Posted on 04/01/2013 11:51:57 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
One in five high school boys and 11% of schoolkids overall have received an ADHD diagnosis, according to new data from the CDC. The data also shows two-thirds of children diagnosed with ADHD are prescribed stimulants like Adderall (above) and Ritalin. About 6.4 million children have received an ADHD diagnosis at some point — an increase of 16% since 2007 and 53% in the past decade.
One in five high school boys and 11% of all schoolkids in the U.S. have been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, according to new data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Two-thirds of kids who are diagnosed are prescribed stimulants like Adderall and Ritalin, the data also showed.
The findings come from a cellphone and landline survey of more than 76,000 parents between February 2011 and June 2012.
ADHD is characterized by difficulty paying attention, maintaining focus on tasks and controlling impulsive behaviors. Other symptoms include frequent daydreaming, squirming or fidgeting, and talking out of turn. It is usually diagnosed in childhood, though it can continue into adulthood, and boys are more frequently diagnosed than girls.
The American Psychiatric Association estimates in its current diagnostic manual that 3 to 7% of children have ADHD, though other studies have calculated higher rates. Children's health experts reacted to the new CDC data with surprise and concern.
(Excerpt) Read more at nydailynews.com ...
Stop letting facts get in the way of a good Free Republic lynching...
No
There really is no such thing as ADD. You have been lied to... does your son focus on anything?
ADD is not a neurological disorder. CAPD is a neurological disorder. ADD is a made up disagnois.
Then he doesn’t have a focusing problem, he has a boredom problem. Schools are written to cater to girls and to reject boys.
There’s also other factors, such as the parents doing a poor job of teaching the children that it’s good to go to bed early and wake up early, and to do all your work so you do well in school. Parents that don’t really care, plus teachers that shouldn’t be around children made a pretty bad mixture. I had a teacher that terrorized me the whole school year for no reason. Add to it other students being jerks to me, which always caused me to get in trouble without any questions as to why I was out of my seat.
Just saying, it’s not always some manufactured disease.
Go home Truth2012, you’re drunk.
What percentage are raised by strangers?
I know it’s tough out there economically, but would the stats be different if mom stayed home with the kids during the early years?
True, but my wife bout went postal when our daughter had to have C-section on first child . Doctor told my daughter as she was about to do the C-section, “On the next one, you can plan to have it when you want.” Yeah, more like when it doesn’t interfere with the doctor’s golf game.
I’m wondering when some state will finally have enough of this nonsense and prohibit prescription of these drugs to minors by doctors outside of very, very strict criteria.
Note that this is already being done in a way in New York City, by restricting the dispensing of opioid drugs at city hospitals. But this would take it further.
It is generally required that an MD, DO, PA, OD, DPM, NMD, ND, DVM, DDS, or DMD, some Psychologists, clinical pharmacists, Nurse Practitioners and other APRNs can write prescriptions.
However, because states license all of these professionals, it seems that the states should be able to limit what drugs can be legally prescribed to children, by requiring much more than just “because” as a reason.
My son, whose IQ is definitely a genius, says its a good thing he isn't in school now, they'd drug him. Very bright, very bored boys have a short attention span. Its extra work for the teachers, who do not want deal with them. It also can come across as savant or something like that because they learn so quickly and so differently from the norm.
The saving grace for my son was a teacher (private school) in the third grade, who would tell the school system that he would delay his retirement a year if he could teach 4th grade, then 5th grade and so on through 8th grade. He taught my son all those years, found the extra work, spent the time. He was a REAL teacher.
My sister's oldest was diagnosed as ADHD and medicated until his senior year in high school. I kept telling her that he was NOT ADHD just a normal boy (I would keep him in the summer when he was unmedicated). I also kept telling her I thought his problem was dyslexia. Sure enough, in his senior year, they retested him --- dyslexic.
ADD and ADHD is just too easy - give them a pill and the problem goes away - at least for the teacher. Certainly not for the boy.
“A gram is better than a damn.”
My daughter was diagnosed as hyper-active. Our peds doc said he didn't drug kids - Moms maybe, but not kids. He recommended a book that recommended a diet, The Feingold Diet. No preservatives, no food dyes, no processed sugars. It meant no soft drinks, sweets only on important occasions, fresh or frozen vegetables. Worked great for her and for us as a family. The kids had perfect teeth. The hyperactivity was controlled. She did well in school. The kids were outrageously healthy, seldom coming down with all the stuff going around at school. The diet was a blessing in so many ways.
Alright, well maybe some other hobby which requires math that is fun too. Building RC cars, or model rockets (if that is even still legal), something like that. I ended up on the Math Team in school, not because I particularly liked math, but because I got so fast at doing arithmetic in my head from playing pen & paper RPG’s. If I hadn’t had a fun hobby that made math necessary to me, then I wouldn’t have developed that skill.
A.D.D. stands for Attention Deficit hey lets go ride bikes!
I have taught for almost 8 years at the elementary level. I cannot tell you how many kids have come through my class that were on adhd medicine. Of those, I can count exactly 2 that, in my non medical opinion, benefited from the medication in a way thay actually helped them to focus and perform better in school. I also cannot tell you how many times parents have tried to get me to “diagnose” their children so that they could take that recomendation to some quack doctor somewhere in order to get their kid put on meds. I refused to do it every single time. I tell them that I am not a doctor and only a medical professional can make that determination. Apparently, they do receive some kind of gov’t money if their kids are labeled adhd and they also receive free breakfast and lunch at school. Over 80% of the kids at my school eat free. It’s all about the money and not having to actually parents their children.
As for teachers not wanting to deal with unruly kids, most of the ones that I have known understand the difference between normal rambunctious kids who just need a chance to get rid of some extra enery and kids who are actually detrimental to others who are trying to learn. My principal said once that when she taught in the classroom her classes consisted of about 30 kids without discipline problems. I said, “Yeah, but y’all were allowed to whoop their little behinds when they got out of control. “ She saw my point.
My wife is now a school teacher and feels for parents not wanting to medicate, but also sees that parents do not want to do what is necessary to prevent medication- i.e., work your ass off with your kid. They just want the school to fix.
So my wife is in a peculiar position seeing the positives of medication when she was adamantly opposed to it for our son!
I think you are very much closer to the truth than you realize. Teachers in a vast majority of classrooms today...can't touch the kid let alone look at them the "wrong way." If appropriate types of discipline have been removed from both teachers and parents.... what else does that leave?
Wow.....hadn’t thought about it that way, but I’ll bet you are correct.
Corn
Wheat
Milk
Chocolate
Food coloring
Artificial sweeteners
Hormones
Fast-paced TV
Interesting. I wonder how many of the ADHD-diagnosed boys live in cities, where enough exercise is hard to get.
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