Posted on 12/18/2006 6:44:16 AM PST by shrinkermd
Again, probably the wrong dose. It shouldn't make you feel weird.
Some children may, in fact, need the medications. Others who are medicated probably do not, and their parents may be responsible for "bad" parenting.
When my son was young, we briefly considered the possibility of his hyper-activity needs. We spoke to the (private)school principal, who discouraged use of Ritalin for him, stating he's just being a boy. Now he's a college senior and doing well.
There are many anecdotal examples of the problems of children "needing" ritalin. IMO, neither extreme is correct. Based on my experience, I do believe the drugs have been overprescribed, however.
ping
If beating you made your "ADD" go away, you didn't have ADD.
I read an article not too long ago about a couple who tried everything BUT medication for their son. When nothing else worked he went on Ritalin and excelled in school...and was a much happier child. I wholeheartedly believe that there are many cases in which ADD drugs are necessary AND helpful.
I agree that saying it's all about bad parenting is ignorant. Throwing pills at a child to alleviate a problem isn't an excuse, but neither is not researching and considering all the options. It sounds like you did what you thought was best for your son and I commend you for that!
Parenting is hard work. Those who are quick to judge us seem to either not know this (from lack of experience) or just plain forget.
Not to mention the loads of school psychologists and special ed teachers feeding off the overdiagnoses.
It's also my opinion that a lot of the ADHD cases are simply kids not ready or able to do sit-down work 6 hours a day at young ages and who act out because they just need a more physically active environment.
A good read on these types of things is Dorothy and Raymond Moore's "School Can Wait".
I'm sorry you had to go through that. Growing up is hard enough!
My six year-old son is extremely intelligent but often has trouble focusing on tasks-at-hand. He's not disruptive to the other children in his class but he often needs to be steered back on task. I have come to accept that this is just part of his "make up"...it's who he is as a young boy. He's still developing study skills and a work ethic. As his mother I am doing all I can to foster this journey for him and help in any way I can. Throwing pills at him (other than cod liver oil...helps with mental acuity) isn't the answer for him.
I was terrible at math because I could not fathom WHY 2 plus 2 equals 4. It wasn't enough to say "because". Conversely, I was a whiz at English and was reading at college level in sixth grade.
Ironically, I am now a programmer and live and breath math. But I had to learn it as language, not law.
There have been studies that attest to the fact that many children, boys especially, perform better in school when they're allowed to move and do things hands-on. I've seen this in my son. Give him a writing assignment and he's miserable...give him a science experiment and he's teaching the class himself!
I certainly won't disagree the stuff is overprescribed. I've spoken with a bunch of people who say their kids is ADD/ADHD, and they really are not, they are just boys doing what boys have done for thousands of years.
My comment was to the jerkarse who claimed all people who have kids who have ADHD are just bad parents.
I have 4 kids. one has ADHD and got meds for it for a time. None of the other 3 have ADHD. So does that make me a 25% bad parent? (I know it's not your claim, btw)
You forgot the rest of your sentence...."and they'll go looking for more drugs."
I was a very active kid. Thankfully, I was lucky enough to have an excellent string of teachers who recignized this, and had strategies to cope with me wehre I could do well. I got to be the runner whenever anything needed to go to the main office, hand out papers, anything where I wasn't forced to sit for the full class duration, because I really couldn't.
My parents were shocked a few years back when i opted for an office job over a field position.
Instilling fear cures nothing - it just a parenting shortcut which drives the disorders deeper, where they sometimes surface later in adulthood as pathological behaviors.
ADD is a symptom of an undisciplined mind - in essence, it is the default state of a human being. Drugging kids alleviates the symptoms to provide quick and easy benefits for parents and teachers, but does nothing to solve the underlying problem. A better approach would be to teach kids from an early age how to structure and discipline their thinking through meditation and mental exercises - indeed, they should learn these techniques before even starting school. But I suspect the last thing the educrats want is a generation of kids with the ability to see through the BS they are being spoon-fed, so I don't look for any deviation from the current "Drug 'em or slug 'em?" debate.
Please cite your evidence.
There is no such thing as ADD or ADHD. It is a cop-out excuse for not properly disciplining children, then discovering they are out of control.
Hint: If the kid won't sit down, then spank him with your belt until he learns to sit down when told.
No more ADHD!
If you ask a child a question and he stares out of the window ignoring you, slap his cheek. His eyes will immediately rivet on yours. You say "I said answer me!"
No more ADD!
Reality is much better than drugs! It has worked for humanity for at least 10,000 years! I'll stack that up against the past thirty years every time.
ADHD is a neuroligcal condition.
Would you beat the snot out of your kid with an aluminum bat if they had cerebral palsy? Sounds like you are just that kind of guy.
Please cite your expertise in this field.
Yes, you were quite fortunate to have such people in your life who saw you for who you were and helped you cope with the "ants in your pants"...haha...my son is full of those ants.
Do you have children? If so, the state should remove them from your custody immediately.
It can't go away if it doesn't exist.
It doesn't exist! It is a PC name for "they won't let me spank this child."
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