Neal Boortz and ADD

www.boortz.com ^ | various | Neal Boortz

[thoughtomator]

Even I'll grant the possibility that a few hundred or maybe a few thousand of these cases are real. But the enormous outrage staring us in the face is the millions of children who are diagnosed with it for other reasons. This is millions. Millions. Children. Citizens of the United States of America. Being drugged into submission. How can you consider the escape of moral relativism when faced with these truths? Even the people who swear ADD/ADHD is real admit these facts. It's no joke, and we're all in agreement that it is happening.

Where's the outrage? This abhorrent practice must end!

[FourPeas]

I actually tried limiting dairy products (and certain kinds of meats and preservatives and artificial colors and...) with no results.

Until quite recently, I was fervent in my opinion that ADD/ADHD was a sham. I was convinced of it. Living with and watching my son changed my mind. There's something different about him as has been for years (and he's only five). Diet, disclipline and all the other touted "cures" haven't had any effect.

We have found that he needs help sleeping. Again we tried lots of stuff and think we've finally found something that works. It has helped his concentration abilities but certainly has eliminated the whole problem. We'll keep at it, knocking down the obstacles as we can identify them.

My husband also has difficulty with concentration and impulsiveness that recently reared its ugly head when he removed caffein from his diet. He's tried lots of things over the years to help him concentrate with little success. Frankly, I'm done with all the supposed diet cures. I'm not ready to use prescription medications, yet, but I *do* believe they can help.

[FourPeas]

NO, but could stretch those apron-strings a bit...
Human touch and the nuture of a mother can never be replaced by a TV, the behavior patterns are certainly different. Mom doesn't equal violence.

It must be all the multi-tasking, but I'm afraid I don't get your gist.

[luckystarmom]

In my son's first 2 years of life, I was at home, played with him, etc. Then the twins were born. We watched a lot more TV after that. I didn't focus on any of the kids for long. It was hectic and crazy.

My son's attention span is poor, and my twin daughter's have great attention spans.

[FourPeas]

My situation sounds similar. My oldest had me to himself for the first 21 months of his life. We read, played, talked and almost never watched TV. When we did watch it was something like Mr. Rogers Neighborhood. Even then, he was high-needs.

My younger son, who has always had to share his attention with his hyperactive older brother shows no sign of trouble focusing. Actually, it was living with him that convinced me something was different about my oldest son.

[luckystarmom]

I'm not one of those that says ADD/ADHD doesn't exist. I do think it is over-diagnosed.

I also know that I had a psychologist that recommended medicating my daughter with brain damage for behavior problem the first time I ever talked to her. I never saw that psychologist again, and I didn't medicate my daughter. The behavior problems are now better.

I also know of people that Ritalin is the first thing they do. They don't get a second opinion. They don't try alternative solutions to drugs. They don't test them to see if they have dyslexia or some other learning disability.

The thing is their kids are also able to read and do math. I look at their kids, and I can't see any problems. The parents mainly complain about the kids not being able to complete homework.

My daughter's problems are so obvious compared to these kids. She can't say most 3 syllable words, and she is 6. She can't say many sounds like k/g sounds. She has terrible tantrums when she is tired. Her writing is not very strong because her muscles are weaker than they should be.

I think my daughter is mild compared to some of the other special ed kids. She can talk. She's learning to read and write. She's not in a wheel chair. She's doesn't have Austism. She's not suffering from seizures.

I know that ADHD exists. It also exist in addition to other problems. I am not denying that. However, until there is a better test that can definitely identify it, lots of kids are going to be mis-diagnosed.

My other problem is that kids that I don't think have ADD/ADHD are then qualifying for services through the schools. Well, this is a drain to the kids that really do need services.

[GovernmentShrinker]

Yes, it's tough decision, best made by parents and the child's doctors, after carefully considering all the pros and cons in light of the child's individual situation. There's no one-size-fits-all answer, and much more research is clearly needed. And teachers and school administrators who try to push medication should be fined and imprisoned for practicing medicine without a license.

I don't think there's any solid evidence of later psychiatric problems caused by Ritalin, though; just speculation. Most of the anecdotal reports of kids who flipped out while on Ritalin, involved kids who had serious psychiatric problems before being put on Ritalin, and in many cases were also taking other psychoactive drugs at the same time. The more plausible risks are subtle neurological changes that might result from medication during the childhood growth years.

[GovernmentShrinker]

I think hypoglycemia may be a common cause of ADD symptoms. In my case, sticking to a high-protein high-fat diet definitely helps, but by no means solves the whole problem. However, I wouldn't be surprised if it IS the whole problem in many cases of children who are eating a typical American schoolkid diet. Somewhere along the line, while permissive child-rearing philosophies in general were taking over, the idea that children's food choices and amounts should be strictly controlled by adults got thrown out the window. The garbage that I had unfettered access to, even in the lunchrooms of good private schools, just horrifies me when I look back on it.

[SauronOfMordor]

One big change between, say, the 1950's and now is the amount of highly-processed food we eat, and the amount of sugar and corn-syrup that's put into it. That's gotta do a number on people's blood-sugar levels, as well as contributing to obesity.

[TenthAmendmentChampion]

The really insidious part of this diagnosis is that the child internalizes all of this and often goes through life believing he is somehow "less" than other kids. My step-daughter believes to this day that she is ADHD, even though she can sit at a computer for hours typing on chat rooms. She and her sister were both given Ritalin, and her husband takes it now, too. This whole thing reminds me of the "Soma" drug in Brave new World.

[TheWillardHotel]

Maybe the Doctors can find a pill for you to swallow to alleviate your aggression?

[TheWillardHotel]

Invective is a response to stress I can accept.

Making you kid swallow a psychotropic drug because he has "ants in his pants" is immoral.

[Conservababe]

The ADD scam is a crime and a moral people have an obligation to see it stopped. What kind of society says a 20-year old adult can't drink a beer, but it's just fine to give amphetamines to millions of children?

The kind of society that has given government workers free reign to establish the norms for children, thus insuring their own jobs and an endless supply of monies from the federal, state and local government?

[Al B.]

The really insidious part of this diagnosis is that the child internalizes all of this and often goes through life believing he is somehow "less" than other kids.

Well said. In fact, some of the most prominent ADHD and drug proponents practically celebrate this in their writings. Russell Barkley (conspicuously quoted by Michael Fumento in his article defending the "science" behind ADHD in post #17) says in one of his books, "there is, in fact, something wrong with these children."  [my emphasis]  One prominent ADHD advocate has published a book for ADHD kids and tells them their brains are broken!  But not to worry she says, their brains  can be "fixed" just like a broken car.  This book is very well-known and is in the school library of every elementary school here in my large suburban school district in Texas.

To each his own, I guess, but personally I don't see how you can do that to children.  ADHD/Ritalin advocates who proclaim themselves to be mental health "experts" don't seem to have a problem with it, though.

[clamper1797]

That being said, the other extreme is just as bad as well. My dad hated those non-disciplining parents, and he went to the other extreme and found a way to put blame on me for every issue/trouble I had.

Exactly ... it took some years of adult maturity to get over the feeling of no matter what one does or accomplishes ... it is not enough to please Dad. But I have even forgiven him. Of course I havn't talked to him in almost 15 years. Those of you who believe that harsh displine is the answer to ADHD... that's probably going to be your well deserved fate.

Oh and I too believe that doping kids is not the answer ... but it's a whole LOT better than beating them for something they CANNOT control without YEARS of maturity and understanding.

[clamper1797]

I have something you can swallow ... jerk

[clamper1797]

BTW I read your .... hahahahaha ... profile it reflects the depth and substance of your "intellect"

[Paul C. Jesup]

You obviously do not know what ADD is as apposed to ADHD.

Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) is where the child is quiet, polite, has the attention span of a gnat and daydreams all day.

ADD is quite the opposite of what is called ADHD.

[drjimmy]

Russell Barkley (conspicuously quoted by Michael Fumento in his article defending the "science" behind ADHD in post #17) says in one of his books, "there is, in fact, something wrong with these children." [my emphasis]
That's incredible. The next thing you know, doctors will be saying there's something wrong with kids who have cystic fibrosis, or who are deaf, or who have a broken leg. Thank goodness folks like you are around who know more "science" than these quacks.

[tutstar]

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