Posted on 03/09/2016 9:44:40 PM PST by Olog-hai
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is vastly over-diagnosed with many cases simply immature children who are the youngest in their class. [ ]
Around three to seven percent of British children are believed to have ADHD, about 400,000, with many being prescribed drugs to try and improve their concentration at school. [ ]
Now a study of nearly 400,000 children between four and 17 years old in Taiwan has shown that the percentage of youngsters diagnosed with ADHD significantly changes depending on month of birth. Where just 2.8 percent of boys born in September have the condition, the figure jumps to 4.5 percent in August, rising steadily over the school year. For girls it rose from 0.7 to 1.2 percent.
The authors say that many cases may be caused by teachers comparing the behavior of more mature children to those of youngsters who are up to a year younger.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Modern day boys are often fidgety and distracted because genetically they need a lot of activity. Not many of them live on farms or ranches where they have chores and other lively activities and spend too much sitting in school and at home in front of computers and TVs.
Lack of exercise often causes lack of ability to concentrate and thus they get this diagnosis.
Feeding kids pills is a helluva lot easier than doing the work of raising them.
Naysayer. It may be an over used diagnosis but there are medical and psychological tests that confirm this condition. If you have raised add or adhd kid you know the hallmarks. My question—are add or adhd adults birthing autistic children? A further mutation.
That's me. But I think I'll stay and see what else an be stirred up.
A whole toonstrip theme:
"Dennis the Menace"
BINGO!!!!
Adult laziness and incompetence followed by faux-educated denial. There are kids more easily driven to distraction, some physiologically, most by a plainly mad culture of over-stimulation, spiritual neglect and the horrible triumph of “progressive education” experimentalism.
I am glad I didn’t grow up today. They would have had me medicated so fast it would make your head spin.
Sigh. Some kids are smart. Some kids are dumb. Some kids are quirky. Some kids are weird.
Some kids are all of those rolled into one. But everyone has to be categorized in some way. There is an excuse for everything.
We all have a touch of ADHD and it rears it head every so often. This study may have some merit, but I wonder if being the youngest could play a role. Parenting by cell phones and iPads are also to blame - “here play a game and be quiet” is not parenting.
These kids are so constantly “entertained” by their cell phones that they can’t go five minutes with out touching them. I am going to conduct a experiment today in class. I will make all cell phone be put on the rail of my white board and see how long they can go without. I have this one kid who can’t go 2 minutes with out checking his phone. He is a total wreck and has OTMOTM (on the mind out the mouth) with no filter, is riddled with ADHD, is the youngest of lots of kids, and can be a complete PITA at times. If he is on his phone we get 100% more accomplished in class, even the other kids love it when he is not there. Worst yet, momma doesn’t think he is a problem. FYI, this is at a premier private HS.
I agree. Having taught middle school for 35 years I would cringe in parent conferences when the Child Study Team would recommend to parents they get medication for their child.(it was illegal to do this anyway).I would pull them aside afterward and tell them their son has N.B.S. and not to worry because my wife and I had raised two boys. When they asked what N.B.S. was I told them “Normal Boy Syndrome.”
I lead a group of about 60 boys aged 5-17. Over the years we’ve had kids who were mature, immature, crazy, precocious, helpful, helpless. Sometimes all at the same time, sometimes all in the same boy.
It’s part of being a boy. They grow up at different times but they all grow up.
The drugs seem to be wildly overprescribed. We have one kid who was on them who was at times a virtual zombie. He would look right through you.
No discipline at home. I’d have had ADHD for about five minutes, then Dad would’ve “cured” it.
Bingo!
Or lack of sleep and lack of playtime.
And the fact that they don't let kids blow off most steam on the playground anymore.
I was talking to my 9 year old grandson. They won't let them play when it's muddy. They MAKE them wear snowpants if there's even a little bit of snow. They don't allow any physical activity on the playground like wrestling with each other. They don't allow baseballs or bats because they're too dangerous. They don't allow screaming or shouting on the playground. In short they expect children to behave like adults from a very early age ALL day long. And then they wonder why some kids are bouncing off the walls during class.
It's all about the Benjamins!
I can’t believe phones are even allowed in a classroom...seems they should be all put on the tray as class begins...retrieved after class...they are at SCHOOL...and not a job where they’re on call.
They’re not immature, they’re UNDISCIPLINED. While there is a minority of children who benefit from medication to make them sit down and shut up when they need to I would say that easily 50% of cases are the result of overaggressive prescription writing, marketing by the pharmaceutical companies, and parents wanting to hand Johnny a pill as a quick-fix so they can go watch Opera or their football game instead of stand behind him with a peach tree switch while he does his math.
My grandmother summed it all up thusly: “The best cure for A-D-H-D is a S-W-A-T on the B-U-T-T.”
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.