There is a an article in today’s Seattle Times about a 19 year old who has been convicted of second degree murder. He got drunk, stole a car, crashed and killed a man. In the sentencing phase, the young man’s mother is pleaing for mercy because her son is ADHD. That according to the mother is why he commited the crime.
This concerns me. I can believe that the young man is ADHD. BUT, I don’t believe that explains his uncontrolled behavior. I am not an expert, but I would suspect that he has other very serious issues besides ADHD.
I have two children who are ADHD. They struggle with schoolwork and chores, but neither has ever been in any kind of trouble. I am worried about the bad publicity this case will bring on every one with ADHD. We have enough trouble trying to make teachers understand what our real needs are. We don’t need to be put in the same category as this person. It seems to me that one of the tragedies of this case is that no one looked beyond ADHD in diagnosing this young man. Untreated his problem resulted in the terrible event that took a life and has ruined his.
Anyone else have any thoughts.
P.S. The article is available online. I was unable to cut and paste the url.
Re: ADHD blamed for crime
Unlike your child’s teachers, I’m one of the teachers who does understand the needs of my ADHD students. This does not explain the offenders actions - no one willl really know why this boy did what he did. It wasn’t because he was ADHD; his mother is just trying to find an excuse, and what mother wouldn’t. This incident will not cast bad publicity on our ADHD children, it just shows how people try to use any disorder they can think of when something like this happens. I’m curious to see how the judge rules in this case! Does the article say that his ADHD was untreated, and where on line is this article? I’d like to read it. Attention deficits and hyperactivity don’t cause people to go out and drink, steal, and kill. Bad morals, poor judgement, and a lack of social skills had to play apart in this somewhere.
Re: ADHD blamed for crime
HI SHERRY,
YOU ARE RIGHT ,BUT SOME KIDS IF THEY DONT RECIVE THE PROPER TREATMENT WELL THEY COULD DO BAD THINGS. I AM GOING TO TELL YOU MY STORY I,M A SINGLE MOM I USE TO LIVE IN MY ISLAND PR IUSE TO WORK AND TO FIND PEOPLE TO TAKE CARE OF MY SON WAS IMPOSBLE YOU KNOW WHY BECUSE HE LIKED TO PLAY WITH FIRE AND THERE STARTED THE PROBLEM. INSCHOOL HE USE TO SOIL ON HIMSELF AND DID NOT BE GOOD. ALL THE TEACHERS WAS COMPLAINING AND IN MY HOUSE I FIND THINGS BURN WELL THAN I WET TO THE DOC AND HE DG WITH ADHD.IN PR THEY ARE NOT PREPARED FOR KIDS LIKE MY SON SO I HAD TO COME TO CT
WEHERE HE IS BEING CHECK MORE OFTEN IVE BEEN IN HIS SCHOOL LIKE ALOT EVERDAY A NEW CALL. SOME TIMES I CRY
BECUSE IT AINT EASY THAT PEOPLE DONT UNDERSTAND THEM
AND THEY IGNORE THEM OR THEY PUT A NAME ON THEM LIKE HERE COME THE STUPID KID. I DONT KNOW IF I COULD WORK
ANYMORE BECUSE I DONT WANT NOBODY TO MESS WITH MY SON. SOME TIMES I CRY AND SAY GOD IF I DIE WHATS GOING TO HAPPEN TO HIM. I HAD TO TALK TO SOME ONE (THANK YOU )
Re: ADHD blamed for crime -- please get your son checked now
Firestarting and bedwetting are signs that your son could be a serious danger to himself AND to others. Please get him evaluated now by a psychiatrist (an M.D.). And if he has ever hurt animals, this is even a more serious problem. Your son needs help before he hurts himself or hurts others.
Re: ADHD blamed for crime
Dear Jackie,
I agree with Ruth. I believe your son needs help immediately.
Sherry
I used to work in a field where I saw a lot of criminals. A lot of them had lengthy personal and social histories done as part of the disposition of their cases and many of those had psych assessments done as part of bail evaluations (to judge risk to others if let out).
I don’t think for a minute that untreated ADD or ADHD causes any of these people commit crimes.
I wish that it never came up at hearings (recently a murderer of a sheriff had his SPED teachers testifying on his behalf in his murder trial — the man shot the sheriff in the face after trying to steal $5 of crab legs). I hope that those teachers were either subpoena’d (brought to testify under threat of arrest if they don’t). If not, I wonder if they say what they said in court to their LD students and their parents AND the non-LD students and their parents (“your children go to school with potential murders who really can’t help it b/c they’re LD”). This guy got help, killed, and then tried to use his LD as a crutch. It’s pretty typical, from what I’ve seen.
It’s like saying that many sexual predators were abused sexually as children — should we then lock up the victims of the predators on the grounds that they may someday become sadists and hurt others? Luckily, that hasn’t happened (yet), but I think that with LD it’s a much more slippery slope.