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Medicine Goes to School: Teachers as Sickness Brokers for ADHD
Public Library of Science ^ | April 11, 2006 | Christine B. Phillips

Posted on 04/18/2006 7:39:33 PM PDT by neverdem

Over the last twenty years, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has emerged as a disorder of importance in childhood. Prescription of psychostimulants for ADHD escalated in many countries through the 1990s. Between 1990 and 1995, prescriptions of methylphenidate for young people increased 2.5-fold in the US [1], and 5-fold in Canada [2]. In New South Wales, Australia, rates of treatment for children in 2000 were nine times those in 1990 [3].

ADHD joins dyslexia and glue ear as disorders that are considered significant primarily because of their effects on educational performance. Medicalising educational performance can help children receive specialised medical and educational services; at the same time it can lead to them receiving medications or surgical therapies which may have short-term and long-term ill effects.

In the case of ADHD, there has been a complex, often heated debate in the public domain about the verity of the illness and the personal cost-benefit ratio of treatment with psychostimulant medication [4–6]. Much of the polemic for and against psychostimulants is concerned with the part played by doctors, the prescribers of medication, in diagnosing or discounting ADHD. ADHD is, however, a disorder of educational performance, and so teachers have a critical role in advocating for the illness, and its medical treatment. This essay explores the roles of teachers as brokers for ADHD and its treatment, and the strategies used by the pharmaceutical industry to frame educators' responses to ADHD.

(Excerpt) Read more at medicine.plosjournals.org ...


TOPICS: Australia/New Zealand; Business/Economy; Canada; Culture/Society; Extended News; Government; News/Current Events; US: District of Columbia; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: addicts; adhd; health; medicine; pspl; pushers; ritalin
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1 posted on 04/18/2006 7:39:36 PM PDT by neverdem
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To: OldFriend

ping


2 posted on 04/18/2006 7:40:24 PM PDT by neverdem (May you be in heaven a half hour before the devil knows that you're dead.)
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To: neverdem

I had ADD/ADHD/WTF_EVER, then mom made me run around the house 10-20 times and I would be magically cured.


3 posted on 04/18/2006 7:44:53 PM PDT by xrp (Fox News Channel: MISSING WHITE GIRL NETWORK)
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To: neverdem

ADHD was the trendy diagnosis when my son was in grade school (early nineties). He had several friends on Ritalin through high school. Now the trendy diagnosis is autism, in all it's different forms. Maybe parents need to look at their child and resist trendy diagnoses. Maybe with some boys it's just a bunch of testosterone. And, yes, the kids who were on Ritalin had to take their dosage at least once during the school day.


4 posted on 04/18/2006 7:46:44 PM PDT by originalbuckeye
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To: neverdem


""In the US, the pre-eminent advocacy group for people with ADHD is CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder). In the 2004–2005 financial year (year ended 30 June 2005), 22% of CHADD's total revenue came from the pharmaceutical industry [16]. CHADD undertakes educational programs for teachers [18], including acting as the lead editorial consultant of a special issue on ADHD in Health in Action, a quarterly publication of the American School Health Association [19]. ""


Overdiagnosis has depreciated condition. ADHD is not only about "not paying attention" there are many more symptoms.


5 posted on 04/18/2006 7:50:53 PM PDT by LauraleeBraswell
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To: originalbuckeye

When we adopted our son at age 7 four years ago, he was taking Ritalin. Ritalin is a stimulant, and Son would have nasty effects when the med wore off.

We decided to take him off of it, and he was pleasant and even more attentive and definitely more sweet. Two months later, we decided that since the adoption wasn't final, we should have the doctor write a letter to the school so that we wouldn't get in any trouble for neglect! Hadn't had a note home in months, but when the doctor's note went to school, a note came home that said, "Son was very distracted today."

We homeschool now. If he has a fidgety spell, we give him a basketball and send him outside for a half hour.


6 posted on 04/18/2006 7:51:15 PM PDT by andie74 (I don't skinny dip; I chunky dunk!)
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To: xrp

I enjoyed your comments on your page. My son used to come home from grade school shouting 'I'll sue! I have rights!'. I told him that, as a child, he had a right to be fed, clothed, sheltered, educated until age 18 and loved. And that's where his rights stopped until he was out on his own. He's doing very well now.


7 posted on 04/18/2006 7:51:19 PM PDT by originalbuckeye
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To: andie74

Me,too. When well-meaning adults told us that our son had a lot of energy, we just said 'thanks'. They were right. He played baseball, soccer, flag football and basketball until he got too old to play with the parks and recreation in our area. Then he played baseball and football in high school. His exercise helped him focus on his schoolwork. I always tell the new moms I know to try sports before medicine. Boys, naturally, have a lot of energy. Best to channel it into something constructive.


8 posted on 04/18/2006 7:55:58 PM PDT by originalbuckeye
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To: xrp; originalbuckeye


I have ADHD, and I'm not a boy. I was a well behaved child too, my teachers just adored me. But I just couldn't pay attention or sit still. The school didn't want to give me "special ed" or whatever, because I kept scoring way above average on the IQ tests.But that's another aspect of ADD. Thomas Edison had ADD, it's not just that many bright people have it. I think it's what makes some people bright. Your brain is just wired differently, to think "outside the box."

There are people out there who really have it.


9 posted on 04/18/2006 7:56:04 PM PDT by LauraleeBraswell
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To: neverdem
They are simply trying to feminize, emasculate, and Oprahfy boys.

Nothing else.

10 posted on 04/18/2006 7:57:27 PM PDT by SteveMcKing
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To: LauraleeBraswell
But I just couldn't pay attention or sit still.

There is no disease in that. The behavior may not be a choice, but is not a disease.

11 posted on 04/18/2006 7:59:27 PM PDT by SteveMcKing
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To: xrp
I had ADD/ADHD/WTF_EVER, then mom made me run around the house 10-20 times and I would be magically cured.

Getting my butt warmed was remarkably therapeutic for my symptoms.

12 posted on 04/18/2006 8:00:16 PM PDT by Colorado Doug (Diversity is divisive. E. Pluribus Unum (Out of many, one))
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To: LauraleeBraswell

I acknowledge that some people DO have it.Just probably not all that are on medication. There were loads of kids on Ritalin in the early nineties. I'm thankful that exercise helped our son deal with his extra energy.


13 posted on 04/18/2006 8:00:42 PM PDT by originalbuckeye
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14 posted on 04/18/2006 8:02:12 PM PDT by neverdem (May you be in heaven a half hour before the devil knows that you're dead.)
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To: Colorado Doug
Getting my butt warmed was remarkably therapeutic for my symptoms.

DH has also attributed that to his cure as a boy.

15 posted on 04/18/2006 8:04:22 PM PDT by andie74 (I don't skinny dip; I chunky dunk!)
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To: SteveMcKing
No one said it was a disease, it's a learning disability but it encompasses much more.

I was always off in my own little world, I would get distracted very easily.

I didn't read body language or facial expressions which put me a severe social disadvantage. It's been studied that ADD children are often the most lacking in social abilities and are often alienated by their peers.
I also lacked coordination (another aspect of ADHD).

Concentration is on the wrong things. When I was little, I played soccer and I'd stand on the field picking flowers. My brain is wired differently. The neurons take a different path.

I've overcome these things. One thing I still have trouble with, is drowning out outside sounds. I can't sit in a car with the radio on and have a conversation. Same thing when there's other conversations going on around me.


It's not a choice, it just is.
16 posted on 04/18/2006 8:08:45 PM PDT by LauraleeBraswell
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To: originalbuckeye


It's definitely overdiagnosed.


17 posted on 04/18/2006 8:10:57 PM PDT by LauraleeBraswell
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To: neverdem

bump


18 posted on 04/18/2006 8:13:15 PM PDT by VOA
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To: LauraleeBraswell

I have (apparently) ADHA (at least according to the tests.) I have very bad dyslexia (since birth, I guess.) I found that the way to cope was just to memorize everything that came my way. One has to memorize quickly when having a short attention span.

I would describe the attention wandering as like a severe allergy; no ability to concentrate on much for more than a few seconds (fortunately, in classes, this was usually enough.) Of cours, I could obsess with "interesting" material. As I got older, I would try to direct the obsession into productive channels. My professors (and bosses) wondered how I could do nothing for two months then do two months (or more) work in a few hours. I do know others that have had the same experiences.

Of course, I was never medicated for ADHD. Music study is useful in dyslexia treatment though.


19 posted on 04/18/2006 8:19:50 PM PDT by Doctor Stochastic (Vegetabilisch = chaotisch ist der Charakter der Modernen. - Friedrich Schlegel)
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To: LauraleeBraswell
Schools get greater funding for "special needs" students...
therefore, administration is always eager to label as many kids as possible...
which means that they pressure the teachers to support potential diagnoses.

Not much room in that system to allow for "what's best for the child."

20 posted on 04/18/2006 8:20:33 PM PDT by Teacher317
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