Posted on 02/06/2005 1:22:18 PM PST by cinives
If you knew anything about how Ritalin works for those that need it, you would not have made that statement.
"One area he will improve, but there is always a counter-balance. It that makes any sense."
It makes perfect sense to me! May God bless and help your son, you and your entire family.
"If you knew anything about how Ritalin works for those that need it, you would not have made that statement."
Amen to that! Until I saw the difference in how it helped my son to learn, I used to make similiar "unlearned" statements.
Has there been abuse of Ritalin and other medications? Yes, of coursethere have - if sometime can be abused it will be by someone. However, a great many have been helped by medications that have be abused or misused. In the hands of medical personnel, and carefully administered, morphine has been a great asset(ask someone wounded in combat). However, many persons have abused this medication. Should it be banned or maligned because of this? Obviously not. The same is true of Ritalin.
Thank you, and the same to you, your son and family.
=0)
BTW -"Dr. Samuel L. Blumenfeld" is NOT a physician, he is at best an educator. He really is not qualified to make the assertions he does.
In time he will be able to help himself.
The classroom teacher has no means to discipline the unruly children (ususally boys) for their behavior. The only management tools she has to send them to the office for time out or to a corner and hope they are not a distraction to the rest of the class. Believe me, it is a scary place when you cannot properly discipline these kids, they know what they can get away with and you can't stop them.
Of course there will always be abuse with any kind of mind altering meds, that will never stop. What most people don't understand is Ritalin has the opposite effect on those that truly need it.
Really good stuff.
I appreciate you standing up for your children. We've been thru many of the same problems. Our son's doctor is well aware of the controversies but we all felt that ignoring the problem was not an option. Our son has gone from being a complete academic failure and social outcast to a well rounded, college bound delight. He brought home a trophy this weekend from his district UIL meet in accounting. He's a leader on the yearbook staff and the phone calls from girls just won't stop. He's also taken a part-time job after school to help out. Thank you concerta.
Sola Veritas
kmiller 1k
"The classroom teacher has no means to discipline the unruly children (usually boys) for their behavior...when you cannot properly discipline these kids, they know what they can get away with and you can't stop them."
I believe the main problem is shrinks. Everything that doesn't fit into their perfectly categorized society must be an illness.
How about the old saying "boys will be boys". Most of the quotes above say things like, 'he's growing out of it' Damn when I and friends of mine were 10 years old (40 years ago) we hated school, we were unruly at times, bored, got sent (on more then one occasion) to the principles office etc. It was only after some of the teachers basically threw away the federal guide lines and challenged us to learn and started teaching lessons in the class room that kept everyone interested that the unruliness and such became less and less.
Jump ahead 25 or years forward and what do we have now. Teachers teaching politically accepted crappola. Kids are bored to tears. Of course by being bored their not learning and because their eating speed (sugar laden cereals, soda's, candy bars and other junk) and sitting in a classroom they get all nervous and jumpy. So it must be an illness.
What really amazes me is every time a parent disciplines a child its called "child abuse". Yet when the kid runs amok, its either the parents fault for NOT disciplining the child or an illness.
My God what do we do, I know call in the shrinks, pump drugs into them so they can sit in classrooms and be perfectly quiet and still. Of course they're still not learning, so what do we do. Call in more "experts". Cuddle their every whim. Whatever you do, don't ever yell, spank or in anyway shape or form discipline that child. Call in the experts, get more drugs.
Children suing their parents for disciplining them and people wonder why the children today are such problems.
Of course in a few years when the child finally "grows out of it" the wonder drug(s) will be touted as the saver of all.
Maybe its me. I see a connection with all this crappola over the last 20 years or so. When parents started getting arrested for trying to be parents. When a parent would say NO, or send them to their room w/o supper, or yelled at them, or spanked them it became "abuse". When the children became the master and the parents became nothing more then the oldest people in the house.
Constant eating and drinking of heavily sugared everything. Heavy medal and rap music expounding death and mayhem. The federal government sticking its nose into every aspect of ones life. The ACLU (American Communist Lawyers Union) helping children to sue their parents.
Daycare centers and the public fool system becoming the parents. Most times contradicting everything the parent(s) try to convey to the child.
Easy and rampant divorce. More and more children being brought up in single parent homes. The school system teaching children such garbage as its ok to have two mommies and two daddies. Schools teaching kids that homosexuality is perfectly normal and healthy.
Parents themselves more into themselves instead of concentrating on rearing their children. Parents using daycare and the school system as nothing more then babysitting institutions while they're out doing their own thing. Parents allowing their children to sit around all day playing video games or computer games (again another baby sitter). One hardly sees families doing things as families anymore. Children at early ages running around with cell-phones, CD players (playing rap and other crap again expounding murder, rape, homosexuality, violence, suicide as perfectly normal).
Kids demanding (and getting) from their (so-called) parents new cars and just about anything else they want. And on and on and on.
No wonder the kids are all confused and screwed up. So instead of getting to root cause of all this, lets dope 'em up.
But I guess its just me.
If you read the studies of Ritalin or even the notes/instructions/warnings sheet that comes with every prescription, you too would be able to quote the manufacturer's list of FDA-reported side effects. Have you read the fine print ? Blumenfeld has. Are you saying if someone is not a doctor they can't discuss known side effects and the ongoing controversy that is ADHD and its "treatments" ?
Seems like we don't need reporters in our society, since no one is qualified to talk about anything for which they haven't received a certification.
Unruly behaviour by children is falsely attributed to ADHD and autism, academic claims
Professor Priscilla Alderson claims in the Times newspaper that behavioural 'syndromes' are normal childhood restlessness of a generation stuck at home.
But Barry Bourne, an educational psychologist, who has worked with children for 35 years, rejects the claims that his profession is exploiting labels to make money.
Unruly behaviour by many children is being falsely attributed to medical complaints and syndromes when better parenting is needed, a leading academic has claimed.
Priscilla Alderson, Professor of Childhood Studies at London University, said that syndromes such as attention deficit disorder and mild autism were being exploited by psychologists keen to “make a quick buck”.
Her conclusion will provoke fury among psychologists and the parents of affected children, who have spent years fighting for recognition of a range of behavioural problems. The National Autistic Society said that questioning the diagnoses would add to the “stress and confusion” suffered by many families.
The number of children registered with special needs has almost doubled over the past decade to 1.4 million — an increase from 11.6 per cent to 19.2 per cent in primary schools and from 9.6 per cent to 16.5 per cent in secondary schools. The term encompasses learning difficulties, such as dyslexia, to various syndromes on the “autism spectrum”.
Professor Alderson was backed by Eamonn O’Kane, leader of the National Association of Schoolmasters and Union of Woman Teachers, who said that members were cynical about an explosion in the number of special needs diagnoses and called for more support for teachers facing bad behaviour.
Professor Alderson said that it was often convenient for neglectful parents to claim that a child had a behavioural disorder. She believes that much of the increase can be put down to more flexible interpretations of normal childhood traits, such as restlessness and excitability. In our more gullible age, she says, this becomes attention deficit — which could be solved by engaging more with children and allowing them to let off steam in traditional fashion by playing in parks and climbing trees.
“I recently visited a special school which had 27 children diagnosed as autistic. Of those, only two that I met displayed the lack of eye contact and absence of empathy which denotes true autism,” she said. “Money is behind all this. Pyschologists want the work, and lower the diagnosis threshold accordingly. Special needs is an administrative device describing children who have extra needs from those provided for in the average classroom.
“Playgrounds and parks are empty, because of the scare stories about abductions. But children need the space and freedom to play, run and climb — without that, they are restless, and come to be seen as abnormally ‘hyperactive’.
“About eight children are murdered outside the home each year, compared with about 50 inside. Cooping up children inside homes is not going to do them any good.”
Professor Alderson, 57, who has three grown-up children and three grandchildren, admitted that her eldest daughter had been “difficult”, something she attributes to her naivity at the time about how to be a good parent. “By the time my other children came along I had realised that if you treat children as adults then they will behave accordingly.”
Teachers have complained about the growth in the syndromes, alleging that it gives pupils an excuse to avoid discipline. They are also suspicious about the number of children who are able to use a diagnosis to claim more time in their examinations. For a fee of £50, an educational psychologist or specialist teacher can attest that a child should claim at least 25 per cent extra time because they have behavioural or learning disorders.
Almost 37,000 11-year-olds were given extra time in their national test in English last year — up by 8,000, or more than 35 per cent, in two years. Similar increases were seen in maths and science tests.
Barry Bourne, an educational psychologist, who has worked with children for 35 years, rejected the claims that his profession was exploiting labels to make money. “In the past I think we had a very crude view of some of these disorders,” he said. “It is a very complicated issue. I think we have a much better understanding of what aspects make up a personality than we did when I first joined the profession. Personally I am convinced that family history plays a far more significant part than we believed in the past, and while surroundings and upbringing are also important alone they simply do not explain why certain people from the same family develop in very different ways.”
Mr O’Kane, general secretary of the second-largest teaching union, said: “A lot of teachers are very cynical about the reasons behind the boom in the numbers of these conditions. We need to do more to address the consequences for staff who have to deal with the bad behaviour.”
An internet chatroom used anonymously by teachers reveals the beliefs of many members of the profession. One posting, left this month by a teacher identified only as “re”, complained about students who “are whipped off to a psychologist and labelled if they show the slightest sign of misbehaviour”.
It goes on: “This ‘diagnosis’ then becomes an excuse for more misbehaviour — we have students with ‘mild tourettes’ and lots of ADHD — and yet they can behave well if threatened with punishment.” Someone calling herself Miss Nomer responds: “Writing as a special-needs teacher, I am quite sure that a lot of it is complete b. I get sick of being trashed by some little s who then tells me I can’t punish him because his pill hasn’t kicked in yet. When you give a kid a syndrome, you give him an excuse.” She blamed “uppity parents looking for compensation, extra funding, a stick to beat teacher and an excuse for their kid’s obnoxious behaviour and their inadequate parenting”.
Eileen Hopkins, a director of the National Autistic Society, said: “This can only add to the stress and confusion that many families face. The importance of receiving a correct diagnosis cannot be emphasised enough. Access to the most appropriate education and support depends on it. No reputable diagnostician is likely to make an on-the-spot diagnosis. Our experience is that diagnosis is still a battle for many families. Teachers believe the numbers of children with an autistic spectrum disorder is on the increase.”
Many young children feel unsafe in local parks as these are often dirty and dominated by gangs of older youths, a report says today. Lack of opportunities to play out safely was the top concern of 5- to 13-year-olds from deprived parts of England, according to research by the education watchdog Ofsted for the Government’s Children’s Fund.
.....
Comment from: Michelle Perez, owner of Michelles Day Care in Texas, US
Date: Dec 6, 2003
There are alternatives to drugs
"I am the mother of a 12 year old who at the age of four was labeled as having ADHD. At the time I was a young mother and unsure of what to do about my child's behaviour. The school told me that I needed to put him on Ritalin. The teachers and principle would have a meeting and then call me in to encourage me to put him on this drug. They would write letters to the doctor about his behaviour in school. I did not want to medicate my child. He already had epilepsy and was taking a drug called depikene.
"I was very upset with the thought of putting him on another drug. With being young when I had him (I was aged 16) I was also married too young which created more problems in the home life.
"His dad and I were making it on our own with no help. I divorced when my son was in kindergarden.
"I remarried six years ago. When I decided I did not want to give him ritalin the school criticised me for not giving it to him. At the time I may not have understood things but now i am an educated person. I have my own business. We moved to a new town and into another school. My son out grew his epilepsy in the first grade.
"The school that he attends is somewhat the same - they want him on medication also. I refuse to put him on it. He is a very bright child and just needs to be redirected often to complete his assignments.
"I have devised a folder that he takes back and forth from school that each teacher must sign everyday concerning his homework and daily classwork.
"There are alternatives to drugs. Its just taking the time to figure out what you need to do as a parent without schools trying to force you to give your child anti hyper medicine."
There are several good ADD, ADHD forums out there (like http://www.adhdnews.com/forum) that are great for support, coaching and non-med methods of dealing with ADD/ADHD. There are lots of adults, parents and kids in the same boat and they are a gold mine of information, experience and most of all, support.
I struggled all my life with ADD and managed without meds. And I was an absolute disaster in some aspects of life that most folks take in stride. But when I was finally put on multi-use ADD/depression med, it was like being pulled out of a cave.
"If you read the studies of Ritalin or even the notes/instructions/warnings sheet that comes with every prescription, you too would be able to quote the manufacturer's list of FDA-reported side effects"
I am a biologist/chemist and have a basic understanding of pharacology. I know how to read a Physician's Desk Reference (PDR) about dosing and side effects.
This guy is exagerating miniscule risks without explaining the enormous benefits to those that are helped by this medication. Like I said in my original post, I am no big fan of the "education establishment" and we homeschool our son. However, I don't appreciate and unqualified(and unknowledgeable) person that expounds "scare" nonsense about a useful medication in order to promote an anti-education establishment agenda. He is perpetuating a stereotype that keeps caring parents from getting their children help.
IF he had taken the tack that the education establishment has tended to cause an overuse of Ritalin (children that may not need it), then I could agree with his thesis. As it is, he is just expounding ignorant gibberish.
"But when I was finally put on multi-use ADD/depression med, it was like being pulled out of a cave."
That is really good to hear. Thank you for the information.
I don't know - you think 9% of kids taking this drug experiencing psychosis is miniscule ? If your kid were of this 9%, would you think it was a miniscule risk ? Or, if your kid was one of the ones shot and killed in schools by other kids on this drug, would you think that posed no risk ? How about 100% of kids/people on the drug who stay on it for years develop brain atrophy. You don't think that's significant ?
Look, what he points out is that ADHD is a behaviorally-based diagnosis that, for all the talk, there is no medically provable connection to brain chemical imbalances and other issues that point to a drug-based solution.
I challenge you to point me to one study that shows a definitive relationship between drug-naive study participants and specific levels of brain function/chemicals that can be peer reviewed and replicated. Which would of course mean that there would then be a medical test to diagnose, not a checklist of behaviors with answers like "sometimes", "always", "never", "occasionally". Does occasionally mean, once per hour, twice a day, what ?
So his point is, since there are other ways to manage the behaviors that make up the ADHD diagnosis, there is no need to give a drug with known negative side effects.
Also, you say this drug gives "enormous benefits" - I would like a copy of or reference to the study, peer reviewed and published, that shows these benefits over, say, 5-10 years of usage. To the best of my knowledge, the only studies in existence lasted only 14 weeks, and their conclusion was that the benefits did not endure after 14 weeks.
He has commented that ADHD is overdiagnosed and pushed by teachers looking for an easy behavioral out of discipline issues. You'd need to read more of his writings to get his overall message.
An additional point is that Ritalin has the same effect on people who have not been diagnosed as ADHD and who are just looking for a performance enhancement on tests, exams, etc - in other words, a time when you absolutely need to focus. Thus, if the effect is not confined to ADHD, it is considered just a drug for behavioral control. I don't know abut you, but the thought of that is really repulsive to me.
I homeschool too - I just know too many people who use the diagnosis and drug as an excuse for bad behavior - it removes personal responsibility for an individual's actions.
"I don't know - you think 9% of kids taking this drug experiencing psychosis is miniscule?"
Show me an unimpeachable (no agenda) and authoritative source that can confirm such an outrageous claim. Do you even know what psychosis means?
Adverse effects from an unbiased soure:
Symptoms requiring medical attention:
More Common Symptoms
Hypertension (increased blood pressure), tachycardia (fast heartbeat)—especially with doses greater than 0.5 mg per kg of body weight (mg/kg)
Less Common Symptoms
Angina (chest pain), arthralgia (joint pain), dyskinesia (uncontrolled movements of the body), fever, skin rash or hives, thrombocytopenia (rarely, unusual bleeding or bruising; black tarry stools; blood in urine or stools; pinpoint red spots on skin)—usually asymptomatic.
Note: Arthralgia, fever, skin rash or hives, and thrombocytopenia may be indicative of a hypersensitivity reaction to methylphenidate. Rarely, exfoliative dermatitis and erythema multiforme have occurred.
Rare Symptoms
Blurred vision or other changes in vision, convulsions, muscle cramps, Tourette's syndrome (uncontrolled vocal outbursts and/or tics [uncontrolled repeated body movements]), With prolonged use or at high doses, Psychosis, toxic (changes in mood; confusion; delusions; depersonalization; hallucinations), weight loss —possibly more frequent in children.
NOTICE that psychosis is listed as rare. That would mean much less than 1% of the time. I found one "fringe" pyschiatrist that claims higher numbers - but he had an agenda and was biased.
Don't be so offensive - if I've read this much about drugs and psychiatric diagnoses over the years, you think I've never encountered the term or looked it up or talked to anyone who has dealt with it ? Sheesh, you think you are the only one with a brain and sources ?
Cherland, E. and Fitzpatrick, R. (1999, October). Psychotic side effects of Psychostimulants: A 5-year review. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 44, 811-813.
Among 192 children diagnosed with ADHD at the Canadian clinic, 98 had been placed on stimulant drugs, mostly methylphenidate. Psychotic symptoms developed in more than 9% of the children treated with methylphenidate. According to Cherland and Fitzpatrick, "The symptoms ceased as soon as the medication was removed" (p. 812). And further, they feel this number is underreported.
OK - there's my source. And where's the source I asked you for - you know, the Ritalin has been proved safe and effective over the long term source ?
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