Here is a revealing reply from the thread I posted in 2001:
Do you REALLY want to do someting?
I did my research when I lived in Virginia, and was called in to a parent-teacher conference regarding my (then) 1st-grade son.
I arrived and found the teacher AND the school psychologist in the meeting room. They began to talk with me about how my son doesn't seem to pay attention to what is being taught. They said he had ADD. At the time, I had no idea what that was, but it sounded bad.
They told me that it is a common condition, affecting nearly 30% of the students in their school alone, and millions of kids on a national level.
I was flummoxed! Where did this sudden condition come from? I've never heard of it, I said, and if it is such a rapidly-spreading condition, why is not the CDC involved?!
They handed me pamphlets on ADD and RITALIN and told me "not to worry."
I told them that I wanted to read up on ADD/RITALIN before agreeing to anything.
As I was leaving, I asked them: "Have you tested my son?"
"For what?" they asked.
"For intelligence. Perhaps he is not listening because he is bored with whatever it is you are teaching. I've been educating him since he was 2. He's pretty smart for his age."
"No, we haven't tested him."
"Well," I said, "While I go research this Ritalin/ADD, you prepare a comprehensive test for my son."
The next week, they tested him. 6 years old. 4th-grade math. 5th-grade reading. etc.
At the follow-up meeting they seemed embarrassed.
"We now understand 'part' of the reason why he might not be paying attention."
"Part?" I asked.
"We feel he should still be on Ritalin."
I'd had enough. I dropped my research in front of them.
"Where do you guys get your marching orders from?" I asked. "Who tells you to try placing all of these kids on Ritalin?"
They looked at each other, and the psychologist took over. "What do you mean? Nobody tells us to do anything!"
I told them to open my research folder and study it.
They read the evidence. This new school that my son was attending, was receiving over $425 of federal funds per student that could be labelled as having a "disability." RITALIN instantly places a child on that list. The school had roughly 1,000 students, and 30% of those kids had been corralled into forcing this DRUG into their CHILDREN for monetary purposes.
The school was making a profit. Off of children.
And it is not just that school. The secret was out.
I moved out of the state a month later. Have been homeschooling, and doing (of course) a much better job than I could ever expect from anyone else. My son is now a budding author, and has written several wonderful novels at the tender age of 13.
Parents - take the time and do the research at YOUR school. If your child has been asked to (or forced to) take Ritalin, you child may just be a pawn in a financial game of dice. They DO NOT TRULY CARE for your children. ALWAYS remember that.
21 posted on 12/29/2001 3:09:59 AM EST by ImaGraftedBranch
Great post subterfuge....I forgot about the government funding for this drug...very telling.
In the info packet they gave me when the school wanted my kid evaluated for getting Ritalin, buried among a hundred pages of legalese and psychobabble, was the tidbit that (in Pennsylvania) if I refused to get her evaluated, they had the option of petitioning to have her seen and evaluated WITHOUT my consent, during school hours. But first they had to get my signature on a form saying I declined to have her evaluated. Instead, the next day I put in the paperwork for homeschooling her. She's been doing great ever since