First, what do you know about what is happening in a million households besides your own? And I believe YYZ used the phrase "That's just one little example"
Thanks for LisaAnn and neverdem for the link. One of my 3 kids also has it, but we're not medicating them, we home school and are teaching them organizational and behavior habits before we ever would give them medication. That's something I'd advise anyone with this condition: Learn good habits, go as far as you can with good habits; don't blame others; and don't get lazy with dependence on medication. Good habits and reasonable medication can probably help quite a bit.
Let's just say I find it beyond plausible that a brand-new disorder should suddenly emerge in millions of people, and almost exclusively in one very diverse country, when it had never been mentioned before in the history of the human race, and a much more plausible explanation - that teachers and parents use this as a method of making children more susceptible to control, and as an excuse for their own failures - is staring us in the face.
Oh, and this all happens at right about the time that all these neat-o pharmaceuticals are made to treat it, and an exploding psychology industry needs a justification for its existence.
Sorry, I just don't buy it. Some kids have real problems, but ADD/ADHD is not one of them.
Continue to Not Medicate them.
Contrary to what popular opinion is, ritalin, and it's brood....will leave your child with a sweet tooth for narcotics later in life. God help them if they ever fall into methamphetamines. Ahhh, that calm surreal childhood feeling.
Personal experience, and opinion...but you're doing the right thing.