http://www.nationalpost.com/home/story.html?id=ABCEE71E-DD27-4A83-BB6D-19DBA96CA222
A study of schoolchildren with attention deficit disorder found more than half were first diagnosed by their teachers, with some physicians pressured to “rubber stamp” the finding and put the student on medication.
Dr. Leonard Sax, a family doctor and psychologist in the United States, interviewed 400 child psychiatrists, pediatricians and family doctors in Washington, D.C., Northern Virginia and suburban Maryland for his study.
“In the great majority of cases, teachers were the first to suggest the diagnosis. Doctors are busy; they’ve got a room full of patients. And very seldom do they do their own investigation. They just take a paper from the school saying, ‘We think Justin has ADD would you please prescribe Ritalin’ and doctors do it. The doctors are acting as a rubber stamp for teachers,” Dr. Sax said.
After he interviewed the doctors for his study, many sent comments expanding on their experience.
“One said he did do an evaluation and concluded the child did not have attention deficit disorder [but] the principal of the school then called his superior, angry, and said how dare the doctor question the school’s diagnosis, and said the doctor should be disciplined,” Dr. Sax said. “He was actually called into his medical director’s office to defend his action.”
Dr. Sax said half a dozen physicians described similar incidents.
His study is expected to be published in a major U.S. medical journal next month.
Dr. Sax, who is also the founder of the National Association for Single Sex Public Education, spoke about his findings following a conference on the merits of single-sex schooling in Toronto yesterday.
He found the initial diagnosis of ADD came from teachers in more than half of cases, from parents in 25% of cases and from the primary physician in 10%. The rest of the time ADD was identified by a psychologist, neighbour or friend.
Dr. Sax said in four U.S. states, teachers have been prohibited from recommending a diagnosis of ADD following concerns children are being over-medicated to control their behaviour.
Speaking at the conference at Upper Canada College, a private all-boys school, he told more than 400 educators he believes children are often wrongly diagnosed with ADD when it is simply a case of them not hearing a soft-spoken teacher.
Dr. Sax presented research yesterday showing boys’ brains are wired differently. “Women and girls hear better than boys and men. A boy’s failure to pay attention may be misinterpreted as attention deficit disorder when it is merely a result of the teacher not speaking loud enough,” he said.
Educators used to worry about girls’ performances in math and science, but concern has recently shifted to boys.
Dr. Sax argued that boys and girls learn differently — in math, for example, boys are fascinated by numbers on their own, while girls prefer things to be put in the context of real life; in literature, boys enjoy action and are less likely to talk about how they feel about a character, he said.
Single-sex schooling has largely been limited to private schools in Canada but is being tested in some public schools. A Hamilton school will offer the first single-sex classrooms in a public school starting this fall. In Calgary, two all-girl schools are opening this year — one a regular public school, the other a charter school.
Studies have found boys who attend single-sex schools are more likely to pursue interests in art, music, dance, drama and food, and are more likely to major in humanities than those who attend mixed-sex schools, said Dr. Sax, who argued that single-sex schooling makes boys comfortable going into non-traditional roles.
However, Dr. Sandra Witelson, a professor of behavioural neurosciences at McMaster University who is best known for having studied Albert Einstein’s brain, told yesterday’s conference it was not as simple as differences in boys’ and girls’ brains. Educators must be aware that even among boys and girls, there were differences in their characteristics, she said.
Some students are a “mosaic” and may have female and male characteristics, she said, concluding more research needs to be done to prove a link between the differences in male and female brains and levels of performance.
Re: Who determines why Johnny can't sit still?
With my son, I asked the teachers to fill out observation forms, after hearing more than once about his inattentiveness. His resource teacher told me point blank she couldn’t diagnose anything. I told her I just wanted her observations. She told me later that she never realized how little he paid attention until she REALLy started watching.
I took the forms to the pediatrician, along with my own observations. He then sent us to a neurologist. I have to agree with Rover that the teacher’s observations were invaluable.
In the end, we got a diagnosis of ADD-inattentive but have not used medication, due to the improvements everyone saw with Interactive Metronome.
I had heard stories like you posted, Dad, and must say I was surprised that medication wasn’t being handed out automatically.
Beth
Re: Who determines why Johnny can't sit still?
Dad what you describe has quickly become the exception not the rule.
:roll: It’s too bad there isn’t a pill that would make educators smarter.
Please no bashing teachers
As a wife of a hard-working teacher, I really can’t stand the bashing. It is not constructive. Many excellent teachers are among those viewing and posting here!
Teachers and bashing
“Generalizations are always bad.”
There is no need to bash teachers in a general sense, as we all know there are wonderful teachers out there, lots of them, who are working hard for kids. At the same time, I think it is very important to recognize that there ARE some really poor teachers that are VERY frustrating for parents to deal with. I also think it is important to note that even the best of teachers is sometimes constrained by the morass of rules and policies that govern education in our country. With the advent of high stakes testing, these restrictions are becoming even more pronounced, and there is less and less incentive to be innovative or to accomodate learning style differences and special needs. This doesn’t make the teachers bad, but it does make them less and less able to do what they know is good teaching. A number of teachers I know are now changing professions or retiring because of the frustrations. Of course, it is the better teachers who are the most frustrated.
While I am a former teacher myself, and am a big supporter of teachers, I do think our educational system is falling apart. Parents are experiencing a lot of barriers to their advocacy and kids are suffering. I do think we should refrain from teacher-bashing, but some venting of frustration seems very appropriate and necessary, and this board is a good place for it.
We can try to be sensitive about generalizations. However, I do think any teacher reading this set of posts needs to be prepared for some strong emotions about schools and education. It’s just part of the package!
–- Steve
Re: Who determines why Johnny can't sit still?
[quote=”Anonymous”]Thats the way the Ball bounces.[/quote]
Are we playing Ball again?
Teacher-bashing
Steve, I don’t like the teacher-bashing either. I don’t have any problem with a parent complaining about a specific teacher without a name attached.
My daughter has had 2 teachers (KG and 1st grade) and, with respectful dialogue, we have been able to help my daughter. Now we’re starting with a 3rd teacher and I hope to partner with her in the same way. I’m sure we will eventually run into someone who is ADHD-illiterate but I’m keeping positive at this stage of the game.
Re: Please no bashing teachers
[quote=”Megan’s Mom”]As a wife of a hard-working teacher, I really can’t stand the bashing. It is not constructive. Many excellent teachers are among those viewing and posting here![/quote]
This is not teacher bashing it is a statement of fact. Teacher are diagnosing kids and directing parent through arm twisting to go to “their” doctors for meds when the child’s own doctor won’t prescribe them.
I think it is a good thing that teachers read this forum. “Hard-working” I suppose is a matter of perception. I would bet that the parents who post here work alot harder. They certainly work longer hours with less vacation and far less benefits.
I think it is constructive to say that alot of parents are very unhappy with the way their kid’s schools are performing. I happen to think the parents know what they are talking about and I think educators need to get off their high horse and listen.
Their disatisfaction with the educational system is justified and their opinions do matter even if those opinions step on some “hardworking” toes.
It also amazes me how when so many teachers add hard working to their job description. I think I will try that. I will suggest the same to my barber, my plumber, my butcher, my mailman, my stock broker, my lawyer, my banker and even my dog that sleeps all day.
"Ball" references?
What is the meaning of the “Ball” comments? Is there supposed to be some implication of hidden identity here? I thought we already had that out. “Poster-bashing” (bashing of people who choose to post) is also out of line, in my book. Thanks for the other comments.
–— Steve
Re: "Ball" references?
[quote=”Steve”]What is the meaning of the “Ball” comments? Is there supposed to be some implication of hidden identity here? I thought we already had that out. “Poster-bashing” (bashing of people who choose to post) is also out of line, in my book. Thanks for the other comments.
–— Steve[/quote]
So “Poster-bashing” is bad, teacher bashing is OK????
Poster-bashing
Did I say that? Read my earlier post. If you have something positive to offer, feel free. Otherwise, knock it off.
– Steve
Re: Poster-bashing
[quote=”Steve”]Did I say that? Read my earlier post. If you have something positive to offer, feel free. Otherwise, knock it off.
– Steve[/quote]
DUH! I get it :idea: They think I’m Ball. Why? He must have really ruffled some feathers.
Badmouthing
So I have heard. However, it appears to me that someone else is using the same kind of tactics that Ball reportedly used to try and badmouth folks who are trying to communicate appropriately. I found nothing in your posts the slightest bit offensive, and I think those posters are out of line. I am glad to see that no more has accumulated over the weekend. The vast majority of people on here have been supportive of a wide range of views, as long as they are expressed in an open and non-hostile way. As long as we are all allowed to have and express our views without expecting everyone to agree, we’ll be fine. I think you have done just that.
–- Steve
Re: Who determines why Johnny can't sit still?
I was unable to find anything here by Ball. I’m really curious as to what he said. Steve, what did he say that got him the boot?
Do you think perhaps the ones who accuse people of being Ball may really be Ball?
Your question
Far be it from me to speculate on who might be “Ball”. I don’t really care. I just want to have a respectful forum for discussion. I have never read any of his posts, at least under that name, but he apparently wrote posts under different names after he was banned. I guess his questionable posts were removed from the board. I think he responded to my post once, because the responder was trying to convince me that no one hear would listen to any alternative viewpoints. I haven’t found that to be true in the main. Mostly, I think he was insulting to people in his post, suggesting that people who use meds are child abusers, that sort of thing. But that is only second hand from what other posters have said. It appears his behavior was traumatic to some folks. I am more inclined to just let people know where I get off the train, and not play that kind of game. I don’t agree with managing information by intimidation and namecalling. Let people have the facts and make up their own minds. There will always be disagreement, but there can be disagreement with respect. I guess Ball violated that, but he isn’t the only one.
–- Steve
Re: Who determines why Johnny can't sit still?
Too bad you couldn’t find old posts then you could form your own opinion about Ball.
Re: Who determines why Johnny can't sit still?
Ball posted here for maybe a year before things got out of hand. He was offensive (sexual comments and the like) in addition to being insulting. He also started posting under other users names. He sometimes had very insightful comments, in his early days, but something set him off and it became his mission to destroy the board. He had TBI and I think that contributed to what happened. I think though the experience left a lot of people very suspicious and there is a tendency to jump on people who have certain points of view, if they are unknown.
Beth
Dad, thanks for sharing this. I work in a large district in Northern VA that was probably included in the study. I can see that the way we work with kids who exhibit developmentally inappropriate inattention/impulsivity/hyperactivity could be misinterpreted to fit with what the dr.’s in the study were reporting. if a student is experiencing learning and behavioral problems due to these symptoms, and the typical interventions (behavioral assessment and modification, including modifying the environment and or assignments) are not working, we will suggest to the parent that s/he have the pediatrician evaluate to determine if these symptoms have a medical cause. This could be ADHD, but it could just as well be a hearing, vision, sleep, or nutritional issue among other things. It would not be fair to ask the ped. to evaluate without telling him what symptoms are seen at school. The kids spend almost 7 hours with us, 5 days a week. The pediatrician has maybe 15 minutes and sees the kid 1:1 usually with mom right there. We do NOT tell parents that “this kid needs Ritalin”.