Looking for parent of a child with a learning disability

I would like to remind you though you seem like an intelligent well intentioned person that those of us with LD are hardly laboratory specimens to be studied. I realize this is a school project and all and that you have no one in your life to turn to for help or you wouldn’t be asking here. All the same, though your heart is in the right place the aproach is a bit…. frightening and even insulting in a sense… Atleast to me as a person with LD. As a *PERSON* rather than a slide to be put under the big magnifying glass and studied. I find posts like this turn my stomach and i just wanted to say so since, well it hurts my feelings when it is forgotten that i am a human being rather than a lab rat or a dead frog awaiting the scalpal to slice me open and expose my insides. Please in the future have some sensitivity. That lesson is far more important when dealing with those of us with LD than any other you can learn in or out of school. Best of luck in your errr…. ‘studies.’

I always participate in college work. I was a graduate student too and I had to write papers and interview business people.

My son had Selective Mutism and he was a total experiment. Everything we did regarding medication, behavior therapy and speech therapy was an experiment. I was literally trial and error. I am currently writing a book on the subject since there is not much information available.

Now, with family dynamics neither me or dh have a learning disability, but our son does. In fact, he has alot of things that neither of us have. Do we still qualify to take the questionnaire?

[quote=Mandi]I would like to remind you though you seem like an intelligent well intentioned person that those of us with LD are hardly laboratory specimens to be studied. I realize this is a school project and all and that you have no one in your life to turn to for help or you wouldn’t be asking here. All the same, though your heart is in the right place the aproach is a bit…. frightening and even insulting in a sense… Atleast to me as a person with LD. As a *PERSON* rather than a slide to be put under the big magnifying glass and studied. I find posts like this turn my stomach and i just wanted to say so since, well it hurts my feelings when it is forgotten that i am a human being rather than a lab rat or a dead frog awaiting the scalpal to slice me open and expose my insides. Please in the future have some sensitivity. That lesson is far more important when dealing with those of us with LD than any other you can learn in or out of school. Best of luck in your errr…. ‘studies.’[/quote]

Sorry, but I disagree with your opinion. Although I do not mean any disrespect, I don’t feel like this study is a mere way to treat learning disabilities like some kind of harsh, cruel, inhumane experiment, like you are making it out to be. I don’t know why you would be offended by this or why you would think this is insensitive. This is a way to find out from parents of children with disabilities, just how different (or similar it may be)to go through the schooling process. It is to understand how parents react to these situations and how the current system is fulfilling the needs of parents. It’s to help me, so I can become a better teacher, so I am as prepared as possible to deal with parents and students when I become a teacher. The sole purpose of this interview is to ultimately help people with learning disabilities, not hurt them.
[Modified by: nessy on September 17, 2008 01:22 AM]

Yes, i understand what you are saying and i respect that is your belief and why you are doing it.

Then my question to you is do you have to do similar stuff for parents of *normal* children? If not then how can you properly compare and yes in point of fact it IS insensitive. It is always insensitive when you ‘study’ a people. There was a time when they studied women. Not so long ago. And they concluded that our hormones made us less able and ‘other.’ And so the glass ceiling was invented. If you don’t see the similarity between that and what happened to the african americans in this country in regards to their skin color making their brains less functional and this new current trend of witch hunt then… Well… I am not going to lower myself to the standard of becoming insulting. I am merely pointing out that these double standards in how we are studied like lab specimens where what is alleged to be normal is far too often taken for granted to the point that normalcy gets lost and we are declaring people other with no real basis as to what normal even is anymore.

I have been the victim of these so called studies for over 20 years. When i was a little girl i asked a researcher ‘Why do you keep making me do this???” She said to me, “so we will understand someday how your brain is different. So that other kids will be easier to understand and they won’t have to go through this testing.” Over 20 years later nothing has changed. When do we start actually getting helped rather than medicated into submission while so many get massively wealthy off of the newest fad witch hunt? When will they stop putting kids through that as i was promised? Try never. There is simply too much money in this witch hunt industry.

I think that the core part of being a teacher is simply having a flair for the dramatic to keep kids *any* kids normal or LD interested in anything you have to say.

For the most over diagnosed form of LD there isn’t even a difference of any sort that can be found in on or around the brain just so ya know. Based on this lack of organic evidence and lack of any organic evidence showing it is a genetic thing, they are declaring it more or less genetic. Maybe you should just ignore how it all affects parents and just persecute them to on the logical grounds that if the kid has it the parent gave it to them which means the parent has it and therefore isn’t worthwhile? ofcourse no one looks at it that way because deep down we all know what alot of crap this nonsense actually is.

Maybe instead of studying people you should study something without a personal identity and individuality and human rights. It makes more sense to me but then, i am learning disabled. Alledgedly with a flaw in my frontal cortex that no one can find because guess what evidence shows it isn’t there. Therefore my logic and common sense must be flawed.

Look, i respect that you want to help people that is a wonderful thing to try to do in life. A very beautiful ambition, i just think becoming part of a lynching mob is not the best method of acheiving your goal.

It must be hard to be you. Sometimes, people recover from the most devestating childhood and still can have a positive outlook on life. Sometimes, people remain bitter and harbor resentments for the rest of their life. I think we make a choice on whether the rest of our life will be a positive or negative experience.

You are right in saying that a true research study would have 2 groups. One group with a child with a LD and one group without.

Our family did a research study using saliva to determine the link of Selective Mutism. The researcher in this study said there was no need for a second group of families to study whose kids do NOT have Selective Mutism. It is believed to be a tri-linear equation between the 2 parents. I think they needed 150 families to complete the study. I’m not sure if they met the standard yet. The results are still getting processed.

This whole discussion board must be really hard for you. I hope you can find a way to get some comfort as people continue to explore new things and discuss topics that might be very sensitive to you.

Thank you for your sensitivity and your understanding. As a scientist, because that is part of my carreer… Well hold it… Now i am being a liar… Let me rephrase this. I am an archaeologist. That qualifies as a humanity. However, the method involved in the exploration of this subject are those of a scientific nature. For example, we can use dendrochronology not a bad method at all… (It involves the observing of tree rings to get an estimate of when an object comes from.) However, there is also something called “exact dating.” (Which isn’t technically exact either…. It provides usually about a hundredish to 200ish years for ‘error.’ But within that you can literally place an object, into a time context which is really cool! Probably the most famous method for this is called Carbon Dating, measuring the carbon of a once alive object, a tree branch, a piece of a body old bone old coal…. etc…. And based on those measurements it can be placed in time. The point being, my carreer is all about science. I am married to a theoretical physicist. He has a PHD from the university of Helsinki. BOTH of us have read many many studies on ld, predominantly those related to ADHD. We have done a great deal of research and exploration of all the methodology and everything else alledgedly scientific about it. We have both reached the same conclusion. There is NOTHING scientific about it. Nor is there anything even remotely credible about it. I can’t speak to selective mutism. Because i have not done that research. But on this particular LD, i am very up to date. And i do find it offensive to be viewed in such a way. The science doesn’t even back the existence of ADHD for example.

Humans evolved. (Yes those of you christian morons and let me say not all christians are morons, and even those that believe in divine whatever it is that caused evolution, though i think ya’all are still wrong, i can sayy you are atleast not totally devoid of all basic intelligence you are heading in the right direction at the very least unlike your brethren who still maintain it all never happened. I would advise them to go tell Lucy it never happened and then try to save her soul.) But anyway, enough smart-assery, the point was humans evolved (Not from monkeys.) That is actually a fictitious and fraudulent point. We share a genetic ancestor with chimps etc,… However, we both evolved from a form of life far older than either one of us, that technically was not eeither one of us. As we evolved our brains also evolved. It is really interesting to be able to measure and compare various brains. For example, the neanderthals had the largest brains we have found for semi human species as of yet! They were STILL here when Sapien Sapien first arrived and co existed with us for several thousands of years in some parts of the world. This is also true of homo erectus (probably our direct ancestor, who actually built boats…) Neanderthals are mnore like cousins. Now there are theories that LD such as ADHD is a throw back to such times or to earlier times of man when we were still hunter gatherer societies. This is one of the most amusing arguments i have ever found as i have as an epigrapher, combed the records of various societies including that of the ancient greeks and the ancient minoans (however only linear B can be read as linear A has not yet been decoded.) And i can find nothing that indicates anything like ADHD anywhere. Which means, after reading the writings of what most call the ancient celts, greeks, romans, egyptians etc, that with nothing even resembling this LD, it is pretty likely it didn’t exist back then. So, if it didn’t exist back then how does it exist *now*? Mutations? Sure…. Except the brain has not changed since then. The time it takes for the brain to evolve to such a degree… Takes a huge span of time. Which we are not even half way to yet. Therefore we can rule that non possibility out. And we are not a wave of the future the next evolution and we are not throwbacks for the same reason time. They can locate no differences in the brains of those with ADHD and those without or in the functioning there of. But they have alot of neat theories.

I DID Finally find something that resembled the alledged science of ADHD research, from the 1930s. It was done on african americans by a doctor of anthropology from Harvard. In many cases only half the study was published, or less…. In most cases it was transparently doctored. He pretty much proved (forgive me while i choke on that word in total disgust.) That african americans had brains seriously smaller than those of whites and were therefore intellectually inequal. The same symptoms i have found in old texts on the subject of the intellectual capacity as is now being the criteria for ADHD. And even before that, i have located similar bullshit, I mean ‘studies’ (that don’t meet the scientific credibility lahg test or come even close) that say the same thing about women because of their hormones. You can call a rose any name you like and it will always be a rose. And you can call a witch hunt any name you like but it will ALWAYS be a witch hunt. But science is an exploration of our world from *all* sides, a search for the truths that exist on a cosmic level. What is truth is that all through history we have had witch hunts. This is a fact. I have personally excavated the bodies proving it. What is not fact is that ADHD is a legitimate diagnosis as the proof it exists is entirely subjective and speculative and it is by very effect another name for a witch hunt. And so yes, when i read some of this nonsense, my feelings are hurt because i am just like you as no difference has yet or ever will be proven. I think and i feel. And i laugh and i cry and i am hurt that these studies are done on me as if i am a lab rat instead of a human being. How dare anyone deny another *person* their very human essense??? How dare they? And when only one side is measured as it is, that is not only unscientific and non conclusive it is a witch hunt and a denial of my human nature and yes that does offend me. But what is even more troubling to me is the simple question, why aren’t more people offended that it is happening? Who will they go after next? It ends when people stand up and declare it what it is, pseudo science that is doing atleast as much harm as good.

As for youe comment about being bitter, i have survived more than you can dream of. I am not bitter towards anything except this ‘diagnosis’ as everything else had a legitimate root. For example age 5, my father left me on the side of the road i tried to go get him hit by a car. Crushed pelvis, completely shattered. Skin shred had to be treated as a burn victim over a large percent of my body. Minor hearing loss in my left ear from something else legitimate that i can’t even spell because yes i AM too dyslexic. And i believe in that because well, it can be proven. Failure to thrive baby. When i was 2 years old i looked like i was 8 months old. I have survived 19 years in an abusive family and it was only 3 days ago that my husband had to physically restrain my father from beating me while he was plastered. Again, i harbor not a shred of resentment towards any of these things. However, this ADHD bullox and this treat LD children like other crap, DOES offend me as a human being i am still a human being and when it is done this way and when i am denied my most basic humanity so that a bunch of ppl can study me like i am some sort of freak show, you can bet i take offense and you can bet i resent it… I am sure most people would especially if there were no evidence beyond that of a subjective nature. Find me a kid who gets the crap kicked out of them on a regular basis that wouldn’t test positive ina subjective test for ADHD. Good luck.

I believe that psychiatrists, physicians, Neurologists and others in the medical profession all have a scientific basis and foundation for the diagnosis listed in the DSM IV criteria manual.

All of our learning disabilities and psychiatric disorders are ALL Neurological Disorders and therefore are a scientifically based disorder.

All these professionals are on the same page. Where are you and your husband from that you think you can defy science and come up with something new? It’s already been done. You can’t prove or disprove anything else.

[Modified by: annette10dance on September 19, 2008 12:34 PM]

Wrong! There is NOTHING scientific about diagnosis of ADHD. Maybe other LDs. But, ADHD is a different kind of goat. It is solely diagnosed based on behavioral analysis. Psychiatry in general is dubious as a science. Though not entirely without it’s merits. Physicians and neurologists are as you say generally part of the scienntific community. They measure organic measurable stuff.

ADHD is no longer believed to be neurological. for one. For 2 it is based on somee bs behavior analysis and maybe 1 meeting of an hour with the child in question the assumption something is wrong is already there as the child has been brought in to begin with. The most weighty evidence comes from a single teachers ‘evidence’ and a couple of terrified overly analytical poarents in a moment of stress.

Your child could have reached senior year in highschool. His grades could be fine (Mine always were.) And this math teacher tells you something is wrong with him. She could be this boring old fuddy duddy with a billion years of experience. Every other teacher your son has ever had could write a letter to the experts informing the evaluating people your kid is FINE but, they only bother hearing from the single teacher that cried wolf to begin with. And from the terrified and suddenly confused parents. And on top of that, the clinical surroundings put your kid mildly on edge when he meets with the doctor and soooo they slap a lable on him. I know this is fact because i had over 12 teachers write letters on my behalf when i was diagnosed. Not a single one was ever read by ANY of my evaluators in 20 years of evaluating because they know already even before observing that they are gonna make money from the drug company labeling your kid.

There is nothing scientific about taking a person out of their normal environments and judging him based on his behavior when his whole family is tense and stressed to get an every day reading on him.

For my husband’s credentials, a PHD from Helsinki university of Finland. Theoretical physics emphasis on quantum mechanics and ofcourse he has numerous papers that have been cited etc… He studies what happens to matter at super high temperatures etc, he was sent by Finland to Nasa Space camp. Trust me and him when we say these papers written on ADHD today or the methods so related to diagnosing it etc have no scientific credibility what so ever. Myself i just have a degree working towards a masters.

No they are NOT all on the same page. Have you ever heard of for example,

http://www.pharmalot.com/2008/07/doctor-groups-hold-slugfest-over-adhd-drugs/

They can’t even agree if the medications are healthy or not. Many doctors do NOT even believe ADHD exists!

It is called a disorder rather than a disease because there is NO organic component found in between 20 and 50 years of testing. (first medicine testing began in the 1950s, nothing has changed about what is prescribed ofcourse back then it was often called ‘broken brain syndrome.’) Based on their lack of organic evidence for the existence of this LD they declare it is genetic. This also doesn’t make any sense when you compare the rate of diagnosis in Europe which is where most of us find our genetic heritage. They say this too with no organic evidence and declare you can tell based on the behaviors. Which are rather loosely described and totally subjective and open to interpretation. 2 different shrinks could see the same interview and conclude on one end the kid has OCD and on the other the kid has ADHD.

Really they all agree?

http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all~content=a714030471~tab=content

This says something different too, if you simply focus on the numbers, rather than on the opinions cited by the guy who’s site it is. I would argue opinion is not credible scientific data. Read the top paragraphs and ignore the rest up to “scary huh?”
http://www.adhd-report.com/adhd/1_adhd_statistics.html
These statistics should atleast marginally your stomach.

Another who doesn’t agree would be Dr. Breggin.A renowned expert on these matters someone i have actually had the opportunity to discuss all this with personally by email to make sure my science was accurate. There is even some guy in Canada a doctor who uses some weird computer program to treat ADHD. (if it is real…) Anyway, the point is, No one can agree with anyone when it comes to this LD. It is NOT neurological. NOW they claim it is psychological and they have numerous theories about what it is. However, NONE OF THESE THEORIES CHECK OUT AS FACTUAL in scientific tests. Doctors are NOT on the same page by any stretcch of the imagination what many of them are on is the pay roll of the drug companies and children are paying the price. Don’t believe me, Do the research yourself.

You will find many voices on the subject some saying no such debate exists others saying it does some saying that what qualifies as the disorder is debatable but it’s existance isn’t etc…. I suggest you do your homework before you espouse the scientific backgrounds of things when you have no ground to stand on when it comes to discussing ADHD. I am sure your information on selective mutism however is very accurate and very good and very well thought out and what you think and feel is likely based on hard facts rather than suspicions, and evidence that is in essense the same as that spectral evidence presented at the witch trials in good old Salem. Ritalin has already claimed far more lives than those same trials. How many more must die before you are willing to call a witch hunt exactly what it is?

All you need to do is get an MRI done (brain scan). ADHD is in the frontal lobe. It affects the ability to plan and organize called Executive Functions.

Apraxia (dyspraxia) is in a different area of the brain. So is language, memory and all other learning disabilities. So are seizures, schizoprenia, bi-polar and other neurological disorders.

No wonder why the world is going crazy and people end up dead, shot in the head for no reason. Maybe the world would be a better place to live in if we understand the functioning of the brain and effects of behavior.

That would be very incorrect.

That is a common lie they tell about ADHD. The fact remains, no conclusive proof exists to support this alleged fact. And there is NO evidence showing it is genetic either. They tell you all that to keep you afraid. To keep you/r child drugged. To keep raking it in hand over fist. The studies done that are based on that ‘fact’ turned out to be bad science *AGAIN*.

You see, the tests were tainted. What was proven LATER in tests on Ritalin, is that those tested in that test who were the ADHD grou had predominantly been on ritalin for many years. It was proven in studies on Ritalin that ADHD doesn’t shrink and screw with the frontal lobe but PROLONGED USE OF RITALIN WAS THE MORE LIKELY CULPRIT!

We understand quite alot about the brain and we don’t understand quite alot about the brain. But ion a society that calls those that hear the voice of Jesus in their heads sacred rather than schizo and then labels those of us with ADHD because we have a different perspective on the world and no real abnormality in the brain to speak of that has yet been discovered and NOT then refuted by better scientific method and study… Maybe society at large should be questioning weather it is mentally defective rather than questioning my frontal lobe and common sense and declaring me impulsive when i have never done a thing i have not sat down and scratched my head over for some time. Seriously, ridiculous….. When every religious person is labeled as schizo i will believe in this ADHD bullox. Till then, i will remain only convinced by credible science that passes the laugh test and isn’t over turned by better scientific method and studies later.

Interesting things i have found Do enjoy, and so you don’t miss anything, and so no one lazy misses anything…

THE ADHD-AS-A-“DISEASE” FRAUD ROLLS ON
Because almost all (93%), subjects with ADHD had been exposed to stimulants, we cannot be certain that our results are not drug related.

By Fred A. Baughman Jr., MD

On May, 13, 1998, Castellanos [1] of the NIMH confessed to me: “… we have not yet met the burden of demonstrating the specific pathophysiology that we believe underlies this condition.” This was one of but a few truthful statements I have extracted from the leadership of “biological”/ “drugging” psychiatry, in a decade of putting questions to them.

On October 10, 2002, this same Castellanos [2] a pre-eminent ADHD researcher, (formerly of the NIMH, now of NYU, still, remarkably, on the National Professional Advisory Board of CHADD) claimed, once again—as many times in the past— that ADHD, not Ritalin, causes atrophy—shrinkage, of the brain.

Under “Context,” they write: “various anatomic brain abnormalities [FB: mainly whole-brain atrophy], have been reported for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), with varying methods, small samples, cross-sectional designs, and without accounting for stimulant drug exposure [FB: Ritalin and amphetamines].

The phrase, “Without accounting for stimulant drug exposure,” refers to the fact that in all previous studies from that of Nasrallah [3], 1986 to the present, the ADHD subjects had been “treated”, i.e., exposed to Ritalin or amphetamines, meaning the drugs were probably causing the brain atrophy/shrinkage. I say probably, because such drugs are known to be brain- and body-toxic, and because until the present Castellanos study, there has been no confirmation of ADHD as a disease/physical abnormality.

For more “context” regarding ADHD brain scan research, let us return to 1986 and Nasrallah, et al [3], who reported: “24 young males treated [FB: Ritalin/stimulant therapy], and followed up for hyperactivity since childhood, as adults (mean age 23.2 years), had a significantly greater frequency of cerebral (brain) atrophy.” They concluded: “The possible associations of hyperactivity [FB: now called ADHD] or perhaps stimulant drug treatment to atrophic brain changes are discussed.”

Hynd, et al [4] (1991), using MRI, compared ADHD children “judged to be favorable responders to Ritalin (treated), and controls. The corpus callosum (the large bundle of nerve fibers connecting the two cerebral hemispheres), was found to be smaller in the ADHD group and was said to be due to ADHD. No mention was made of the possibility that the atrophy of the corpus callosum might be due to Ritalin.

Giedd, et al. [5] (1994), using MRI, found smaller corpus callosum in hyperactive boys than in normal controls and attributed it to their ADHD.

Castellanos [6] (1994), wrote: “Thirty-nine of the 50 patients had been previously treated with psychostimulants, and all patients participated in a 12 week double-blind trial of methylphenidate, d-amphetamine, and placebo, which is described elsewhere.” “The normal pattern of slight but significantly greater right caudate volume across all ages was not seen in ADHD. atrophies/shrinks, the ventricles, filled with spinal fluid, enlarge, taking up the space vacated by brain tissue]. A number of those in the ADHD group had co-existent conduct disorder [FB: like ADHD, never yet proved to be a disease/physical abnormality]. The majority on stimulants (treated).

Castellanos et al [8] (1996), took magnetic resonance images (scans), of the brains of 57 boys 5-18

” “Total brain volume was 5% smaller in the ADHD boys…”

The majority of these patients were treated either with methylphenidate (Ritalin) or d-amphetamine (Dexedrine).

Lyoo, et al, [7] (1996), studied 45 males and 6 females (51 total) with ADHD, and 28 controls (normals). Those with ADHD had significantly larger posterior lateral ventricles [FB: when brain tissue

years of age said to have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and of 55 “healthy” age-matched controls. Those in the ADHD group were found to have significantly smaller, atrophic brains [FB: referring to the whole of the brain; cerebrum and cerebellum], relative to the “healthy”controls, and the loss at many sites, of right more than left asymmetry (where right-sided structures are normally larger than that on the left). Under “Results,” in the abstract of the article, we read: “Subjects with ADHD had a 4.7 % total cerebral volume.” Under “Conclusion:” the part most often read, they state, unambiguously: “This first comprehensive morphometric analysis is consistent with hypothesized dysfunction of right-sided prefrontal-striatal system in ADHD. [FB: don’t let the big words get in the way, they are saying the whole brain atrophy/shrinkage is due to ADHD, and would have you believe is THE proof that ADHD is a disease.

However, if you failed to read this article thoroughly/carefully, you would have missed on the next to last page under “Comments”: “Because almost all (93%), subjects with ADHD had been exposed to stimulants, we cannot be certain that our results are not drug related.” This comes as a shocker for the reason that the Ritalin/amphetamine group of stimulants have long been known to be brain- and body-poisons. Importantly, for future reference, they go on to say: “A replication study with stimulant-naïve boys with ADHD is under way”

If the this was the first “proof” that ADHD is an actual disease with confirmatory, characteristic abnormalities of the brain, what proof were Castellanos and his NIMH colleagues referring to when, in NIH Publication 94-3572 “Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder - Decade of the Brain” (1994), with “Scientific information and review (was) provided by NIMH staff members (Castellanos, included)…” in which they refer to ADHD as “the disease” (page 7)?

In 1997 Filipek, et al [9], undertook volumetric MRI analysis “To test by MRI…the a priori hypotheses that developmental anomalies exist in attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in left caudate and right prefrontal frontal/ and or/ posterior parietal hemispheric regions in accord with neurochemical, neuronal circuitry and attentional framework hypotheses, and prior imaging studies.” “All subjects with ADHD had been placed on medication for at least 6 months prior to the study and were felt to be responding favorably at the time of the MRI.” Five of the subjects had not previously responded to methylphenidate or dextroamphetamine, but responded to non-stimulant medication. Nonetheless, Filipek et al, concludes: “This study is the first to report localized hemispheric structural anomalies in ADHD…”

Berquin , et al. [10] (1998) undertook an MRI study of the cerebellum in attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. In 46 boys with ADHD, vermal (vermis or the cerebellum), volume was significantly less than in the 47 matched controls. From ‘methods’ we read, ‘The 46… boys with ADHD were recruited for a drug-treatment study and were included in a prior report”. The DSM-III-R 1987 was used for diagnosis herein. They commented on the association of cerebellar atrophy with alcohol and acknowledged they could not fully rule out fetal alcohol exposure. Making mention of alcohol exposure as a possible contributor to cerebellar atrophy, and acknowledging that all of their patients (number = 46), were recruited from among the 57 subjects in the study of Castellanos, et al (1996), 93% of whom had been on stimulant therapy, Berquin, et al, made no mention, as did Castellanos, of the fact that “Because almost all (93%) subjects with ADHD had been exposed to stimulants, we cannot be certain that our results are not drug related.” Clearly the cerebellar atrophy described in this study could have been, and probably was, stimulant-induced.

Mostofsky [11] (1999): Brain abnormality linked to ADHD, April 20, 99 (Reuters Health) — Compared with other children of the same age, children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), have smaller brain volumes, particularly smaller amounts of gray matter in the right frontal area of their brains, “There is a lot of evidence that the brain’s right hemisphere is dominant in attentional processes,” said study author and neurologist Stewart Mostofsky, MD, of the Kennedy Krieger Institute and Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore. “Abnormalities in the brain’s right frontal structure and function may be contributing to the behavioral impairments associated with ADHD.” Along with less right frontal gray matter, there searchers also found that ADHD patients had smaller volumes of left frontal gray matter as well as right and left frontal white matter when compared to children without ADHD. The study included 12 boys diagnosed with ADHD and 14 boys without ADHD. All boys were between the ages of seven and 13. Nothing was said of drug status in the press release. I have had no answer to my letter of inquiry to Mostofsky. I have since learned—in fact, Castellanos assures us in his January, 2000, Reader’s Digest interview—that this research, too, dealt with “treated” subjects [FB: and it has since, been published].

Semrud-Clikeman M, et al [12] (2000). Under “METHOD, subjects,” writes: “The volumetric MRI measures from these subjects, who were participants in a larger study, have been reported previously by Filipek et al (1997). Ten children with ADD/H from the previous study and 11 normal controls were selected.” “Volumetric” means structural, anatomic, morphological. By repeat reading of this manuscript I get the impression that the ADD/H subjects were scanned for the 1997 study and not since. Dates of the MRI and of psychometric tests are not given. This means that all 10 of the ADD/H subjects (just the Ritalin responders), herein were subjects in the previous Filipek (1997) study. This study’s purpose is to correlate previous MRI scan findings to current (or whenever) psychometric “neuropsychological” tests (not merely to do MRI scans on ADHD subjects). And yet I do not see specific dates of either MRIs or the psychometric tests. This study assumes these psychometric test abnormalities are part of ADD/H, at least in treatment- responding ADD/H subjects, and has as it’s main intent to perform psychometric tests and correlate them with the brain changes i.e., smaller volume of the left caudate head; smaller volume of white matter of the right frontal lobe. These are pipe-dreams. In neurology, my specialty, we regularly see large, entirely asymptomatic frontal and temporal lobe tumors with no behavior changes and no IQ or other psychometric changes. We regularly see patients with dementia as in Huntington’s disease, or Alzheimer’s disease, with clear, disabling behavioral abnormality but normal psychometric batteries. I have seen children with clear mental retardation with false normal psychometric test results. To hope for and test for such correlations is pure pseudo-science.

Semrud-Clikeman et al [12], continue: “Since structural differences varied depending on response/nonresponse to stimulant medication within the ADHD group in our previous study (Filipek,1997), participants were selected to be as homogeneous as possible on this variable (responders only), to control for a possible confounding variable.” This was their excuse for eliminating ADD/H non-responders and therefore, non-exposed and not brain-damaged by the Ritalin. I suspect they know that Ritalin non-responders and therefore, Ritalin non-exposed [FB: at least not for long, as would probably be required to cause permanent change], would look like ADHD (untreated) which looks like, NORMAL! It appears they know the ADHD responders (and therefore long on the drugs), would be the only ones to have brain atrophy/changes. But do they speak of the drug being the cause of the changes? Of course not. Of children with ADHD being normal, having normal brains? Of course not. “Using DSM-III criteria (1980), we selected 10 children with ADHD (called ADD in 1980), because they were favorable responders…” And because they were long exposed to the brain-toxic effects of Ritalin and would have brain atrophy on their MRI.

THE ADHD CONSENSUS CONFERENCE

In their joint presentation to the National Institutes of Health, Consensus Conference on ADHD, November 16-18, 1998. James Swanson, Ph.D., of the University of California at Irvine (also, remarkably of the National Professional Medical Board of CHADD) , and F. Xavier Castellanos [13] of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), among the most prominent of ADHD researchers, reviewed the Biological Bases of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Neuroanatomy, Genetic, and Pathophysiology. Who would guess, having heard their title, that there is no biological basis for ADHD? Swanson and Castellanos wrote: “One of the most important current developments has been the convergence of findings from magnetic resonance imaging studies of brain anatomy (aMRI).” What, I wonder, does ‘convergence of findings’ mean relative to proof? Those in “biological” psychiatry seem fond of the expression, “convergence of findings,” perhaps having to do with the fact that there are no proofs in “biological” psychiatry, just as there are no actual diseases. They continue: “We will present a meta-analysis of studies from several independent laboratories that have reported ADHD/HKD (hyperkinetic disorder, a term used in the UK), abnormalities in two specific but still coarsely defined brain regions of the frontal lobes and basal ganglia. For example, Filipek and colleagues [9], reported that a group of children with ADHD/HKD had brain volumes about 10 percent smaller than normal in anterior superior regions (posterior prefrontal, motor association, and mid-anterior cingulate, anterior inferior regions, and anterior basal ganglia), and Castellanos and colleagues [8] reported that right anterior frontal, caudate, and globus pallidus regions were about 10% smaller in an ADHD/HKD group than in a control group.

“The convergence of findings within and across investigators has not emerged for functional imaging studies using positron emission tomography (PET) [FB: this is a confession, at long last, that the much publicized 1990, PET scan “breakthrough” of Zametkin et al [14], the “neurobiological” basis for ADHD for 5-10 years, was never once replicated/confirmed], as it has for aMRI studies.” What the authors mean here, is that only anatomic MRI (aMRI) studies have shown abnormalities—atrophy—in ADHD subjects, relative to normal controls.

Swanson, presenting at the Consensus Conference for himself, and Castellanos summarized: “ Recent investigations provide converging evidence that a refined phenotype of ADHD/HKD is characterized by reduced size in specific neuroanatomical regions of the frontal lobes and basal ganglia.”

Nor did Swanson leave any doubt that he was claiming that the brain atrophy he had described was part and parcel of ADHD/HKD (by whatever name)—it’s long-sought biological basis (ADD having been conceptualized-invented, for the DSM-III in 1980). Saying these brain abnormalities were a component of the ADHD ‘phenotype,’ Swanson posited that it had genetic basis—an abnormal ‘genotype.’ Speaking of ‘phenotype’ one speaks of the somatic or physical manifestation of all the genes—the genotype. Saying one has one has an abnormal ‘phenotype,’ one implies an abnormal gene or genes—an abnormal ‘genotype’ as it’s cause.

Baughman, an invited presenter, took the microphone and asked: “Dr. Swanson, why did you not mention that virtually all of the ADHD subjects in the neuroimaging studies have been on chronic stimulant therapy and that this is the likely cause of their brain atrophy?”

Audience: “ooh, wow!” [And this is all captured in real-time on my video: “ADHD—Total, 100% Fraud,” which I narrate and appear in, made from the official federal videotape of the Consensus Conference].

Swanson: “Well, that’s a hypothesis. I don’t know the exact numbers of how many were or were not on medication, and as I indicated, I understand that this is a critical issue and in fact I am planning a study to investigate that. I haven’t yet done it.” [FB: recall, Castellanos et al [8] having written, in 1996: “A replication study with stimulant-naïve boys with ADHD is under way.” Surely if Castellanos, his co-author was doing such a study, Swanson would know about it. Where is it? As we shall see via his Readers Digest, January, 2000 [16] interview, to come, it is nowhere to be found.].

Opening the November 16-18, 1998, NIH, Consensus Conference on ADHD, Hyman Director of the NIMH, posited: “ADHD affects from 0-3% in some school districts up to 40% in others… this cannot be right.”

Carey, reporting on “Is ADHD a Valid Disorder?” concluded: “What is…described as ADHD in the United States appears to be a set of normal behavioral variations…”

Degrandpre, commenting on the Report of the Panel, observed: “… it appears that you define disease as a maladaptive cluster of characteristics. In the history of science and medicine, this would not be a valid definition of disease.”

Failing to prove that ADHD is a disease, they seek to re-define the word ‘disease’.

Baughman testified: “Without an iota of proof … the NIMH proclaims the … children “brain-diseased,” “abnormal.” CHADD, funded by Ciba-Geigy, … has spread the “neuro-biological” lie. The US Department of Education, absolving itself of controlling the children and rendering them literate, coerces the labeling and drugging… ADHD is a total, 100% fraud.”

Given Carey’s testimony, that ADHD appears to be “a set of normal behavioral variations…”, and my exposing the fact that virtually all of the ADHD brain scan literature dealt with subjects, on chronic Ritalin/amphetamine “treatment,” the final statement of Consensus Conference Panel November 18, 1998, was:

“ …we do not have an independent, valid test for ADHD, and there are no data to indicate that ADHD is due to a brain malfunction.”

I specify “final statement of Consensus Conference Panel of November 18, 1998,” because, believe it or not, there was another one to come; another “final statement.” This wording (above), which appeared for an indeterminate time on the NIH web site, was subsequently removed and replaced with wording claiming ‘validity’ for ADHD. Myself, and a number of colleagues who had been at the press conference when the “final statement” was passed out, wrote to conference organizers, and got no satisfactory explanation. Just who made this alteration remains unknown.

In a Readers Digest interview in January, 2000 [15], it was first claimed, “Castellanos and his group found three areas of the brain to be “significantly smaller in ADHD kids than in normal children. A series of studies also found that the greater the shrinkage, the worse the ADHD symptoms appear to be. According to Dr. Jay Giedd, an associate of Castellanos, this suggests that ASDHD may arise from abnormalities in these parts of the brain. Some critics claim that such brain differences in ADHD children might actually be caused by Ritalin - meaning these smaller areas of the brain could be the result of the stimulant treatment. To address this, Castellanos has now embarked on another study, imaging the brains of ADHD youngsters who have not been treated with drugs.”

Which study is that? The one of drug-naïve boys he said he was doing in 1996 or does this refer to the study just published in JAMA, October 10, 2002?

Here again Castellanos cites the need to do a study of subjects never exposed to psychiatric drugs, all of which are brain-, body-toxins; why then in his current study has he co-mingled the ADHD subjects who have been treated/exposed (68%), with the few never-treated, never exposed (32%), thus necessitating so such statistical “massaging” to arrive at the desired conclusion: always, in biological psychiatry, that the disorder is as disease needing, requiring treatment, and that the drug(s) are never addictive, dangerous or deadly, and that, most of all, it never causes the brain to shrivel.

In order to know if the brains of children with an ADHD diagnosis are equal to those of normals or atrophic, all that needs to be done is to compare the brain scans of normals with those of ADHD-diagnosed children, never, ever exposed to psychiatric drugs. It is as if they were afraid to do such a study, afraid the children with this non-disease, might just have normal healthy brains, and then of course Big Pharma, Novartis in particular, would be mad at them because that would mean the atrophic, shrunken, shriveled brains had been due to Ritalin all along. It is almost as if they knew the drugs were doing it (atrophying, shrinking, shriveling the brains), and planned to represent/report it to medicine and to the public and parents and children as proof of this terrible disorder/disease/syndrome/epidemic/plague/concoction.

Actually, the answer to the AD/HD “disease”/ “no disease” question was delivered by Swanson himself, March 7, 1998, in an address to he American Society of Adolescent Psychiatry, in San Diego (I was there). He confessed:” I would like to have an objective diagnosis for the disorder (ADHD). Right now psychiatric diagnosis is completely subjective…We would like to have biological tests—a dream of psychiatry for many years.”

Swanson’s saying this means there is no such thing as an actual disease/physical abnormality in all of psychiatry; means the brain atrophy in all of the studies, from that of Nasrallah, et al, in 1986, up to and including that of Castellanos, et al, in JAMA, October, 10, 2002 could only be due to their Ritalin/amphetamine therapy; and means that every physical consequence/side effect, of every psychiatric “disease” can only be due to drugs/treatments themselves—there being no such thing as an actual, real, genuine, bona fide, psychiatric disease.

Swanson’s saying this also means that the 6 million children in the US with ADHD, were entirely normal until the moment their Ritalin/amphetamine “treatment” was begun.

Oh! more good stuff!

http://www.ahrp.org/infomail/03/07/24.php

Prior exposure to psychotropic drugs is a crucial confounding variable in ADHD (and other psychiatric) imaging studies that psychiatrists have disregarded. Since they have not ruled out drug-induced abnormalities, what is the verifiable basis upon which psychiatrists make claims about “evidence” of brain abnormalities in those “diagnosed” with one or another psychiatric disorder? In fact, no one has found scientific evidence of any brain abnormality in people with a psychiatric diagnosis.

The authors report that some ADHD children were used repeatedly by different investigators in studies that exposed them to Ritalin and (in some cases) to dextroamphetamine)—essentially reducing them to lab rats.

A study by Teicher et al, published in Nature Medicine, 2000, pp 470-473 is one of the trials criticized by Drs. Leo and Cohen:

11 children with ADHD were compared with 6 normal controls. The ADHD children were randomized to one of four groups: placebo, or methylphenidate (Ritalin) at 0.5, 0.8, or 1.5 mg/kg. All ADHD children were cycled in all four groups, but the order was different. Their brains were scanned by functional MRI relaxometry after placebo—which for some children occurred after they had been on Ritalin for 3 weeks—and compared to the controls.

Is that method of comparison scientifically sound?

As the authors point out: “A child randomized to placebo and then scanned is not comparable to a child administered three weeks of the drug followed by placebo and then scanned. Teicher and colleagues grouped children who NEVER received drug treatment with children experiencing withdrawal from drug treatment.” [p. 43]

Neuroscientists who examine the effects of psychotropic drugs on the brain and central nervous system, have been reporting adverse effects—such as drug-induced brain abnormalities, addiction, and withdrawal symptoms among others. Psychopharmacologists who have financial ties to drug manufacturers conduct clinical trials designed NOT to detect adverse effects. Furthermore, they proclaim positive findings that they invariably attribute to the drugs.

The ADHD / Ritalin promoters—including psychopharmacologists at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and the pharmaceutical industry—skew clinical trials to get “favorable” results which are then broadcast as “breakthrough revelations.”

A 1996 NIMH press release announced: “Subtle Brain Circuit Abnormalities Confirmed in ADHD” Dr. Xavier Castellanos, Chief ADHD Research Unit Child Psychiatry Branch at NIMH, claimed to have “found that the entire right cerebral hemispheres in boys with ADHD were, on average, 5.2% smaller than those of controls. The right side of the brain is normally larger than the left. Hence, the ADHD children, as a group, had abnormally symmetrical brains.”

In 2002, another NIMH Press Release made an even bolder pronouncement: “Brain Shrinkage in ADHD Not Caused by Medications” Dr. Castellanos declared: “There is no evidence that medication harms the brain,” said Dr. Castellanos, who conducted the study at NIMH before joining New York University. “It’s possible that medication may promote brain maturation.” See: http://www.nimh.nih.gov/events/pradhdmri.cfm

Novartis, the manufacturer of Ritalin was more modest in its May 2003 Press Release than NIMH and did not claim that Ritalin promoted “brain maturation”: ” Study Shows Ritalin� LA Provides Statistically Greater ADHD Symptom Management Over Concerta� Across the School Day” http://www.pharma.us.novartis.com/newsroom/pressReleases/releaseDetail.jsp?PRID=763

The basis for the NIMH “brain maturation” claim was a study conducted by Dr. Castellanos et al which has much in common with phrenology studies that compared skull size to establish racial superiority of Germans by comparing head size to Italians, Jews, French. Dr. Castellanos and his NIMH team tested three groups of children: 49 children (average age 8.3 years) were diagnosed with ADHD but never before medicated; 139 controls (boys aged 10 years and girls 10.9); and 103 ADHD-diagnosed medicated children.

(Side comment from me here…. I feel dirty just reading this stuff again… I need a bath. I feel raped by every drug that was ever physically forced into my body by my father and by the system that promoted and told him to do it and egged him on. I have been violated as a human being and you still want to sit here and tell me any of this quibble-crap holds a single ounce of reality?! Did Jesus tell you ADHD is real in your head, because until Jesus tells you it is real even if no one else can hear him saying so, we know the truth now don’t we?)

Dr. Castellanos et al made their “brain maturation” claim by comparing the brain size of never medicated 8 year olds with healthy controls who were two years older! Whether brain size is an indication of ADHJD is highly questionable. However, if there was an established correlation, a proper comparison would surely have required that the children be of the same age and same size. Frankly, we find it astounding that such confounding variables were not recognized by these national ADHD experts.

These unsubstantiated, unscientific NIMH pronouncements encourage the media to air misleading reports about the safety of these drugs—thereby ensuring that doctors will misguidedly increase prescribing these drugs to young children. Based on Dr. Castellanos claims in an interview The New York Times headline on October 9, 2002 proclaimed: “Brain Size Tied to Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

This false claim was then further inflated in an article that reported “Ritalin is Safe and It Works: Research Dispels Fears That Drug Hurts Kids, and Finds That It Actually Helps Brains Grow.” See: Kurth The Detroit Free Press, Dec 12, 2002

David Cohen is a board member and secretary of AHRP.

Broken Brains of Flawed Studies? was published in the Journal of Mind and Behavior, Winter 2003, Vol 24, pp 29-56 is available online at: http://psychrights.org/research/Digest/NLPs/criticalreviewofadhd.pdf

Another great piece

http://www.nfgcc.org/banritalin.htm

I really need to scrub myself till there is no skin left on my body.

Medications

Draft of the Resolution
presented to the
Colorado State Board of Education

State Board of Education Resolution
–––––––––––––––––––––––—
In expressing the sense of the Colorado State Board of Education that our children are too precious to subject them to mind-altering psychotropic drugs which can produce disabling complications including suicidal ideations and violent behavior when the disorder/illness itself and the treatment have not been scientifically validated:
–––––––––––––––––––––––—
Whereas, a Consensus Development Panel conducted in November 1998 by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to resolve controversies surrounding Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) reported that: “We do not have an independent, valid test for ADHD, and there are no data to indicate that ADHD is due to a brain malfunction. Further research to establish the validity of the disorder continues to be a problem”, and
–––––––––––––––––––––––—
Whereas, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) reported in October 1995 that “despite the frequent reference to ADHD as a neurobiological disorder, the cause of ADHD remains unknown”, and
–––––––––––––––––––––––—
Whereas, Dr. Rex William Cowdry, then acting director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) told Congress in 1995 that the cause of mental illness was unknown, and
–––––––––––––––––––––––—
Whereas, the NIH Consensus Development Panel reported that stimulant drugs such as methylphenidate (Ritalin) result in “little improvement in academic or social skills”, and
–––––––––––––––––––––––—
Whereas, methylphenidate is so prone to abuse that it was classified as a Schedule II drug in 1971. Other schedule II drugs include morphine, PCP, methadone, cocaine, methamphetamine, and drugs which can lead to psychological and physical dependence, and
–––––––––––––––––––––––—
Whereas, methylphenidate shares many of the pharmacological effects of amphetamines, methamphetamines and cocaine, and
–––––––––––––––––––––––—
Whereas, the 1995 DEA report noted serious complications associated with methylphenidate, including psychotic episodes and violent behavior, and
–––––––––––––––––––––––—
Whereas, the 1995 DEA report states that “preexposure to stimulants, including methylphenidate, in childhood may predispose these same individuals to the reinforcing effects of cocaine”, and
–––––––––––––––––––––––—
Whereas, the DEA report said children can commit suicide during stimulant withdrawal, and
–––––––––––––––––––––––—
Whereas, methylphenidate’s potential to cause violent behavior was demonstrated on April 16, 1999 when 15-year-old Shawn Cooper who had been taking Ritalin opened fire at Notus Junior-Senior High School in Idaho, and again on May 20, 1999 when 15-year-old T.J. Solomon who had been taking Ritalin shot and wounded six classmates at Heritage high School in Conyers, Georgia, and
–––––––––––––––––––––––—
Whereas, the package insert for Luvox (a newer anti-depressant of the Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI)class) lists “manic reaction” and “psychotic reaction” and “frequent” adverse reactions observed during premarketing clinical trials of the drug, and
–––––––––––––––––––––––—
Whereas, the package insert for Luvox (a newer anti-depressant of the Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI)class) lists “manic reaction” and “psychotic reaction” and “frequent” adverse reactions observed during premarketing clinical trials of the drug, and
–––––––––––––––––––––––—
Whereas, a study published in The Journal of The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in March 1991 found that self-injurious ideation or behavior started or intensified during treatment with fluoxetine (Prozac) in a significant number of adolescents studied, and
–––––––––––––––––––––––—
Whereas, The New York Post reported on January 31, 1999 that documents they had obtained through the Freedom of Information Act exposed tests the New York Psychiatric Institute was conducting with Prozac on six-year-plds. The documents revealed that “Some patients have been reported to have an increase in suicidal thoughts and/or violent behavior”. The article also stated: “Another major potential Prozac side effect - wild manic episodes - also was acknowledged in researcher’s internal records., ” and
–––––––––––––––––––––––—
Whereas, the Clinical Psychiatry News reported in June 1999 that “SSRI-induced psychosis has accounted for 8% of all general hospital psychiatric admissions over a recent 14-month period,” and
–––––––––––––––––––––––—
Whereas, a psychiatrist and expert on psychotropic drugs stated in April 1999 that “mania is a psychosis which can produce bizarre, grandiose, highly elaborated destructive plans, including mass murder”, and
–––––––––––––––––––––––—
Whereas, The Rocky Mountain News reported on June 21, 1999 that 18-year-old Eric Harris began seeing a psychiatrist and taking Luvox in about January 1998 and,
–––––––––––––––––––––––—
Whereas, The Washington Post reported that Harris began planning the massacre one year prior to the April 20, 1999 Columbine shooting - indicating that his destructive mania emerged shortly after he began taking Luvox, and
–––––––––––––––––––––––—
Whereas, an autopsy found a “therapeutic level” of Luvox in Eric Harris’s bloodstream, and
–––––––––––––––––––––––—
Whereas, 15-year-old Kip Kinkel had been taking both Prozac and Ritalin before killing his parents and proceeding on to his Springfield, Oregon high school where he killed two fellow students and injured 27 more in May 1998, and
–––––––––––––––––––––––—
Whereas, Georgetown University Medical Center research professor, Candace B. Pert, said she is “alarmed at the monster that Johns Hopkins neuroscientist Solomon Snyder and I created when we discovered the simple binding assay for drug receptors 25 years ago… The public is being misinformed about the precision of these selective serotonin-uptake inhibitors… A new paradigm has evolved, with implication that life-style changes such as diet and exercise can offer profound, safe and natural mood elevation, and
–––––––––––––––––––––––—
Whereas, a Danish medical study reported in 1995 that withdrawal from psychotropic drugs can cause “fear, terror, panic, fear of insanity, failing self confidence, restlessness, irritability, aggression, an urge to destroy, and, in the worst cases, an urge to kill, and
–––––––––––––––––––––––—
Whereas, the National Preferred Medicines Center, Inc., comprised of New Zealand physicians, issued a report on “Acute drug withdrawal” in 1996 stating that withdrawal from psychoactive drugs can cause rebound effects that exacerbate previous symptoms and new symptoms unrelated to the condition that had not been previously experienced by the patient. The anti-depressants can create “agitation, severe depression, hallucinations, aggressiveness, hypomania and akathisia,” and
–––––––––––––––––––––––—
Whereas, people who stop taking psychoactive drugs can, therefore, be suffering violent withdrawal effects from the drug, and
–––––––––––––––––––––––—
Whereas, it is misleading to advise parents their child needs a mind altering drug to correct a “chemical imbalance,” “neurobiological” or “genetic condition” when science has been unable to establish the existence of such maladies, and
–––––––––––––––––––––––—
Whereas, medical research shows that psychiatric symptoms are often a sign of an undetected medical condition, nutritional deficiency, or allergy, and
–––––––––––––––––––––––—
Whereas, the NIH reports that public school expenditures on behalf of students with ADHD may have exceeded $3 billion in 1995, and
–––––––––––––––––––––––—
Whereas, this figure does not include expenditures for other alleged psychiatric “learning disorders,” and
–––––––––––––––––––––––—
Whereas, this money would be better spent on workable academic programs which actually raise the child’s level of academic competence and thus his self-esteem.
–––––––––––––––––––––––—
Be it resolved by the Colorado State Board of Education that

1. Colorado schools are halls of learning. The duty of a teacher is to ensure the academic achievement of the student using methods of instruction that have been proven workable
–––––––––––––––––––––––—
2. No child shall be adjudicated as having ADHD or any other alleged learning or behavior disorder when the disorder has not been scientifically validated and lacks an objective, medically accepted diagnostic test.
–––––––––––––––––––––––—
3. Funds currently used in the schools for treatment of the psychiatric learning disorders which have not been scientifically validated should be redirected into effective education programs such as after school tutoring. We urge the Colorado General Assembly to enact legislation which will bring this change about.
–––––––––––––––––––––––—
4. Mind-altering psychotropic drugs which have the potential to create violent or suicidal behavior shall not be dispensed to children for any alleged learning, behavior, or mental disorder which lacks an exact, objective medical diagnostic test such as that used to detect diabetes. Tutoring, vision testing, phonics, nutritional guidance, medical examinations, allergy testing, standard disciplinary procedures and other remedies known to be effective and harmless shall be recommended to parents as their options.
–––––––––––––––––––––––—
5. The parents of any child, which is currently taking psychotropic drugs, should be advised that the cause of the alleged disorder is not known and provided with complete information on the physical and emotional complications the drug may cause. The parents should also be informed that such a course of treatment may adversely affect the child’s future employment and military service options.

http://www.adhdfraud.org/commentary/101302-3.htm

http://www.cchr.org/index/5276/5329/9144/9457/9516/

http://www.vernoncoleman.com/ritalin.htm (the retardation of growth listed in this article, extends to the brain not just the body.)

There have also been reports that children have committed suicide after drug withdrawal. And one study has shown that children who are treated with stimulants alone had higher arrest records and were more likely to be institutionalised.
Long term use of Ritalin has been said to cause irritability and hyperactivity (these are, you may remember, the problems for which the drug is often prescribed). In a study published in Psychiatric Research and entitled Cortical Atrophy in Young Adults With A History of Hyperactivity brain atrophy was reported in more than half of 24 adults treated with psychostimulants (though I don’t think anyone can say for sure whether or not the psychostimulants caused the brain atrophy the possible link should make prescribers, teachers and parents who are fans of Ritalin stop and think for a moment).

http://www.antipsychiatry.org/ritalin.htm (All hail Breggin! One of my heroes!)

In the future before you try to argue with a scientist please use your common sense and know what you are talking about. Do a full and complete study of all the material. Pick apart the methodology used in every study and draw your own conclusion based on a good old scientific understanding of the subject matter and the difference between science and pseudo science.

Have a lovely evening.

http://www.ritalindeath.com/ADHD-Fraud.htm

I’m not sure about your selected quotes. I worked at Princeton Bio Center as an office manager. It was a holistic center founded by Carl C. Pheiffer who helped schizophrenics with a vitamin and amino acid combination back in the 1980’s.

We saw the most difficult patients who went undiagnosed for many years all over the world to find a diagnosis.

The physicians Dr. Morgan and Dr. Sciammana are D.O. (Doctor of Osteopathy). The Princeton Bio Center manufactured a vitamin combination to help reduce hyperactivity in kids with ADHD. There has been a known link with food allergies and food coloring and preservatives as a contributing factor for ADHD.

Some kids were so severe with ADHD, they would coem in and wreck the children’s room, throw things around and just wreck the place. It was so sad to see these kids out of control.

The physician told the parent to give the child the medication. He or she needs it. He is in pain.

Our center was able to help these kids reduce the dosage of Ritilan by allergy testing and diet changes and vitamins.

For those parents that are not able to make diet changes or are not able to enforce the rules (these are difficult kids to manage), the Physician would say “Please take the medication”…..”It works”. If changing the diet and taking the vitamins can’t be done, then please give her the medication. She is in pain.

No physician, not even a holistic doctor testing for vitamin deficiencies and toxins in the body, would dismiss the diagnosis or medication for ADHD.

Your knowledge is limited. Your work experience with the public and with kids is limited. Your quotes are limited. Your research is limited.

Yes a office manager. And ummm how many studies have you yourself performed of the scientific nature? How many degrees have you got that are quite directly related to science? I am sure you are very good at what you did and what you do. But that doesn’t qualify you as a trained scientist.

Secondly wow. Some kids wrecked a kid’s room oh no!!! Call in the war crimes tribunal!!! All this is evidence of is that these kicks lack respect for other ppl’s things and for other ppl’s right to play with those same toys. This is NOT an indication scientifically of anything LD at all. All it proves is bad parenting. Maybe medicate the parents and hope they do a better job in the future?

Bad parenting is ADHD in a nutshell. Lack of play time is a contributor. in many cases it is a cry for help from victims of child abuse. In SOME cases something real is going on but as i have provided loads of evidence, there is nothing wrong with the brains of these kids what is wrong is something else entirely that results in these behaviors. Behaviors can indicate something is wrong. They can NOT with 0 organic evidence tell you *what* is wrong. I suggest the drug companies could make more off of BPD (bad parenting disorder) For which there is PLENTY of proof. roughly 20% of american youth is medicated for a disorder that can’t even be proven. Many of them destroy children’s rooms and should be put to death for being kids!!! How dare they act like bad mannered children when they likely have not been taught any better….

You don’t know anything about kids. My neighbor was just telling me that her son is failing college. He has ADHD. She was saying the impulsivity is awful. The medication helps the attentional problem, but not the impulsivity. His impulsivity affects his ability to drive a car and to work and save money. He has a job, but no money because it’s squandard on impulsive items.

She was saying about a friend whose dad would not put his son on medication for ADD. He is failing high school. And out of impulsivity, he kicked the car door in and broke it.

Punishing a child does not take away his disability or correct it or make it better. Learning disabilities are life long disabilities. I don’t understand why you have no empathy or compassionat all for these kids. You sound really heartless.

Maybe it’s a blessing that you don’t have children. What would you do with a special needs child? Beat him up? Actually, that’s what parents did before they knew anything about disorders or medication. Just beat the kid up some more.

[Modified by: annette10dance on September 21, 2008 04:36 PM]

[Modified by: annette10dance on September 21, 2008 04:39 PM]

The drugs for ADHD AFFECT EVERYONE WITH ADHD AND WITHOUT IT THE SAME WAY. Would YOU knowing it affects the brain the SAME WAY AS COCAINE, put YOUR child on it??? Stop demonizing a father who is doing what he feels is best for his kid! Medicating kids is a case by case matter not a sweeping thing. THERE IS NO ORGANIC EVIDENCE FOR THE DISORDER ADHD THAT HAS NOT BEEN REFUTED BY BETTER SCIENCE. If a parent with an unlabled kid fed their kid cocaine like bubble gum you would be shreiking for their imprisonment for life or the death penalty. But when someone used 4 UNPROVABLE LETTERS suddenly it is fine. What the hell is wrong with *YOUR* frontal lobe because clearly your common sense is not functional.

Second point, we are all responsible in life for what we do and the choices we make. Having ADHD, means something *MAY* be not right in someone’s life somewhere. I will believe that. I will believe too that the behaviors indicate something isn’t right. What i won’t believe is someone has a mental defect WITHOUT CREDIBLE ORGANIC EVIDENCE THAT SUCH A DEFECT EVEN EXISTS. I have walked a mile in the shoes of those with ADHD. As i have been labled with it my whole life. So don’t talk to me about empathy for others because i have felt every end of this personally and through others when you yourself are so self centered you only hear it through friends other *parents* no one ever REALLY stops to view any of it from the kid’s perspective how do i know? BECAUSE I WAS THAT CHILD MYSELF. So before you go accusing me of being the sort of person that would beat my own children while talking to me about empathy why don’t you try to define a far more applicable word to the situation instead: COMPASSION. It is a verb. I know that because i live that word every day of my life. I live it for you right now. The things i could say to you. The things my impulses want me to say to you…. But guess what, having ADHD MEANS I CAN CONTROL MYSELF.

My voice, matters. You will not silence it. No one will ever again. Because i cry out for those with the same responsibility as everyone else has, the responsibility to try and succeed without being SET UP FOR FAILURE and then held to a double standard and declared not responsible because of sdome fictional malady of the mind. If you are not familiar with the term malady it means illness. My vocabulary is rather disturbingly good sometimes it causes people upset or they don’t understand what i am saying so sometimes i define the words i use. (I will refrain here from adding ‘for smaller minds.’) Because once again i CAN control my impulses.

I have a duty. A sacred duty to protect children like me from being abused by the same society filled with people just like you. If that is what you consider lacking empathy then you clearly have not got any understanding of the word. I hold all children that do NOT have an organic brain problem to the SAME standard. That is a compassionate act when so many like you would take their minds away from them and medicate them into submission NOT INTO CONCENTRATION AT ALL. CHECK YOUR FACTS AND DEFINITIONS DO YOUR SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH THEN come back and continue this argument IF you still wish to.

But i have not accused you of abusing anyone. I have never suggested beating children was the method to use. I would NEVER suggest such a thing as i am also the victim of severe child abuse. And if my facts were not hitting so accurately you would not react so angrily and agressively and in such a way lacking compassion for the ADHD adult. So I can tell that your world view is now threatened. Well good. My mental health has been threatened for years maybe now you can see sometimes impulsivity like you demonstrated in making such accusations can be a symptom more of self preservation when threatened more than proof of an unproven mental defect.

The things i could say to you… But i try to live my life in accordance with the boddhisatva Quan Yin. Her name means “she who hears the world’s screams/cries.” She is the boddhisatva of compassion. Sometimes holding people accountable is compassionate because it creates change. IT IS CALLED BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION. And so long as no one is abused with it, i promise you it is a SAFER TREATMENT FOR ADHD than is this medicine you are hyping that KILLS SOME CHILDREN. CAUSES HALLUCINATIONS. SERIOUS WITHDRAWAL SYMPTOMS (Columbine and virginia tech BOTH COURTESY OF WITHDRAWAL FROM RITALIN!) BRAIN ATROPHY, GROWTH RETARDATION, BRAIN DAMAGE, TOURRETS SYMPTOMS, SHRINKAGE OF THE FRONTAL LOBE, ETC (And many more.) And you would have just about every one of us on these drugs… WHERE IS *YOUR* empathy!?! THERE IS NO CONCLUSIVE EVIDENCE OF ANY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE BRAIN OF A PERSON WITH ADFHD AND SOMEONE WITHOUT. BASED ON THAT YOU WOULD HAVE US ALL MEDICATED INTO SUBMISSION. Does coffee help you focus? Uhhh no. It just wakes you up. Same with Ritalin both are stimulants. BOTH AFFECT *OUR* (yours and mine) BRAINS THE SAME WAY!

But i guess you only have empathy for those that want to continue making a fortune abusing and over medicating helpless children so they can move from one mini mansion to a slightly larger one courtesy of the blood money from the pharmaceutical companies that they receive. Yeh… You talk a good game about empathy… But your definition of it lacks basic common sense or basic understanding.

As for what i know about kids….
I am currently in the process of being *RE* aproved as a foster home. (When i moved abroad…. I stopped living here etc…) I have had several children in my home living with me for various lengths of time of several different ages. From the time i was 23 till i was 26 and moving to Canada for 2 years. I also raised a kid sister someone had to do it, and my father sure couldn’t be trusted. And my mother wasn’t home enough. How dare you judge what you really don’t know a damn thing about, once again. But unlike you and even though i couold say something evil to you here too once again i will control the impulse because i can, not because you deserve it. There may be some understanding to be extended to those with major life problems however, patience for ignorance is a crime against humanity. Get an education on this subject and come back.

I am not able to talk to you or able to read your post any longer . I was just having a discussion. Discussion ended.
[Modified by: annette10dance on September 23, 2008 09:30 AM]

It’s nice to be in a possition where the discussion can end. Not all of us have been afforded that luxury and safety switch, by this sick twisted society that is hell bent on judging us by spectral evidence. But lucky for you you aren’t one of the ones that has been called a Witch in Salem village, so the discussion for you can end can’t it. But for some of us, it never ends and it never will end. Nice for you that you are one of the ones in the rat race that got to base quick enough to not get called ‘it’ instead of your name.

Discussion ended.

Regarding medication free approaches to ADD and ADHD, I suggest you check out the Davis Dyslexia approach. My daughter does not have ADD/ADHD, but dyslexia. She was not diagnosed until after high school, but the Davis training was highly successful for her. Before her Davis training and after, due to her sucess, I have read the Davis literature. According to its literature and newsletters, the Davis method does address these problems. In the book, The Gift of Learning, author Ron Davis describes teaching children to “turn down their dial” of activity. For a child or adult to go through the ADD/ADHD training, (and dyslexia taining, too) the Davis method requires a week of no medications for ADD/ADHD.

I WAS done here, but then i re-read something and i felt sickened a second time to my stomach. Wow a kid kicks in a car door, the kid must be medicated cuz they obviously have ADHD. Impulsivity DOESN’T equal violent tendencies! As a person with ADHD i have been violent 1 time in my life. And i would do it again. I wish i had been more impulsive about it sooner because then a small innocent helpless animal that was tortured to death while i idiotically tried to talk the screw up torturing it to death into handing it over to me so i could take it to the vet…. By the time i hit the SOB and took the kitty which is funny since i have no upper body strength and i am often called keebler after the elves by friends and family, And the person was twice my size… Atleast… But though i rushed to the vet…. The cat was still dead by the time i got there. This is one of the biggest issues i have with these idiot shrinks and with society and this fear mongering.Impulsivity and violence are NOT the same thing! Would people PLEASE STOP defining them as the same. LOOK BOTH WORDS UP! FOR GODS SAKE LEARN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND STOP MAKING SILLY MISTAKES THAT ARE DAMAGING TO PEOPLE AND CRUEL AND MISINFORMED AND BASED ON A FAULTY PREMISE!!!

What if this kid were a grown man that kicked in his wife’s head??? Then you wouldn’t be screaming impulsivity. You would be screaming jail for life so he has to go to ANGER MANAGEMENT! There is a DIFFERENCE between an ANGER MANAGEMENT PROBLEM and ADHD. THEY ARE NOT THE SAME. And it is offensive to me that you would equate me with this violent person because we share 4 stupid UNPROVABLE letters in common. So what, i am violent by default? I suppose i am. I suppose no one on this planet is NOT violent under the right circumstances. When someone tries to do something god awful to a child in my care you can bet they will have to physically go through me to do it and i won’t stand there and simply let them. And you can bet when i see cruelty i will first always try to find another way to deal with it, but to save a living thing i will gladly resort to some mild physical violence if i have to. I will never live down or stop feeling responsible for that cat because it was my fault. My fault for not getting physical sooner.

Ummm I am dyslexic! Truly i am. I couldn’t spell my own first name till i was like 10! wrote everything backwards etc…. Orton guillingham saved me. Great system!

I am not familiar with this new system but today i choose to take medicine as a 28 year old woman with a fully developed brain and a shrink who hasn’t got a hole in his head i choose this for myself when i feel i need the medication and have things that need doing that i need the extra energy boost to help me with. Otherwise i take nothing. Its sort of on again and off again i use it to help me study and sometimes other things and it is a useful tool but NOT because it alters attention. But bedcause it provides an energy boost.

I am NOT anti medication. I am anti over perscription of medication. Which is going on at an alarming rate. I think *ALMOST* every ADHD *child* IS an example of over medicating. Because of how little we know about the long term effects of these medicines on the developing brain. (The brain reaches maturity in the mid 20s.) At which point if someone wishes to try a drug treatment, i would NEVER stand in their way. But if as a child they are NOT a danger to themselves or others… Then i feel very strongly other methods are far safer and healthier.

Yesterday i was off my medication i am going to take a very low dose today. There is quite a bit i need to get done and as i said the extra energy is useful. Plus i am a grown up who is informed and NOT ruled by fear but rather GOOD information. If this is my choice then it deserves to be respected. However far too often today parents are terrorized into even forcibly putting this stuff into the bodies of their children. This terrorizing and labeling without organic evidence are both practices that need to be stopped.

ADHD is most common in caucasion boys. Lets look at that fact could it be that our society holds them to a higher standard then the rest after all with privilege of being white enough to succeed and male enough comes responsibility? Did this theory NEVER creep into the back of anyone’s minds?! And at the rate children stop being children those that ARE infact doing the age apropriate thing are then called ADHD as opposed to those that are growing up too fast. Note there is no form of LD for those that mature at a far to speedy rate no one worries about them when perhaps we should. Just look at what has happened time and time again to child movie stars etc forced to grow up to young who then crash. But ofcourse basic common sense and actual observation of our moder society and giving that a role in how we view the world and diseases has never occurred to the modern alledged ‘expert.’

Here is what i mean, I think this is sick it makes me totally nausious but, in a different time and in a different place when middle age started at age 27 and most ppl died around 40 or 50…. In ancient Egypt, sex between adults and children was NOT frowned upon. There wassn’t even a word in their language for ‘virgin.’ (Nor for pedophile either.) Seems on average children became sexually active in that society at around 9 and most girls were married off (AFTER having their first child and being sexually promiscuous *UNTIL* time of marriage at which point they would settle down with their husbands at about age 14. Though in most cases their husbands were significantly older.) Today we think that is sick. Today we would call them evil and abusers taking advantage of little children like that. After all…. We have these different societal norms. I am NOT saying there is nothing wrong with pedophilia. In *OUR* society it IS a disease and with the conditioning given to children in our society at any age under 18 it is simply NOT ok to be with someone far older. Because of differences in how our societal structures are set up it IS abuse for us. But it wasn’t for them. In our society white men have privilege. We all know they get payed the most. They get the best jobs tend to come Suddenly it is a disorder to be a kid! Outrageous!

If this disability exists then it is society that is disabled not any individual child…

For Deborah: I am glad you found something that has helped your daughter best of luck to her and many gold stars for your open minded aproach!