Neal Boortz and ADD

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[Houmatt]

The following are short pieces recently written by Neal Boortz regarding Attention Deficit Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, appearing in Neal's Nuze:

DON’T PAY ATTENTION TO THIS. JUST KEEP DRUGGING YOUR KIDS.

More and more medical and psychological professionals are speaking out against this phony disease of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Dr. Bob Jacobs, a psychologist, is on the advisory board of the International Center for the Study of Psychiatry and Psychology. He recently told a conference in Australia that ADHD is a behavioral problem, not a medical disorder. He correctly points out that there is no proof that ADHD exists.

Jacobs notes that many children who are “diagnosed” with ADHD – children who it is said can’t pay attention – are perfectly capable of sitting still with a video game and paying rapt attention for hours on end. He also points out that when parents pay attention and change the way they are treating and handling their children, the ADHD symptoms go away. “A real diseas doesn’t go away when somebody else does something.”

I just love it that this debate is surfacing again. Sure, Ritalin works. It’s a drug, of course it’s going to have an affect on children. It makes them more docile and compliant. Take that word “compliant” and put it next to “government.” Would anyone argue that government doesn’t just love a compliant citizen? Then why wouldn’t a government school teacher love a docile and compliant child? It sure makes their job easier, doesn’t it?

In 2001 U.S. drug companies made more than $600 million profit in ADHD drugs like Ritalin. If ADHD goes away … so do those profits.

It’s time for you parents and teachers to stop looking for the easy way out here. Your easy way out is a potential disaster for your child.

I’M STILL HERE …

The controversy over my comments on ADD/ADHD continues. Station management continues to feel the effects of an organized campaign to have me either silenced or fired. Hey, I don’t blame these people. If I was drugging my child for a non-existent disease I wouldn’t want anyone reminding me of my irresponsibility either.

Just to fuel the fire, here are some excerpts from letters and e-mail I’ve received in the last few days:

I am a Special Education teacher in Kansas --anti-NEA, extremely conservative: endangered species. Agree with you on ADHD. Problem - liberals insist all students with behavior problems have the right to disrupt the education of others, so meds used to control behaviors. In Kansas, ADHD students receive special education services under the label of Otherwise Health Impaired (OHI). Some of us know that OHI really stands for Otherwise HOME Impaired. Please do not use my name publicly -- retaliation from liberal dominated administration probable

Before you delete this please read on. I am ecstatic on your position on add and ADHD. I have a son that was so diagnosed, they, she who is always right, put him on Ritalin. it is a devastating drug, they are doped up and not themselves. Chris is adopted has a handicap and parents that care. i took on the problem, the problem was not a condition it was a matter of wills. i withdrew him from the medication and worked my ass off making the difference. Neal is right, get off the medication, instill confidence, give a damn about how they behave and stand firm. today my son has a 4.0 average in his junior year of high school and has been accepted to Penn State, will get a partial scholarship and is a GREAT KID. Not bad for someone the system wanted to put into a stupor. Dad's can make a difference, although you may not be the most popular guy around. God Bless

Man, when your right your right! The stories that I could tell you about my ex-wife and hooking my son on this drug since he was two are unbelievable. Parents and teachers are not alone in this. Doctors who are prescribing this and other mind altering drugs are the number one problem. My ex-wife found a doctor in Miami that did "testing" on my son only by giving him some blocks to assemble, and when my son started looking around instead of putting all of the blocks in place that was it, instant A.D.H.D. Oh yeah, this boy was not only A.D.D. He was hyper as well.(here's a clue HE'S TWO YEARS OLD!!) Needless to say this eventually lead to our divorce, but to make matters worse, there are judges out there who believe this crap also, so I did not get custody. He's now 15 and my Ex-wife and I have another court appointment to settle this issue.

AND NOW --- INTRODUCING YOU TO “ODD!”

This will be the next great fad disease for school age children. Oppositional Defiance Disorder. The “ODD child” is a child that gets angry or frustrated and defies authority. In other words … a child. He argues with adults, he loses his temper, he has a negative attitude, he blames others for his mistakes. Teachers.net has a chatboard discussing this grand new disease. One post by a teacher says: “Today was a really bad day. I have been teaching grade seven for four years and today was the first time I was called a "Whore," by a kid who has Oppositional Defiance Disorder.”

Stand by folks, this is soon going to become a full-fledged disease and some drug company is going to develop some mind-altering drug that will make these kids compliant and passive. Oh man, are the parents going to love this one. Here’s a link on this new fad-disease so you can start getting your excuses ready. http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Valley/9346/odd.html

http://www.4troubledteens.com/odd.html

ADEQUATE DICIPLINE DEFICIENCY

There’s been quite a firestorm of controversy on the show since I started talking about the various experts who are debunking the ADD/ADHD craze. We had Dr. Bob Jackobs, a psychologist, telling a youth conference in Queensland, Australia that there has never been any proof that ADHD exists. Then there was neurologist Dr. Fred Baughman Jr. who, in a 1998 letter to Attorney General Janet Reno called ADHD “the single biggest health care fraud in U.S. history.” This has all been very unsettling to parents who have decided that drugging is certainly easier than parenting when it comes to controlling the behavior of their children. These parents really know that ADD stands for “Adequate Dicipline Deficiency.”

But, alas! There are many parents out there who have been unable to find a doctor or a shrink who will write that invaluable Ritalin prescription. Wow! You poor saps have actually had to deal with your children being … children!

Well, maybe there’s hope. There’s a new disease on the horizon out there. It’s called ODD! Oppositional Defiance Disorder? With any luck, your child may have this nifty new disease! As a public service, here is some help diagnosing your very own child to see if they might have ODD! The symptoms are:

Arguing with adults. Losing temper. Angry or resentful of others. Actively defies adult’s request or rules. Negative attitude Blames others for their own mistakes misbehavior Seems touchy or easily annoyed by others Deliberately annoys others Acts spiteful or vindictive. The psychiatrists are telling us that if your child displays four or more of the above traits … you may be a winner! You may have a child with ODD! Now you don’t have to feel so left out when the neighborhood moms get together to discuss their children’s afflictions. Looking at that list again, I would suggest that if your child doesn’t display at least four of those traits, he’s probably in a coma on a respirator.

Now … the really good news! The Psychiatric Alliance of the Blue Ridge is studying an “investigational medication” that may help children with ODD! So, in the very near future you may not only be able to discuss your child’s hideous new disease, you may actually be able to DRUG him!

[FourPeas]

And, another thing....school (education?) is soooo boring to boys who have been programmed to expect change every 3 - 5 seconds (TV).......what do people expect?

I agree that, in general, children watch way too much television and that the programs foster short attention spans. That's one of the reasons I don't allow my children to watch Sesame Street, with all of its short, constantly changing subject matter.

Given that, my oldest son has difficulty concentrating. He watches precious little TV -- less than 30 minutes on the average day. Regularly, he doesn't watch TV for several days at a time. Both he and his brother haven't seen any in the past two weeks.

Also, we homeschool, so he doesn't have to sit still as in a traditional school setting. Still, he had difficulting concentrating, even in a quiet room.

Do I think ADD/ADHD is over diagnosed? Yes. Still there are children like my son who don't eat lots of sugar or caffein, who don't watch lots of TV, who get lots of exercise, who are spanked when they need it, who have two loving parents living in the same hhome, one of whom stays at home fulltime, who still exhibit the symptoms of ADD/ADHD.

[Houmatt]

You lose buddy.

What did I lose? I did not know I was in competition for anything.

[iranger]

LOL...only it appears I'm the one not under the influence.

[Al B.]

One of the symptoms of ADD/ADHD is the tendency to hyperfocus on repetitive tasks,.....

Nowhere in the list of DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for ADHD does anything remotely like this appear....nowhere.

Furthermore, plug in the term "ADHD" to Medline and you get 7,460 responses. Plug in "ADHD AND hyperfocusing" and you get ZERO responses.

You people just make this stuff up.

[Zavien Doombringer]

Certain ethnic groups (including American Indians) are severely allergic to milk

Intersting that you mention milk, isn't a dairy allergen been suspect in Autism? Also to note, Humans are the only creatures on earth that drink milk after weaning...why? We can get calcium from other sources.

[Zavien Doombringer]

A least on this message board :)

We are all influenced by something that intoxicates us...power, prestiege, money, beauty, etc...all is vanity!

[thoughtomator]

The proper, responsible way to handle a milk allergy is to not drink milk. If the ADD philosophy were applied to such a person, they would be force-fed milk, then force-fed allergy symptom treatments.

I'm reminded of the old joke, where the guy goes to his doctor and says, "Doc, it hurts when I do this." To which the doctor replies, "Well, don't do this!"

The burden of proof belongs on the people who are giving mind-altering drugs to children. It's not a proven case - there's not even a plausible case that can withstand the most basic common-sense scrutiny.

It's a scam and a crime and the people responsible for it should be condemned by society and the law.

[GovernmentShrinker]

Don't be too quick to believe the "severely underweight" label. Before Americans started routinely stuffing themselves and their kids with junky and highly processed foods, and spending half their lives in front of various screens, people, and especially kids, were a lot thinner. is her body fat at least 8% (tested by a reliable method -- not just a caliper test)? If so, don't worry about it. I used to coach gymnastics, and noted that in most cases the scrawniest kids were the strongest, healthiest, and brightest. The dramatic drop in age of puberty for girls has been attributed in large part by most researchers to increased body fat in modern girls. Do you REALLY want to deal with childhood ADD and normal adolescent insanity at the same time? Seriously, unless a really good DOCTOR (not a "nutritionist") says that your daughter's weight is so low as to be a real medical problem, I'd just relax and let her be skinny.

[Zavien Doombringer]

I agree that, in general, children watch way too much television

Believe it or not, We didn't have a television in our house until a year ago, then I subscribed to Sattelite TV, Sky Angel...For 12 years, there wasn't a television, I didn't miss a thing. I had teachers threaten me with child abuse because I was keeping something from my kids...

[iranger]

"Humans are the only creatures on earth that drink milk after weaning...why? We can get calcium from other sources."

Not only that, we're also the only creatures on earth that have figured out how to combine grain, yeast, water and hops to make beer. Why would we do that?

[GovernmentShrinker]

Perhaps the "proper" way to treat ADD is to take kids out of school at age 7-8 and put them to work 12 hours a day on farms and in factories. Trouble is, this just doesn't work in a modern economy, and we're just not prepared as a society to go back to the days of no cars, no computers, no sophisticated medical diagnostics, etc. Hopefully, a non-drug solution can be found, but in the meantime drugs may be the best answer for a lot of children and adults.

[goodnesswins]

I'm not saying ADD does NOT exist.....and I applaud you for your discipline with your children....they and you will be rewarded.

[clamper1797]

And so is autism, further supporting my amateur theory that real ADD is related to the autistic spectrum disorders (the reality of which no sane person is challenging). That is possible. The fact that an ADHD person can focus on repetative activities is VERY true. I can throw darts or horseshoes by myself for 8+ hours and not know that that much time has past (made me real good with darts and horseshoes over the years) ... but try to focus on a non-repetative task for any great length of time takes GREAT self disipline.

[Zavien Doombringer]

I am not worried, she is healthy. Even though she looks like an auschwitz victim, she is a gymnist, loves the uneven bars...Her older brother (14yrs) I call him 2%, not an ounce of fat on him and he is deathly strong, more so than his older brother (16) and he lifts! I was skinny in high school, 6'3" at 155lbs (30 inch waist!) until I got comfortable in marriae :) (250)

[GovernmentShrinker]

Where is the proof of now-or-never learning milestones?

Do some research. The age limits for good reading and fluent foreign language acquisition are very well established.

[FourPeas]

The oddest thing is that neither boy seems to miss the TV that much. They lost their TV priviledge when they lost something after being thoroughly reminded to be careful with it. As soon as they find the lost object, they can watch TV again (on a limited basis, of course. Both boys have been able to find plenty to keep them occupied. Asside from the lost object, I'm pleased.

[FeliciaCat]

I wonder how many kids that are diagnosed with ADD are from single family homes (ie; just mom....before I get flamed, I know there are many valid reasons for having to raise your child alone)I am curious as it seems like little boys are more likely to be diagnosed then girls (am I wrong here?) and perhaps I wonder how the lack of a male figure in the house plays into this..if at all.

[Zavien Doombringer]

I agree that, in general, children watch way too much television

We are also the same ones that rolled a weed and smoked it, why would we do that...who are truely the smarter creatures?

[Zavien Doombringer]

I wonder how the lack of a male figure in the house plays into this..if at all.

Perhaps in some cases this may be an attribute, but not in my daughters