ADHD does not exist [article says symptoms are real, but are caused by other things]

New York Post ^ | January 4, 2014 | Kyle Smith

[grundle]

In private practice, Saul found himself wondering, what other problems do these patients have besides being easily distracted? One girl he treated, it turned out, was being disruptive in class because she couldn’t see the blackboard. Correct diagnois: myopia. She needed glasses, not drugs.

A 36-year-old man who complained about his addiction to online games and guessed he had ADHD, it turned out, was drinking too much coffee and sleeping only four to five hours a night. Correct diagnosis: sleep deprivation. He needed blackout shades, a white-noise machine and a program that shut all his devices off at midnight.

A young man who asked, “Can’t you just ask me a few questions and write me a prescription?” simply left the office when Saul started probing too deeply into whatever was ailing him.

One by one, nearly all of Saul’s patients turned out to have some disease other than ADHD, such as Tourette’s, OCD, fragile X syndrome (a genetic mutation linked to mental retardation), autism, fetal alcohol syndrome, learning disabilities or such familiar conditions as substance abuse, poor hearing or even giftedness. A boy who was disruptive and inattentive in math class (but no other) was, simply, bored by the material and needed to be advanced a grade to regain his concentration.

In a few cases, there was simply no diagnosis. One adult who thought she had ADHD and had been prescribed stimulants by another doctor got a different take from Saul. He advised her to instead return to her habit of exercising regularly and cut back on work hours.

“I now realize it wasn’t ADHD,” she told him later, pleased with the progress she made as a result. “It was just life.”

[Age of Reason]

Truth be told, school is such unnatural torture for boys, that they have to drug the kids up to get them to endure it.

And adults are treated the same way.

[EQAndyBuzz]

“Actually, 90% of ADHD symptoms are lousy diet. Fill a kid up on starch and sugar and he’ll be hyper for an hour then grouchy and irritable for two. We need to get over our phobia about fat and return to feeding our kids actual food.”

And the distractions are due to over-stimulation of the senses. When I went to public school there was a number line, the alphabet in both print and cursive and probably a chart with stars lit for how well you are doing hanging on the wall. Today the walls in both the class and hallways are littered with crap.

Get a kid wired on sugar, bore him to death and do it in an environment where his eyes and mind are wandering and you have the making of an ADHD kid. Add in it becomes a habit and there you go.

[wiggen]

literally had this conversation with a friend 3 weeks ago. His son is diagnosed and we spoke about the fact neither of us believed that the medical community could be correct diagnosing more and more cases every year.

[Gaffer]

I’ve always thought that Ritalin was a substitute for providing discipline and the vigilance that needs to go with it.

I also think that those who so freely dispense drugs like this to children will hamper their freedom of choice in the future.

This government is intent on mind control and behavior modification of its population. The day will come when past prescriptions for drugs like this will be use to disqualify the individual for certain things, say guns, for one.

[cva66snipe]

It's much more likely Central Auditory Processing Disorders compounded by sensory saturation. Primary cause? Childhood allergies especially sinus allergies and childhood chronic ear infections. The condition has likely always existed. But the sensory bombardment hasn't. Some kids with CAPD only have an hour or two concentration daily. Some have as little as a few minutes. Classrooms are set with tables scattered about the room rather than desk in a row thus these kids can not read the teachers lips. Kids with this often read lips faster then they can process them through their auditory system. The suspected kids need to see an Audiologist or Speech Pathologist to be tested for this.

[RginTN]

alot of children acting out from dysfunctional family get this diagnosis instead of the entire family getting family therapy.

[billyboy15]

I went to school in the late 40’s through 1960 when I graduated HS. The term ADHD did not exist nor can I (or anyone I know) recall any examples of this phenomenon during our time at school. Where there disruptive kids? Sure every once in a great while, but they were easily silenced with a stare and a word from the teacher to settle down and pay attention.

Back then kids had RESPECT for the teacher and knew they would be held accountable for their actions. Kids worst fears were realized when they were sent home and could not return until Mom or Dad brought them in for a visit with the Principal.

And forget trying blame the teacher or anyone else for your misbehavior. If the teacher said you were acting in a disruptive way in class then it was case closed and guilty as charged...PERIOD. When kids are sent home today Mom and dad return with an attorney demanding an apology because their little sweetums is a “good” boy (or girl)

The education system today sucks because kids KNOW they can get away with just about anything and the teachers themselves have no sense of what constitutes correct behavior and it’s impact on the teaching environment.

[gitmo]

I watched a doctor testing my son. She asked him to touch his thumb with his finger. It took almost a minute for him to respond. Later in the test she said, “Do this” touching her thumb with her finger. He did so instantly.

She showed us how auditory language processing in him is very slow, but other processing is not.

Unfortunately none of the schools in Charlotte would work with him.

[momincombatboots]

I was diagnosed with adult add years ago. I tried taking the meds and it scared me. It was like objects were moving in slow motion even as I was driving. I noticed every sign, every car, every tag, it was quite scary. So I didn’t take them anymore. I did however go off gluten, not sure whether it’s some additive in bread and wheat or the wheat itself... but a fog lifted. It was wonderful as I had returned to school and in chem 2. I haven’t found a good answer, I just don’t see things in detail. Thankfully I have a job that requires strict ability to multi- task. I call myself a multi- tasker, not a multi- finisher. I guess God made my blissfully ignorant of the minutia of life for His reason.

[cva66snipe]

I was born with it and severe sinus allergies did more damage. The thing about CAPD is schools aren't interested because there's no big money in it like ADD ADHD. CAPD usually requires an organized classroom where the students always face the teacher. As such there is no medication for CAPD except maybe trying a mild antihistamine. That has shown to help many kids with this. BTW this is permanent and something that is never outgrown as it is damage somewhere in the Cerebellar/Vestibular sensory processing/interpretation system.

[cva66snipe]

BTW special education schools used to work with kids with this. I spent my 7th and 8th grade in one.

[gitmo]

My son’s is caused by a malformation of his brain. Cortical dysplacia.

[cva66snipe]

The school systems of today aren’t set up to deal with kids born with disabilities. The Polio epdemic of the 1950’s brought about such schools. Liberals mainstreaming starting in the late 1980’s moving kids that needed help into regular schools where teachers were not really trained or gifted to deal with it. The special education schools really worked and made a huge difference.

[metesky]

Remember that 50% of all doctors graduated in the bottom half of their class.

And one of the best ways to stay healthy is to stay as far away from these pill pushing quacks as possible.

[goodwithagun]

This sounds a lot like my son. He is behind his classmates until we show him how to do something. He instantly masters the task and then needs absolutely no remediation the next time he's asked to do the task. At that point he is actually functioning above his peer group. It's quite amazing to watch him function so much differently than other children. He gets frustrated because he can't use words to properly express what's going on in his brain. He knows what he wants to say, he just sometimes can't express it properly. Twenty or thirty years ago he would be labeled and placed in special ed. Now his (private preschool) teachers and nuns think he might be a genius.

[goodwithagun]

We've discovered, through trial and error, that complex carbs actually help our son. Homemade 100% whole wheat bread and sliced apples, for example, do wonders for him. We also tend to eat a higher fat diet. In addition to whole fruits and vegetables for snacks, the kids love almonds and cashews. A typical dietitian would probably freak out at the amount of fat. Funny thing is, we aren't fat. My son absolutely cannot have artificial flavors and colors. Red food dye is the worst for him. For very special treats we give them Unreal candy that I buy at Target: non-GMO, no hydrogenated oils, no high fructose corn syrup, no artificial colors/flavors/sweeteners, and minimal soy.

[kearnyirish2]

I am surprised television isn’t mentioned here; a friend who teaches says many children have an attention span as long as a television commercial (as a result of watching constantly). IMHO there is no doubt TV is linked to ADD.

[petercooper]

bttt

[bonfire]

exactly. Too many teachers urged parents to have their kids checked out and parents fell for it. Doctors should be taken to task for this fake diagnosis. Now autism has taken the place of ADHD as the diagnosis du jour and ADHD isn’t “cool” anymore. sigh....

[ArcadeQuarters]

So glad I missed the whole prescription drug craze. I was considered “disruptive” because I was bored out of my mind and needed to joke around as an outlet to keep myself sane.