Parents, don't dwell on the cause?! HOGWASH!!

I believe the symptoms of ADHD are extremely important. A huge mistake is to assume medications are the end all be all. I do not agree that medications can not be used in conjunction with a whole treatment plan. There are in fact an enormous amount of information about allergies and food additives for SOME children. There is even studies showing possible coorelation to immunization reactions for SOME children.The biggest and most prevelent statistics are still genetics. Heriditary predispositions. There are still a hell of a lot of statistics showing adults in jail or drug treatment being there because they were never identified as having symptoms of ADHD. I believe there are more children being identified as ADHD,LD because we are getting better at identifying them,instead of beating them. Now if we could just get our educators to read the info,and learn how to teach these kids ,then your right,they might not need the medication so much. I have two boys with ADHD,I also have a husband with ADHD who abused drugs. My oldest is 12 he is on dexedrine. He will be on a panel of students at a conference coming up. He asked me to ask him some questions people might ask to practice. So I asked him,how does it feel to take medicine? Does it make you feel different in anyway? His answer: No I not feel any different,but let me ask you something. When you have a headache and you take medicine what does it do for you? Well from a 12 year old,I learn everyday.

I disagree with your basic premise that parents are blindly medicating their children without any thought as to whether it’s appropriate, and that they do this because they are too weak or so easily duped that they can’t do otherwise. I don’t believe there is one magic cause or one magic cure that science is witholding to make pharmacy companies richer, or just to tick you off.

I think that science will eventually be able to identify the different sources of various types of ADD, as soon as they realize that there really are various sources and types of ADD, such as genetics, metabolism disorders, improper diet, hearing loss, anxiety, etc. Most parents have already figured that out because of their personal involvement in their child’s life, but scientists are not as close to it and will tend to see what they expect to see. I think that lack of progress has more to do with lack of imagination than malicious intent.

I think the issues are not as easy as you might think. I wish that ADD was as simple to cure as changing a kid’s diet or changing the lightbulb in the kitchen.

There is a type of ADD that is genetically passed on. What do you suggest? That these kids should have been aborted, or killed at birth? That their education should be abandoned as hopeless? At least until a cure that doesn’t involve medication is found? A lobotony perhaps? Electro-shock??

Maybe helping them to focus and providing coping skills to live a happy and productive life is a better alternative? That’s the route I’m taking. Parents do the best they can with the tools and knowledge at their disposal. While it’s true we don’t have perfect tools and knowledge, we can’t sacrifice these children because it isn’t a perfect world.

Don’t let yourself be as limited as those scientists you berate. You may have some valid points, perhaps even a good idea or two in your tirade, but your huffing and puffing until you get your way obscures your message and demeans your credibility. Don’t let yourself be seen as just another a crackpot spouting off misinformation on ADD. We’ve got enough of them!

Lobotomy For the heads of the drug companies woul be a good start. Abortions? They already were. Electro-shock hmmm… yes but attach the electrodes to their testicles. That would be cool.

I do not berate scientists. The researchers that work for the drug makers are not scientists. The word science means knowledge. Off hand I can’t think of another word for greed.

No one knows if giving kids poison is appropriate but it sure is profitable. Screw the long term side effects is that it? Drugs should be a last result and only if it is in the best interest of the child; not the school not the social worker not the doctor not the drug company not the parent but the child.

Did someone tell you it’s genetic? That maybe true. It may not be true. Why aren’t these kids given PET scans and EEGs routinely. Is it for fear of closing the clinical and dianostic void that exists to the dettriment to the drug makers.

Here’s another bunch of crap we’ve been told: The drug makers spend all this money on research that is why madication is so expensive. That is a big fat lie. Did you ever read the literature that comes with these chemicals? Did you ever read the size of their study group? It’s a joke. Did you ever read the part on how the drug works lots of time the answer is unknown.Did the drug companies tell you that Redux Phen Phen and Merida will destroy your mitral valve and make you die. How close are those drugs chemically to Ritalin?

How absurd is it that people are willing to take a deadly pill because they can’t screw up enough courage to stp eating crap?We are a society of pill takers and junk food eaters with every excuse in the book. There are alternative treatments to poison. You may want to look into them.

Lobotomy For the heads of the drug companies woul be a good start. Abortions? They already were. Electro-shock hmmm… yes but attach the electrodes to their testicles. That would be cool.

I do not berate scientists. The researchers that work for the drug makers are not scientists. The word science means knowledge. Off hand I can’t think of another word for greed.

No one knows if giving kids poison is appropriate but it sure is profitable. Screw the long term side effects is that it? Drugs should be a last result and only if it is in the best interest of the child; not the school not the social worker not the doctor not the drug company not the parent but the child.

Did someone tell you it’s genetic? That maybe true. It may not be true. Why aren’t these kids given PET scans and EEGs routinely. Is it for fear of closing the clinical and dianostic void that exists to the dettriment to the drug makers.

Here’s another bunch of crap we’ve been told: The drug makers spend all this money on research that is why madication is so expensive. That is a big fat lie. Did you ever read the literature that comes with these chemicals? Did you ever read the size of their study group? It’s a joke. Did you ever read the part on how the drug works lots of time the answer is unknown.Did the drug companies tell you that Redux Phen Phen and Merida will destroy your mitral valve and make you die. How close are those drugs chemically to Ritalin?

How absurd is it that people are willing to take a deadly pill because they can’t screw up enough courage to stp eating crap?We are a society of pill takers and junk food eaters with every excuse in the book. There are alternative treatments to poison. You may want to look into them.

You make very interesting comments. I do believe the drug companies could care a less whether a “cure” for ADHD is made. I would be willing to say that they would rather it not happen.

I also question the support of a group who takes money from these companies.
God knows treatments of ADHD and LD are BIG business.
Lots of people making lots of money off our kids.

That would include,but certainly not be limited the natural remedies and special diet’s industry. PET and CAT scans expensive also. I am quite sure the radiology industry would love to jump on the band wagon of profits in treatment of our kids. I can see this coming in the not so distant future.

Let’s face it,I wouldn’t be totally trustful of any business,that profits off our children. Not to say I would try the product,but being an informed consumer is of vital importance.

Gosh,wondering even about junk food,the fast food industry is huge,we consume millions of pounds of McDonald’s everyday. It causes a wide array of health concerns,mostly in the cardiovascular arena. Let us not foget the millions this has made,and the millions the health industry is making treating that.

We could go on forever,depression? Lots of antidepressants on the market. Acne? Gosh the crap we give our kids to elliviate the erruptions caused by hormones. Acutane causes suicidal tendencies,parents are asked to sign a release of responsibility before using this med on their kids. Gosh the media doesn’t dwell on this though.

Alarming people,instead of educating them has never been a tactic I agree with.
If the answer was simply diet,simply meds,or simply the thousand dollar program for reading,then I guess I too would be in line to purchase it. Too bad life is not that simple.

The majority of students I see with the diagnosis of ADHD/ADD come from homes with excuses for behaviors and a lack of discipline.

The ones I have seen are made that way by a failed school system. Failing to take responsibility for teaching students. Only being happy with the student who sits there like a robot and just Parrots information, maybe even without understanding. They have not been taught to read so just daydream or goof off because they don’t get it. How would educators feel then? I think it is a bunch of hogwash that parents blame the shcool, the school blames the parents, bills are written that can’t be followed, not enough money, not enough training. Perhaps we could come up with the solution if we quit laying blame and worked together as a TEAM and not a bunch of finger pointers.

now there is a new and different idea:-)

Steve,

I certainly hope you are not in education. Your comments are offensive and immature.

I have a third grader with inattentive ADHD (among other things). This child has NEVER been a behavior problem. However, as school gets harder and the remediation I requested for his LDs was never put into place, he is BECOMING a behavior problem. He refuses to do work, is beginning to talk back to the teacher, etc. This is because he CAN’T do the work because he doesn’t have the basic skills! I work with him at home, and he goes to a private tutor, but he needs the support 24/7, not only when he is OUT of school!

Steve, you need to read the information that is available about adhd. Search the web, there is a lot of information to be found that you are desparately lacking.

We are a whole family of adhd folks, myself included. I never once was a behavior problem and neither of my children are behavior problems. My oldest has had the most academic problems with school and that is because of a poor reading program in kindergarten and first grade. He has had to play catch up for many years.

His medicine helps but the first responsibility for his difficulty was school. Not his stay at home mom who read stories to him and sang songs to him from the day he came home from the hospital , who made sure he had a homework time established in kindergarten and spends time each week volunteering at school, both his and his brother’s. Not his father who works to take care of his family, who volunteers at school and with my kids’ sports teams and spends time every day with his kids, helping with homework if mom isn’t able to.

I am a college grad, his father is a college grad, we are very well adjusted people who live the military middle class life. My boys are not spoiled, they have rules and limits, no tv or video in their rooms, a proper bedtime, plenty of supervision from their parents and other caring adults in our community.

Your finger pointing at parents is inappropriate and unappreciated. Perhaps your observations are of a limited community with limited resources but that is not a true representation of the majority of adhd folks. In fact the children you may have observed may be more the victims of inappropriate instruction and lack of family resources as opposed to true adhd. The parents you read about here on this board are far from the uncaring, overly permissive parents you are used to observing. Parents who don’t care, don’t look for resources to help in parenting their children or getting proper instruction for their struggling children.
Please, for all our sakes, become informed before you speak. Or write.

I must admit that my first reactoin was like others on this board and just wanted to rant, rave, yell, scream, and yes cuss–but took this approach instead. It is hard to bite your tongue sometimes.

Couldn’t have said it better myself…

There is no single cause for ADHD - attention deficit. Domeena C. Renshaw, M.D. tended to say the idea of a spotty neuron was what was behind some ADHD. What would cause a spotty neuron? Certainly more than a single cause could be behind the microscopic injury point/whatever behind attention deficits.

You’re right. Too many persons charged with the responsibility of diagnosing and treating ADHD tend to almost omit trying to discover the known cause behind ADHD and as a result tend to introduce a kind of muddiness and imprecision into the process which doesn’t really have to be there. That’s my view.

There should be a little more time and effort given to correctly identify the cause behind all cases of ADHD since that would make the whole process in the long run easier to manage it seems to me.

That would begreat if the school systems weren’t run by pin-heads