. As soon as the nurses and assistants saw “homeschooled” in their files, they started making comments and the accusations began to fly. The doctor took a quick look at their medical records and jumped to conclusions, yelling at me and accusing me of medical neglect right in front of my kids. We ended up having a big argument in front of them. Her accusations were entirely unfounded, but her status as doctor led my own kids to begin questioning if I was right or wrong.

She did calm down once she began examining and interviewing my kids and me further.

Another time, I had to bring one of my children to an eye doctor. Around that time, an article was passing around to doctors “warning” them to watch out for homeschoolers and how to interact with homeschool parents. Local homeschoolers got a hold of it and were passing it around. So, the eye doctor was acting normally until the end of the examination, when he found out my child was homeschooled. Immediately, the expression on his face changed, and he began saying exactly the things the article instructed doctors to say. It was hilarious. He had no idea I already knew what to expect from him.

I’ve never left my kids alone with a doctor. I never saw a reason to. I would be suspicious of any doctor who asked me to leave the room.