Need For Ritlin Rooted In Lax Parenting

IOL ^ | 7-22-2003

[blam]

Need for Ritalin rooted in lax parenting?

July 22 2003 at 04:45AM

London - Hundreds of thousands of children prescribed the anti-hyperactivity drug Ritalin may simply be victims of lax parenting, new evidence suggests.

The work of a British expert has cast doubt on the existence of such conditions as Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and will fuel controversy over the spiralling use of Ritalin.

Behavioural expert Warwick Dyer claims parents need to accept more blame for their children's "disorders" and move away from the chemical cosh of prescription drugs.

In a remarkable breakthrough he has developed a programme that focuses on the way parents behave towards their children - and has claimed a 100 percent pass rate in five years.

'Parenting is not a democracy' Incredibly, he does not see the child involved and has only one face-to-face consultation with the parents. The rest of his work is limited to a daily telephone briefing with the parents on how to treat their child.

Dyer's theory is based on simple ideas such as a rigid system of sanctions for bad behaviour and rewards for good behaviour, with an insistence on politeness towards parents - and a demand that mothers and fathers control their tempers as well.

"I'm open-minded about whether ADD exists, but what is certainly clear is that a lot of symptoms ascribed to such disorders are easily confused with basic behavioural problems that don't need to be treated with a drug," Dyer said.

"Parenting is not a democracy. You need to give your child what they want - love and attention - but on your terms, not theirs."

One in 10 children is diagnosed with ADD or the related Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

'The problem is that a lot of parents simply aren't being parents' Ritalin is an amphetamine with a potency similar to cocaine. Prescription in Britain has soared one hundredfold in 10 years.

In 1990, only 3 000 children were on the drug. Today, 345 000 are taking it, costing the National Health Service more than £3-million (about R36-million) a year. The drug is being given to children as young as 18 months.

Now a growing lobby of parents, doctors and other experts is questioning whether ADD or ADHD exist.

Dyer was a primary school teacher in the East End of London before he set up the Behaviour Change Consultancy. He sees around 30 families a year and claims his techniques work with everyone, from the youngest children to teenagers.

"The problem is that a lot of parents simply aren't being parents. In the past 20 years, parents have begun talking to their children more, but they have stopped being in control of them. Children are instinctively artful and will try to put themselves in control. I put the parents back in control."

[ctlpdad]

[Aquinasfan]

"Whole word" reading instruction ---> dyslexia ---> ADD ---> Ritalin

[First Amendment]

The whole Ritalin scam is a tragedy. This man definitely has a clue. Kids are little animals and need to be trained to become responsible human beings. That's why the need a mother and a FATHER. And with the current figures of one third of births in the US out-of-wedlock, it looks as though it'll be the decline of civilization if the trend doens't reverse.
I have a good friend who was dosed on Ritalin for years and it really screwed up her health. Anyone who gives their kids hard drugs is not doing the right thing.

[Teezme]

Nothing steers a kid in the right direction than a leather belt..... It did me right.

[netmilsmom]

>>That's why the need a mother and a FATHER<<

Amen to that!!!!
My older daughter was in a classroom of chaos. Out of 19 kids, 9 were problems or had special needs. The teacher said that because my girl could not finish work and was dreamy, she had ADD. Luckily, I worked for a Psychiatrist before I was married (who does not believe in drugging kids). I had him evaluate my daughter. When I announced to the teacher that she did not have ADD, it ended any special favors my daughter got. She was labeled a behavior problem. Although she left kindergarten with all "Outstandings" in her subjects, she was given "Needs Improvement" in behavior, enthusiasm and responsibility. I am now begging to get her into a classroom with more structure. (she also scored above the charts or 99% which is the highest she can get, on the TerraNova tests). This is a charter school. We have no other choice but to homeschool her & her sister should we have the same problems next year.

[austinTparty]

bumpity bump

[RonF]

"Parenting is not a democracy. You need to give your child what they want need - love and attention - but on your terms, not theirs."

"The problem is that a lot of parents simply aren't being parents. In the past 20 years, parents have begun talking to their children more, but they have stopped being in control of them. Children are instinctively artful and will try to put themselves in control. I put the parents back in control."

Other than the one quibble I've put in there, I agree wholeheartedly. My perspective is as a Scouter who's in charge of other people's children in an environment where they have knives, axes, saws, burn fires, boil water, etc. And where they have to do unpleasant jobs like wash dishes and pots, etc. I see so many kids devoid of discipline, who are unfamiliar with the concept of "No, you can't", who are defiant, disobedient, and uncaring of anyone but themselves. They aren't bad kids. They've got inattentive parents who don't understand that you can't be your kids' parent AND their best friend.

[ctlpdad]

You do not have a kid with this problem, obviously.

I do. I also have 3 others who do not have ADHD. I would be remiss if i did not do my best for her. I have helped her in every way I humanly can trying to avoid the meds, but she clearly has a chemical imbalance that is overcome by the ritalin (now she gets a different med that works well also)

As you can see by the joke jpg I posted, i believe the training aspect mentioned in post #3 is correct, but in some (NOT 30% of U.S. kids) cases, medication is not only warrened but necessary for the childs survival and well being. Ritalin can be a godsend when all else fails.

[Grig]

There is no question that Ritalin is over prescribed and used as an easy out from the normal challenges of raising children, but that doesn't mean there is no such thing as ADD.

I am anything but lax in my parenting, and I have a lot of experience working with kids of all ages, but my son has a rather severe case of ADD. We did everything we could to find some other cause for his problems, but in the end it came down to a choice between putting him on Ritalin or denying him a chance of getting a decent education

Anyone who wants to write off all parents of ADD kids as sub-standard is ignorant.

[First Amendment]

I wish there were more parents like you. Then civilization has a chance! BTW, I homeschooled my kids most of the time - and this was 25 years ago when it was actually illegal in many states. Plus I was divorced, which made it difficult. I made many mistakes, but I found that teaching kids is really not hard. The parent just has to be interested in what they're teaching and the kids will naturally be interested too. I didn't even graduate from high school, so it takes no special training!
And the nonsense about "socialization" is just nonsense. There are plenty of ways for kids to learn how to get along with people that are much better than being herded with a gang of same-age kids, many of whom are ill-trained and ill-behaved.
I've noticed that homeschooled kids are almost without exception much more polite and balanced and respectful than other kids.

[Evil Inc]

I believe a small per cent of ADHD kids are valid. Most are just undisciplined little monsters that have the mama wrapped around their fingers. Failure to discipline should be a crime, subjecting people to your little monsters is far worse than cigarette smoke. I hate watching mamas debating with their 2 year olds,,,and losing the argumnent in a big old feminine swoon of how cute it is to be a brat. Time out my butt.

[netmilsmom]

There are children who NEED some kind of medication to overcome problems.
The biggest problem with the medication of some children is that they don't have a chemical imbalance, they have parents who are too busy working or going to aerobics to pay attention to them.
1.) When I worked for a Psych, we called Paxil, Prozac and Zoloft "candy meds". For those that had a true problem with Seratonin reuptake, they were great, but family doctors were prescribing them to anyone who walked in a little blue. Ritalin is prescribed the same way.
2.) A boy in my daughter's kindergarten was on Ritalin. He was fine in the morning, around 1:00pm he was off the wall. At 1:30 he got his med, at 2:30 he was asleep and the parents carried him out every day. He was nice and calm at home.

Here are the problems. Your child does not fall into either catagory. There is a reason why Ritalin was discovered, but now it is over used.

[netmilsmom]

Why thank you!
You sound like you worked some miracles yourself!

[joesnuffy]

In my home town the biggest proponent of druggin school kids was one of the school board member's wife....

She logged in at about 500 lbs and spent most of her life chowing and sleeping...her own four kids were a bother to her...so in order to have the life of leisure she wanted she had them "diagnosed" by a drug pusher shrink...and then became the cities biggest advocate of "ADD" diagnoses and drugging kids

By the time she her hubby and their idiot friends got done...they had teachers doing the diagnosing and social workers in the grade schools rubber stamping the teachers diagnosis and their drug friendly Ritalin Pimp MD writing scripts like a madman....

A first grade teach targeted a friend of mine's daugter...the poor kid was a ping pong ball in a bad divorce...so she was labled ADD ..my friend worked in mental health and also had a non drug pushing Psychiatrist boss who un-diganosed the kid overruling the amatuers (teacher-social workers and MobyDickless)

They next targeted the little girl as a behavior problem...(revenge for having their authority challenged imo)

Today and now a teen...& drug free -the girls grades are vastly improved...she has matured emotionally sans drugs and is an excellent athlete..with a real heart for the younger kids and those going through divorce...I think she is do an outstanding job in whatever field she chooses and make a good mom someday...

No thanks to any teachers social workers or Ritalin pimps

[clamper1797]

Nothing steers a kid in the right direction than a leather belt..... It did me right.

Maybe it worked for you ... are you ADD ... if you're not then your example means squat because ADD children are wired DIFFERENT than a normal child and react DIFFERENTLY. I am ADD and I'm 52 years old now. My father NEVER spared the rod ... all it did was to drive me away (on the street since I was 15) so we have not had a close relationship to this day. A year in Vietnam and my own determination is all that saved me.

I'm successful IN SPITE of my fathers heavy handedness.

[GrandMoM]

When I announced to the teacher that she did not have ADD, it ended any special favors my daughter got. ....I confronted the teacher when every paper my son brought home had a derogatory remark on it even when he got 100% correct.

I said that there must be a personality conflict between the two and if she felt she couldn't rememdy it, I would gladly go to the principal and have him moved.

Guess what, things changed real fast. Of course that was quiet some time ago, but, working with the teachers first, may eliminate problems early on.

It's not always the childs fault and I think she became worried when I mentioned the principal!

[opus86]

Good article. I've read similar sentiments from a columnist/family therapist named John Rosemond. IMHO there are a small percentage of kids with some sort of imbalance that must be addressed, but the figures I've heard about Ritalin usage are ridiculous. Parents do need to exorcise this idea that they must be a "pal" to their kid.

[GB]

I guess it's time to chime in with my personal story again. I have a son, he's 8 will be 9 in about a month, who was diagnosed ADD two years ago. He has been on meds since that time. And it's worked wonders.

FYI, he has never been a discipline problem, he's a typical boy of that age and has never given us anything we couldn't handle, so that's not why we put him on meds.

We put him on meds because in school, he was literally on his own planet with his own private area code and zip code and was simply unable to focus on the teacher or his work, or to stay on task. He would literally ... and I mean LITERALLY, it happened ... be distracted by a fly on the wall.

FYI again, we don't have our son in a government school, we're paying money we don't really have to send him to a private Christian school which is EXTREMELY structured, they do things the old-fashioned way like I remember from the '60s when I was in elementary school.

We weren't "ordered" or "told" to take our son to the psychiatrist and put him on meds, his teacher and the school principal asked for a meeting with us ... which opened and closed with prayer ... and laid out their reasons for thinking that we had a problem and told us that however we wanted to approach this, they'd be right there with us and would support us completely.

Our son has responded well to this. He makes good grades ... he's always tested out as extremely bright, so we knew the intelligence was there ... he's interacting with his peers better, is active in sports and church activities, loves music. In short, he's pretty much a normal child.

My wife and I had always said that we'd die and go to **** before we'd put our child on meds. This was not an easy decision. We investigated it and prayed about it before moving forward. And we don't regret it a second. The proof is in the results.

So while I agree that for some parents and teachers, drugging the kids is an easy way to make 'em behave. But I think it's unfair to apply a broad brush in this situation.

FYI, our child got off Ritalin this year and is now taking Strattera, a non-stimulant ADD drug which we're getting good results from. It's not a schedule drug or a psychostimulant like Ritalin. In our experience with Ritalin, it did kind of "sedate" our child a little more than we'd like, but the Strattera doesn't "slow him down" any, he's still the wiggly, playful child I described, but it appears to be doing a better job than Ritalin of keeping him on the same planet with everyone else.

[aberaussie]

I hope you will seriously consider homeschooling. We have homeschooled for 11 years and are really enjoying reaping the rewards. We have three teenagers and a nine yo and from what I see of them and the comparison to many of the kids we know who go to government schools, I have to say that I would not consider subjecting a child to the environment of government schools if I had any other choice. My kids are not perfect, but we are extremely happy with the choice we made.