Jane Fendelman, MC
Dead right.
What are her methods?
The Modern Bible.
What friends have described as ADD or ADHD in their children, I see as normal behavior, especially for boys.
It's the culture that has changed, not the energy and exhuberance of childhood.
Oh Duh...if I remember correctly a book was written in the late 40's to make-up this problem.
They put me on all kinds of drugs that ended up doing nothing but making me physically ill. No one would believe me that the reason I wasn't paying attention in class all the time was because I found some stuff to be BORING. I always paid close attention to the stuff I loved.
Finally I told my parents there was nothing they could do that would make me take the damn pills again. I was fed up with feeling sick all the time. Thankfully they let me stop taking them and my health immediately got better.
Now I don't know if ADD/ADHD really exists or not. I suspect in a few cases it is a symptom of some other as yet undiscovered condition. In most cases I think it is just kids being kids and parents preferring to shove a pill down their throat so they don't have to deal with their children.
Ping
IMHO, a joint creation of the drug companies and doctors who cannot recognize a bad kid created by a lack of discipline.
When Christopher Gore tried to enlist in the Coast Guard in 1994, he was rejected for having a history of drug use.
But the clean-cut Dillard, Ga. youth was no junkie. The drug he had used was Ritalin, a medication prescribed for attention-deficit disorders.
Scores of young men and women across the country are learning that the Ritalin they took as teenagers is stopping them from serving their country or starting a military career.
"I was shocked and disappointed," said Gore, 22, who is about to start a job selling radio ads. "I didn't expect [Ritalin] to affect my future like this."
Though the Pentagon hasn't tracked the number of people rejected for military service because of Ritalin use, policy planners are increasingly concerned about Ritalin's effect on the future of the military -- particularly in light of the escalating use of Ritalin among schoolchildren. "Ritalin use is a problem for us because we want to qualify as many quality people we can for military service," said Lt. Col. Ed Baldwin.
All branches of the armed forces reject potential enlistees who use Ritalin or similar behavior-modifying medications.
A long-standing Department of Defense directive also instructs the military to reject those with a "chronic history" of an academic skills defect -- including ADD -- after age 12. And people who took Ritalin as teenagers to treat ADD, an inhibitor of academic skills, are rejected from military service, even if they no longer take the medication.
Master Sgt. Cruz Torres, a Marine recruiter, said that at least 1 out of an average of 50 potential recruits who are interviewed every month is rejected because of past or current Ritalin use.
"Unfortunately, there's nothing we can do if a person has been using Ritalin," he said. "It's considered to be a mind-altering drug. Because of that, the services look at it as a very, very serious drug."
Sgt. Carl Voss, a local Air Force recruiter, said he, too, sees one or two potential enlistees disqualified each month because of Ritalin use. If a person struggled in school with ADD, chances are slim for success in the Air force," he said.
"The Air Force is very selective," he said. "All of our classes are college level."
Parents, doctors and teachers are largely unaware that the military services are exempt from the American Disabilities Act and can discriminate against people using such behavior-modifying drugs as Ritalin, recruiters say.
Harold and Jane Gore had no idea that allowing their son to take Ritalin would someday sink his hopes to enlist in the Coast Guard.
The Gores maintain that their son was never hyperactive. But because they were concerned about his academic performance, they took him in 1984 to an Atlanta pediatrician.
The doctor prescribed Ritalin to improve the youth's concentration. Christopher took 10 mg of Ritalin daily from 1985 to 1988 while a student at St. Francis Day School, in Roswell, Ga. He took the medication intermittently through 1991.
A Coast Guard recruiter interviewed Gore on Dec. 22, 1994. Gore passed written and physical tests. When asked about prescription drug use in a questionaire, he mentioned Ritalin.
On Jan. 24, 1995, he was disqualified.
"It was a real disappointment," Gore recalled. "And the irony is that I never wanted to take Ritalin in the first palce."
The Coast Guard recruiter requested a medical waiver for Gore noting his "eagerness to enlist" and his above average scores in math and reading comprehension. The waiver was denied. "Use of Ritalin after age 12 years," was cited as the reason.
Gore said he later met a group of Marine recruiters who encouraged him to enlist. They advised him not to disclose his past Ritalin use, he said. But the recruiters subsequently found that Gore's medical disqualification had already been extended to all branches of the military.
Since 1990, the use of Ritalin nationwide has increased sixfold. The U.S. Department of Education estimates that 3 percent to 5 percent of all children under the age of 18 have ADD.
The burgeoning use of Ritalin is prompting military planners to take a closer look at ADD and how it might affect future manpower needs. The Pentagon is studying the training the training-camp performance of former Ritalin users who enlisted with the help of a medical waiver, said policy-planner Baldwin, a medical doctor.
ADD is a catch-all diagnosis for: lack of discipline, lack of respect, staying up late, watching TV, and lots of other things. I think its also due to the anti-male attitude of many of the feminist NEA teachers.
But IMHO the main reason is poor diet and too much sugar! You don't know how much sugar we consume until you try the Atkin's diet and check the carbohydrate amount on the package. This parallels the epidemic of obesity we see everyday.
The condition has nothing to do with discipline and has likely existed through out mans history but was not a problem as sensory stimulation was not as it is today. The problem is the sensory triggering events {bombardment} were not prevalent up until the past two decades. I would take any child who exhibits ADD ADHD or learning problems for testing. BTW my sources on this do not come from mental health related sites but rather sites related to Vestibular Disorders. IOW no skewing from Big Pharm. Audiologist and Speech Pathologist can not prescribe any medications :>}
over 80% of the kids prescribed ritilin are boys.
I know I'm probably going to get flamed or have some people roll their eyes, but I truely believe its part of the "vaginization" agenda of public school system in the US where everything is about empowering girls and everything is about making sure the girls succeed and boys are supposed to just shutup, stop acting like boys, and act like robots.
Any display of normal male behavior, the parents are called in, told the boy has ADD, and get him on ritilin or he'll be put in special ed.
Gee! Ya Think?
I give thanks that I was a kid back in the 40's.
I feel sorry for todays kids. I really do.
A comment from Jane Fendelman's website:
A THOUGHTFUL APPROACH TO ADHD, July 22, 2001
Niki Nymark, MSW, LCSW (St. Louis, MO USA)
As a clinical professional, I can recommend this book to parents, teachers and others who work or live with children diagnosed with ADD, ADHD and related problems. The author builds on her experience and excellent theoretical knowledge to describe behavioral alternatives to a medication model of treatment. A staunch opponent of drug therapy for children, Ms. Fendelman provides reassuring, sensible advice for parents--and some laughter along the way.