I decided to make this its own thread. Its about ADD.
CC said...
I do agree that parents can sometimes be too quick to put their kids on medicine to solve problems. A responsible parent will carefully weigh the decision on whether to decide to use medicine or not, explore other reasons that may be causing problems first, try some behavioral therapy first. The child could be having any thing from allergies to problems in their home life to a simple learning disability. I started noticing some red flags when my daughter was in preschool, then barely made it through kindergarten and couldn't even read a simple beginning reader book or do simple math by the end of first grade because she couldn't focus or sit still. Needless to say she had to repeat first grade and thats when I made the decision to try the medicine. What a difference!!!! I've even got a thankyou from my daughter a few years back that I cared enough to do what I did. The point I want to make here is that it is not a phantom illness, I just think its overdiagnosed.
@October 2, 2009 3:33 PM .. I'm no expert either other then experience with my child, but If one knows their research about ADD and ADHD, brain scans show in research that it is not too much activity in the brain, it is a lack of activity in certain areas of the brain. One day, I hope science can really find a way to prove if a child is trully add or adhd. I know their is always going to be disbelievers, but maybe the disbeliever have trully never experienced or has never had a child struggle with trying to focus and cant more then a few minutes.
October 3, 2009 8:59 AM
James Jordan said...
When we lived in S.C., my wife worked in a childrens clinic. She became te clinic's ADD guru, meaning she screened all the kids and decided whether to recommend further examination and medication etc.. There were instances when parents got mad at her for refusing to say a kid had it, though some did have it.
It is a real "illness" .
but there is the possibility that it is just a different way of looking at the world. What if it is just a different way of thinking and being?
Ive said before that i have ADD. There really are some good things about it.
Like when I was at the paper. I relished the morning deadline time. 50 things going on at once, 20 people trying to talk to me at once, phone ringing, im trying to write a story, layout pages and meet deadline ... and i could easily stop all that and talk to you on the phone about your latest conspiracy ... and go right back to the chaos.
Lots of people think that is a stressful situation.
I thought it was fun.
(what was stressfull was dealing with JR lol.)
More research needs to be done into whether ADD is even an illness or a bad thing.
Maybe it is just "different."
October 3, 2009 9:13 AM
CC said...
Your right JJ, I don't believe it is really a mental illness, could be a simple glitch in brain chemistry, or maybe a different type of personality, that has to be cultivated the right way to ensure successful adults, as I believe we have discussed before. My daughter is 18 and I still love the hyper spurts of energy she still has and yeah she still has to work hard at focusing. I just get really aggravated when people do not think add and adhd exist at all.
October 3, 2009 11:09 AM
Does she sometimes get hyper focused. I think thats an issue with ADD. Its hard to focus because when you do get focused, theres nothing that can take you off that focus.
ReplyDelete------------------
I used to have a teacher when of a younger age that could "hum" a mean blackboard eraser if she caught you daydreaming or looking out the window in her class. She had a side arm submarine that would make the pros jealous. Her constant re-enforcement on focusing during her class went a long way towards keeping our attention.
Probably can't be done in todays Society but I think she new what she was doing long before the use/choice of drugs!
The other problem might be that we have to progress all the students at the same pace - maybe some take more time to catch up than others!
AND
Thats just an opinion/observation!
Yes, an observation of someone that has never had ADHD or ADD. Simply daydreaming is very normal for most people, but suffering from lack of focus and daydreaming and anxiety all at once can be hard for a child to actually learn at the same rate as others. In the early years there were lots of children with this type problem, a lot of them were swept under the carpet as lazy or problem children,and now grown up they clog our jails and prisons. Alot of the people in our prisons are simply people with learning problems that were not given the attention they needed as a child. Granted, I said some not all. But it is easy for someone that hasn't experienced any of these problems to say it is simply lack of dicipline.
ReplyDeleteIts hard for teachers to know what to do as well. A one size fits all education system just doesnt work.
ReplyDeleteThe problem I had in school was boredom.
I remember doing things in class, I would be way ahead of everyone else, then id get bored, and next thing you know i was way behind.
There needs to be more options, or different ways for different people to learn.
Alot of the people in our prisons are simply people with learning problems that were not given the attention they needed as a child.
ReplyDelete-------------
Agreed! But, then alot of them are also in Prison because of drugs!
Agreed! But, then alot of them are also in Prison because of drugs!
ReplyDeleteYes you are totally right....And why is that???? Alot of them are SELF medicating to cope with issues that needed to have been addressed and were not....so they self medicate....that is why many drink, and do drugs.
So do you see the Paradox?
ReplyDeleteWe have all kinds of money for prescription drugs, illegal drugs, subsidizing divorce, keeping courts system clogged, and keeping people in Prison. The very things that destroy the threads (lives) intertwined that make up our Society. But not one dime ...... and no real answers!
What happened to good old fashioned corporal punishment? You messed up at school and you got swats at school and then when you got home. The schools would be a lot less hectic if you could just pull out the "attitude adjuster" and distribute swats when needed!
ReplyDeleteI worked with special education for 33 years, and believe me, ADD and ADHD are very much real. It is when they put child on meds that the child has not been proven to truly have the chemistry unbalanced in their system that meds don't work. If a child is truly ADD, the medicine will work. And just like any chemistry unbalanced illness, all meds don't work the same for all people. You have to be observant to which one works for your child. I once attended a workshop by a doctor in Wichita who said he had trouble in school, but when he finally went to medical school, he found out why. This was way back when ADD was fresh out from being discovered with a label. He said he decided to let them try meds on him, since he knew he was ADD just from all the symptoms. He tried the meds, and lo and behold, he felt like a new man. He said he took a mild dose of his pill a day, and he knew he would be taking it the rest of his life. ADD is from crib to casket. You don't outgrow it. Our prisons, AA meetings, and drug rehabs are full of ADD people of all ages. Since the meds they put a person on are most of the time a stimulant, a true ADD person reacts to a stimulant different than the normal person. It calms them instead of hyping them up. But then they become hooked, and love the calming effect on themselves. If people understood, they would see it like sugar diabetes or other illnesses. The chemistry in their systems don't run on an even balance for them.
ReplyDeleteYou Know, in every success story related to the proper use of drugs - it comes down to one basic thing! A loving caring involved group of adults that keep the child on track with support and guidance!
ReplyDelete