SHRINK SLAMS SCHOOL ‘PILL MILL' DISCIPLINE

New York Post ^ | 8/14/02 | DOUGLAS MONTERO

[kattracks]

August 15, 2002 -- A BRONX psychologist is charging that public-school educators are using local clinics as Ritalin "pill mills" to dispense medication to normal kids who don't need them.

A horrified Bernice Bauman, who runs the Independent Consultation Center, says that during the school year she sees about 10 to 15 parents and kids referred to her for Ritalin by school officials.

[IVote2]

"The Doctors insisted, that this was normal & to give it more time. They also wrote him a script for Ritalin & Paxil to be taken at the same time. (that's including the Wellbutrin) and then told me it was to balance the depression out."

Mind boggling! Two more hard core drugs to balance another one.

Parents are not told, Ritalin is speed!

Two of my boys were prescribed Ritalin years ago when learning disabilities first began to come to the schools and Doctor's attention.

My youngest son was 10 when we gave it to him. He became a nervous wreck. We took them both off the drug.

I am so glad you did the right thing for your son, you probably have saved him from a lifetime of problems. Kudos to you for being strong enough to disregard the "experts" advice.

[Rollee]

That is quite sad, but I have seen Ritalin kids who have grown into "adulthood". By that I mean ages 18-21. These kids have no ambition, use the "attention deficit" diagnosis to excuse their loser behavior. (I can't get a job because...I can't go to college because...I can't join the military because...). The kids I saw are about to go down the gangbanger road. They were all boys, by the way.

[Rollee]

You have renewed my faith in the young. My brother and his wife had a very similar experience as yours, took the same measures you did, and now their sons are a delight to be with. Thank you!

[George W. Bush]

It really would be helpful if some education activist would start a website with more information. Especially info on how parents can thwart an IEP and resist forced medication. I had an experience where some ditzy 3rd grade teacher was trying to force a friend's son into the whole ADHD/Ritalin experience. The real truth was an undisciplined classroom and an active boy. I helped the parents write a letter to her principal that stopped the entire thing dead in its tracks.

If you stand up to them, it's very hard for them to prevail if there is no criminal activity involved. Parents need more info on how to intimidate the schools when they try to force children onto methamphetamines like Ritalin.

Ritalin is one of the top four abused drugs in America. There is a substantial black market trade in it with many kids pocketing their dose and selling it. The schools aren't even capable of distributing it safely.

[InvisibleChurch]

When my son was in K-garten, his teacher told us he was suffering from Fragile-X Syndrome. She said she read about it in a magazine. It's sick that any 'teaching professional' would dare to diagnose a child that way.

My son is just fine, btw.

[Sacajaweau]

Interesting how the majority of us see the same thing in what is going on and no matter how you put it, it's called drugging our kids.

Remember the "terrible twos"...we all decided we would live through it...watched them like a hawk while they began to explore the world. We put locks on the cellar doors, plugs in the electrical outlets and said "no" to many things they just shouldn't be messing with.

My second child was a high strung "tantrum" child.....but not when he was "busy". Legos took care of his young years and piano took care of the years to follow.

So sometimes it's a matter of what a particular child needs to make him happy...we're always concerned with what makes us happy.

Apparently, "normal" zombies make a lot of teachers happy and make the drug manufacturers happy, too.

Sac

[Sweet_Sunflower29]

Although ADHD is not specifically identified in the DOD directive, ADHD is subsumed under the category of specific academic skill deficits. This directive characterizes such deficits as involving a "chronic history of academic skills or perceptual deficits." The directive further states that, "Current use of medication to improve or maintain academic skills (example: methylphenidate) is disqualifying."

Other reasons for rejection for a military appointment, enlistment, and induction, are personality and behavior disorders, as evidenced by frequent encounters with law enforcement agencies, and/or antisocial attitudes and behaviors. While these might not be sufficient cause for administrative rejection, they are viewed as tangible evidence of impaired characterological capacity to adjust to military service. The DOD regulations also mention personality or behavior disorders where it is evident by history, interview, or psychological testing that the degree of immaturity, instability, personality inadequacy, impulsiveness, or dependency will seriously interfere with adjustment in the Armed Forces. This is demonstrated by repeated inability to maintain reasonable adjustment in school, with employers and fellow workers, and other social groups. A history of attempted suicide or other suicidal behavior is also disqualifying.

The diagnosis of ADHD, per se, does not appear to be a disqualifying condition, depending on the problems that the individual has experienced, his/her history, and their status regarding medication.

The military policy of disqualification for the use of daily medication applies to any chronic disorder or condition that requires daily medication (such as medication for thyroid disorders, asthma, and diabetes, as well as stimulant medication for ADHD). Again, the rational behind this military policy is that any condition requiring regular medication may place the individual at risk in a combat situation. The military must access only those service members who can be deployed worldwide without the need for specialized medical treatment or prescription medications. A military statement that is equally important however is, "Because Ritalin is a controlled drug with considerable abuse potential" it cannot be to be taken by recruits in basic or advanced training.

The military does grant waivers to enter the service for conditions such as ADHD in certain circumstances. If the recruit with the history of ADHD has outgrown the need for medication and has be successful in school or employment for three years without being on medication and can pass all of the required entrance exams, the recruit may apply for a waiver. If the recruit is still in high school, a waiver may be granted if the individual has been in school and off ADHD medication for one to two semesters, is mainstreamed, does not require untimed tests, and does not have an Individualized Educational Plan in place. If the recruit is out of school, he or she must be off medication, show documentation of one year of stable employment, and have no history of significant problems with the law.

Various branches of the military have shown different degrees of strictness regarding the disqualifying policy and the granting of waivers for ADHD. The Army has a history of being somewhat less strict, while the Marine Corps is the strictest military branch in this regard. The most consistent part of the DOD policy (which applies to all branches) is that a person cannot join the military if they are on methylphenidate (or a similar medication) at the time of enlistment. The DOD directive is a minimum standard, which all Armed Forces must meet. Each branch of the military can set up more stringent requirements, based on the operational environment of the respective service.

The DOD is in the process of developing a more specific and consistent policy for all the branches of the Armed Forces regarding waivers. The Armed Forces have also clearly indicated, however, that these rules may be revised "in the event of mobilization or a national emergency" (DOD directive 1304.26).

Original Article is at THIS SITE

[raisincane]

When our son was in 1st - 3rd grade, his teachers called me almost daily. They insisted we medicate him and take him to therapy. A nightmare for all of us. Between his 3rd & 4th year we moved to another school district. Dicipline was still practiced there, and low and behold, not one teacher called me again. At teacher meetings, all we heard was praise! That is why I say, "just bring back the paddle."

[eniapmot]

That's when I told the Doctor, that maybe she (the Doctor) and the teachers needed the medication.

Good. I think that most parents are too tired or too intimidated to be able to do this.

[eniapmot]

When our son was in 1st - 3rd grade, his teachers called me almost daily. They insisted we medicate him and take him to therapy. A nightmare for all of us.

I hear this story over and over. If there is any consolation to you, it is that many others have gone through the same thing, and that you are one of the winners.

[Guillermo]

A lady I know was told by her sons school that he *had* to take Ritalin.

She knew better.

Instead of putting him on Ritalin, every morning before school, she would have him swim laps in her pool for about 30 minutes. That did the job.

Kid grew up to be a straight-A student, and has been flying fighter jets for the Navy for about 10 years now.

[Vic3O3]

PING

[Sacajaweau]

You're right....A friend just switched schools and the kid is fine according to the new teacher. (He's a seat wiggler and Ritalin was recommended at age 6.)

After talking with the "diagnostic" teacher, my friend decided the teacher was the problem. LISTEN TO YOUR KIDS!!

Sac

[TxBec]

Add me to the 3rd grade group (what is it about 3rd grade.) Anyway, I didn't put my son on it and he's been fine.

[dd5339]

I do believe that after the Columbine shooting there was a magazine, (Insight??) who looked at the commonalities of the school shooters up to and including Columbine.

The common link that they found was that they were on Ritalin or some similar drug at the time of the shooting.

Scary stuff what we are creating by running our kids through the production line publik educkation system. Just another reason we've chosen to home school.

Semper Fi

[ventana]

Boys need to release the tension! Their high drive, which later may well be sexual drive, needs to be managed with excercise, discipline, and understanding, at each stage of development. These same high drive boys will be the leaders of the future, and the good husbands and dads we will wish for our daughters and grandchildren. V's wife.

[Ferris]

Government forces Ritalin down your kids throats by the pound to make them zombies...

But yet don't you dare put any of that evil weed in their hands or the government will arrest and jail them...

So just shut up and take your medicine...

You asked for it...

[EdReform]

BTTT

[jjm2111]

Great post. Kudos to all parents (including mine, bless em) who suffer through crazy boy years.

I cannot stand dopey educators. I had a guidance counselor in High School tell me "you'll never get into a military academy." Please.

I do believe I read something about educators trying to feminize boys these days.

[TMD]

From March of 2000

Here's my story about a "near-miss" with Ritalin. My 9 yr old son has always been sort of a day-dreaming, "head in the clouds" type kid and he was having some problems in school. His teacher said he wasn't paying attention, was passive-resistive, slow to get started, unable to follow complex directions and having difficulty with math. She suggested he might have ADD. We went to see a pediatric neurologist who, based solely on the teacher's answers to a questionnaire, said my son had symptoms of ADD. I questioned him and told him that each day my son would come home from school, get a snack, start his homework and work straight through until completion. Now, I'm no expert in ADD but that doesn't sound like someone who has it. The doctor still insisted that putting my son on medication would probably help. We asked what our other options were and he told us that we could go to see an "Educational Therapist" who would perform a battery of tests to determine if there was a learning disability. When we told him that's what we would try first, he expressed surprise saying that most parents come in demanding drugs for their children.

An evaluation by the educational therapist showed that my son had a non-verbal learning disability. He has excellent verbal skills but his brain doesn't create a picture when he hears instuctions/directions, he just hears a long stream of words. For instance, when his teacher says "We're going to write a paper. The title will be centered. It will consist of 3 paragraphs. Each paragraph will be indented. There will be double-spaces between each paragraph. Now, let's get started." Most people are putting a picture together in their mind and can see what the final product should look like. My son just hears a long stream of words and when the teacher says let's get started his reaction is "Huh? Where do I start?" He also had trouble with visual processing. This was later confirmed by testing at school. We next had his eyes checked we discovered that he needed glasses (bifocals). The opthamologist said that, if he were taking his driver's test, he'd be considered legally blind. It's also likely that he needed glasses when he started kindergarten.

I went to the pediatrician armed with all this information and I told her how surprised I was when drugs were recommended rather than finding the actual reason for problems in school. She said that typically they would try drugs first and if there weren't a significant improvement then they would look for a learning disability. Is that backwards thinking, or what?!? The fact that insurance companies will pay for drugs and usually not learning problems may have something to do with the "path of least resistance (=$$$)" decision-making.

It's really scary to think that we could have tried drugs that would have masked the symptons rather than finding the cause was a learning disability. It also seems like it was only by accident that we discovered he needed glasses. Thanks to his teacher and our persistence, my son is now getting help with his weak areas. I've been spending my summer researching Non-Verbal Learning Disabilities. Two things that I've discovered about them is that they are often misdiagnosed as ADD and secondly, the learning disability usually isn't discovered until the child 'bottoms out' in middle school. I'm happy to say that we discovered my son's problem early and he's been getting the help he needs.

It makes me wonder how many kids are out there that are classified as behavior problems or ADD or ADD/HD when the root cause is a learning disability or even something as simple as glasses. The lesson we learned is that drugs should not be the 'first' (easiest) choice and it's up to the parents to investigate and be an advocate for their child. It's important to remember that there are cases where medication may be the ultimate answer.

Here are two wonderful papers on non-verbal learning disabilities-

http://www.nldline.com/michaelr.htm

http://www.nldline.com/clikeman.htm

There are two websites which address learning disabilities in general and Non-verbal Learning Disabilities (NLD)in particular -

http://www.nldline.com

http://ldonline.org/ld_indepth/general_info/nld.html

These two sites should be part of required research when investigating problems kids are having in school. It has been an very interesting journey for us.

______________________________

An update from August 2002. We have been in a constant battle with the school district to get help for my son. My son has had a lot of educational therapy (privately) to fill in the gaps that he has missed. It is so important to find out your child's learning style and to ensure that they get a teacher who understands different learning styles and can teach to them. It's an endless battle, but worth it.

Here's a book recommendation-

Bridging the Gap: Raising a Child with Nonverbal Learning Disorder by Rondalyn Varney Whitney

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0399527559/qid=1029427910/sr=2-2/ref=sr_2_2/104-1728236-7360734#product-details