[Blzbba]

It'll be tough to tell your child to "Just Say No" to illegal drugs, but no problem with saying "Yes" to these happy pills.


Do this experiment (if you haven't yet):

1. Get some sort of video game system (Playstation, etc.)

2. Sit child in front of video game and tell him he can play for as long as he wants.

3. Come back in an hour. If child is still playing, he DOES NOT HAVE ADD!!

Yeah, you might have to spend $150 or so on this experiment, but you'll easily determine if your child is either ADD-impaired or just bored. Plus, if you buy a PS2, you'll have a DVD player to boot! This $150 will be much cheaper than an 8-year prescription to some stupid pill.


Good luck!

[Corin Stormhands]

Come back in an hour. If child is still playing, he DOES NOT HAVE ADD!!

Cute, but not accurate. It is PRECISELY the electronic stimulation of an ADHD child that can grasp his attention.

My son (who DOES have ADHD) can do the video games for hours on end (if we let him).

[HawkeyeLonewolf]

This has got to be the most logical solution EVER!!!

Great post!

[truthingod]

It is very important to find a DR. who knows how to works with kids who really do have this problem. A trial of medication can often be the real test of the presence of ADHD. There is a book that is helpful also, "over coming underachieving" it has some real helps with kids are struggling.

[beezdotcom]

Yeah, you might have to spend $150 or so on this experiment, but you'll easily determine if your child is either ADD-impaired or just bored.

Of course, sometimes this is already the problem. The electronic stimulation of the brain with video games is almost like a drug....and withdrawal sure seems to create ADD/ADHD symptoms.

Yes, I know...totally anecdotal and unscientific. However, I can definitely tell the difference in my son's behavior if he's spent all week at Grandma's watching TV and playing video games - he's like a giant crack baby. After a few days being weaned off of the electronic overdose, he reverts back to being a reasonable well-behaved child.

[unixfox]

Somebody could start a company proposing what you just came up with. It doesn't take a genius to figure out if a kid has ADD or any of the other concocted disorders that have been found in the last few years.

Geez, the way our schools and government thinks, they would have you believe that the whole populace was a bunch of drolling, blithering, out of control, idiots unable to help themselves. When in fact it's them!!

[Quix]

Where truly needed and when nothing else works sufficiently,

it's far from a stupid pill.

[Gaffer]

Well now I know that at least two people on this thread knows where that "playstation" thing came from....and I didn't even read your posts....he he...... I guess Neal is good for something now and then

[SALChamps03]

Do this experiment (if you haven't yet): 1. Get some sort of video game system (Playstation, etc.) 2. Sit child in front of video game and tell him he can play for as long as he wants. 3. Come back in an hour. If child is still playing, he DOES NOT HAVE ADD!!

No, children with ADHD often can attend to things like TV and video games. These are items the child wants to focus on, so an unconscious extra effort to do so is occurring. Children have short attention spans. However, some have ADHD. It is manifested in activities that the child doesn't want to attend to, like school, and chores. Terry Bradshaw has ADHD. How did he attend to the task of reading defenses from the pocket, which requires extreme focus? Because he wanted to.

[CWW]

It was a miracle drug for our son -- and he was not a behavior problem. He's been the top student in his class for 6 years. His problem was processing speed. He takes a low dose in the morning, none in the afternoon or on weekends or in the summer or holidays. But we also carefully looked into every thing for 2 years. I was extremely anti-medication, but we chose a very moderate course and I have never regretted it.

By the way, there is a great misconception about ADD and ADHD. Not every kid who has the condition is a brat or spoiled or otherwise lacks discipline. In fact, there are a great many children, like my own, who are truly gifted students and achievers. It's all up to the individual child. But look at everything else first.