Neal Boortz and ADD

www.boortz.com ^ | various | Neal Boortz

[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!

[Zavien Doombringer]

Careful, the Supreme Judge is judging you as type.

And? I am not in fear :)

[Sloth]

What the school doesn't tell the parent is that the child's school record follws him eternally. Prospective employers will all know that the kid was drugged in order to function.

Nonsense.

[GovernmentShrinker]

While I believe that 90%+ of ADD diagnoses may be incorrect, looking to history to disprove its reality doesn't hold water. There is a great deal of evidence to suggest a connection between our modern, information-based society, and problematic effects of ADD. In other words, it has probably always existed, but caused little trouble in societies where most people earned their livings via manual labor, and few were expected to spend much time at "book-learning".

Just 150-200 years ago in this country, most boys attended school only sporadically (often only for a couple of months in the dead of winter), and rarely beyond the age of 14-15. They were needed to perform manual labor on the family farm, or to take manual labor jobs in industry to help support their families and themselves.

[widowithfoursons]

Any PI (or curious person) could get this stuff in a heartbeat, regardless of the law. And don't forget that five years inhibits college admission as well as a HS grad who wants to get a job.

[Sloth]

My wife has ADHD. It is a real disorder, even though it is ridiculously overdiagnosed. Without Ritalin, my wife is so scatter-brained that she has difficulty holding a job.

[widowithfoursons]

Ahhh, facts would be nice.

[Zavien Doombringer]

I would have to agree that adults can still suffer from this. Some learn to live with it. In my daughters case, she will grow out of it, by the time she is 15, she should be fine. She is 10 now, and has been diagnost when she was 7.

[Sloth]

They sure would, anytime you want to start supplying some.

[GovernmentShrinker]

That's an important point. One of the symptoms of ADD/ADHD is the tendency to hyperfocus on repetitive tasks, like video games, i.e. get quickly and completely "lost" in the task, and forget about other things that one really wants to do, and be genuinely oblivious to outside stimuli (someone calling your name, the sound of the phone ringing, the smell of smoke from burning food on the stove, etc.). This pattern bears an eerie similarity to a common symptom of autistic spectrum disorders.

[widowithfoursons]

You said "nonsense". Look at the response about how the military rejects a person because of psychotropic drug use. That would be a "fact". Where are your facts?

[amarok]

I can sympathize. I need a little "help" to better focus when attending meetings; otherwise, I tend to zone out and lose track of what's going on.

[snopercod]

You're unable to spell the name of the drug your child is taking?

[Zavien Doombringer]

I can sympathize. I need a little "help" to better focus when attending meetings; otherwise, I tend to zone out and lose track of what's going on.

I do that too, but I think on my part it's because of the lack of sleep at night :)

[GovernmentShrinker]

Actually, what I've heard about the diet connection hasn't been "hardly eating at all", but rather a reaction to common dietary garbage like too much sugar and refined starch and certain artificial colorings and other additives -- in other words, things that aren't good for anybody, but seem to cause greater than usual trouble for some ADD kids. I'm no expert on this, but there is a great deal of solid info on it available on the Internet.

[modern_orthodox]

I have long been saying ADD is just an excuse for bad behavior. And then Neal Boortz comes along and validates it.

Neal Boortz ranting about something on the radio doesn't "validate" it in any sense of the word. The only standard that should be in play here is scientific research.

[brianl703]

Do you expect me to believe that, in our litigious society, a school district would release records against written policy?

As far as jobs go, I have never had an employer until now who so much as checked if I had an HS diploma, let alone get a copy of my records to see that I didn't do so well in 11th grade chemistry...

[brianl703]

Scratch policy, I'm pretty sure it's law.

[Zavien Doombringer]

You're unable to spell the name of the drug your child is taking?

Does that make me a bad parent, or are you trying to discredit the fact my daughter is taking the meds? I acknowledged the fact I don't know the spelling, I am not a pharm tech, but I do know it sounds like ADERAL,and looks like in capsule form, dark beige/brown... I give it to her every morning at 7:15 am...

[mouse_35]

I believe it is spelled Adderall.

[Zavien Doombringer]

Well, I don't kow what she is eating at school, but at home, we don't have that "garbage" in the house. Accationally potato chips and Lil'Debbie cakes (for school lunches for the older guys)
I will be doing that research. I hate having to give her the meds