Neal Boortz and ADD

www.boortz.com ^ | various | Neal Boortz

[Houmatt]

The following are short pieces recently written by Neal Boortz regarding Attention Deficit Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, appearing in Neal's Nuze:

DON’T PAY ATTENTION TO THIS. JUST KEEP DRUGGING YOUR KIDS.

More and more medical and psychological professionals are speaking out against this phony disease of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Dr. Bob Jacobs, a psychologist, is on the advisory board of the International Center for the Study of Psychiatry and Psychology. He recently told a conference in Australia that ADHD is a behavioral problem, not a medical disorder. He correctly points out that there is no proof that ADHD exists.

Jacobs notes that many children who are “diagnosed” with ADHD – children who it is said can’t pay attention – are perfectly capable of sitting still with a video game and paying rapt attention for hours on end. He also points out that when parents pay attention and change the way they are treating and handling their children, the ADHD symptoms go away. “A real diseas doesn’t go away when somebody else does something.”

I just love it that this debate is surfacing again. Sure, Ritalin works. It’s a drug, of course it’s going to have an affect on children. It makes them more docile and compliant. Take that word “compliant” and put it next to “government.” Would anyone argue that government doesn’t just love a compliant citizen? Then why wouldn’t a government school teacher love a docile and compliant child? It sure makes their job easier, doesn’t it?

In 2001 U.S. drug companies made more than $600 million profit in ADHD drugs like Ritalin. If ADHD goes away … so do those profits.

It’s time for you parents and teachers to stop looking for the easy way out here. Your easy way out is a potential disaster for your child.

I’M STILL HERE …

The controversy over my comments on ADD/ADHD continues. Station management continues to feel the effects of an organized campaign to have me either silenced or fired. Hey, I don’t blame these people. If I was drugging my child for a non-existent disease I wouldn’t want anyone reminding me of my irresponsibility either.

Just to fuel the fire, here are some excerpts from letters and e-mail I’ve received in the last few days:

I am a Special Education teacher in Kansas --anti-NEA, extremely conservative: endangered species. Agree with you on ADHD. Problem - liberals insist all students with behavior problems have the right to disrupt the education of others, so meds used to control behaviors. In Kansas, ADHD students receive special education services under the label of Otherwise Health Impaired (OHI). Some of us know that OHI really stands for Otherwise HOME Impaired. Please do not use my name publicly -- retaliation from liberal dominated administration probable

Before you delete this please read on. I am ecstatic on your position on add and ADHD. I have a son that was so diagnosed, they, she who is always right, put him on Ritalin. it is a devastating drug, they are doped up and not themselves. Chris is adopted has a handicap and parents that care. i took on the problem, the problem was not a condition it was a matter of wills. i withdrew him from the medication and worked my ass off making the difference. Neal is right, get off the medication, instill confidence, give a damn about how they behave and stand firm. today my son has a 4.0 average in his junior year of high school and has been accepted to Penn State, will get a partial scholarship and is a GREAT KID. Not bad for someone the system wanted to put into a stupor. Dad's can make a difference, although you may not be the most popular guy around. God Bless

Man, when your right your right! The stories that I could tell you about my ex-wife and hooking my son on this drug since he was two are unbelievable. Parents and teachers are not alone in this. Doctors who are prescribing this and other mind altering drugs are the number one problem. My ex-wife found a doctor in Miami that did "testing" on my son only by giving him some blocks to assemble, and when my son started looking around instead of putting all of the blocks in place that was it, instant A.D.H.D. Oh yeah, this boy was not only A.D.D. He was hyper as well.(here's a clue HE'S TWO YEARS OLD!!) Needless to say this eventually lead to our divorce, but to make matters worse, there are judges out there who believe this crap also, so I did not get custody. He's now 15 and my Ex-wife and I have another court appointment to settle this issue.

AND NOW --- INTRODUCING YOU TO “ODD!”

This will be the next great fad disease for school age children. Oppositional Defiance Disorder. The “ODD child” is a child that gets angry or frustrated and defies authority. In other words … a child. He argues with adults, he loses his temper, he has a negative attitude, he blames others for his mistakes. Teachers.net has a chatboard discussing this grand new disease. One post by a teacher says: “Today was a really bad day. I have been teaching grade seven for four years and today was the first time I was called a "Whore," by a kid who has Oppositional Defiance Disorder.”

Stand by folks, this is soon going to become a full-fledged disease and some drug company is going to develop some mind-altering drug that will make these kids compliant and passive. Oh man, are the parents going to love this one. Here’s a link on this new fad-disease so you can start getting your excuses ready. http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Valley/9346/odd.html

http://www.4troubledteens.com/odd.html

ADEQUATE DICIPLINE DEFICIENCY

There’s been quite a firestorm of controversy on the show since I started talking about the various experts who are debunking the ADD/ADHD craze. We had Dr. Bob Jackobs, a psychologist, telling a youth conference in Queensland, Australia that there has never been any proof that ADHD exists. Then there was neurologist Dr. Fred Baughman Jr. who, in a 1998 letter to Attorney General Janet Reno called ADHD “the single biggest health care fraud in U.S. history.” This has all been very unsettling to parents who have decided that drugging is certainly easier than parenting when it comes to controlling the behavior of their children. These parents really know that ADD stands for “Adequate Dicipline Deficiency.”

But, alas! There are many parents out there who have been unable to find a doctor or a shrink who will write that invaluable Ritalin prescription. Wow! You poor saps have actually had to deal with your children being … children!

Well, maybe there’s hope. There’s a new disease on the horizon out there. It’s called ODD! Oppositional Defiance Disorder? With any luck, your child may have this nifty new disease! As a public service, here is some help diagnosing your very own child to see if they might have ODD! The symptoms are:

Arguing with adults. Losing temper. Angry or resentful of others. Actively defies adult’s request or rules. Negative attitude Blames others for their own mistakes misbehavior Seems touchy or easily annoyed by others Deliberately annoys others Acts spiteful or vindictive. The psychiatrists are telling us that if your child displays four or more of the above traits … you may be a winner! You may have a child with ODD! Now you don’t have to feel so left out when the neighborhood moms get together to discuss their children’s afflictions. Looking at that list again, I would suggest that if your child doesn’t display at least four of those traits, he’s probably in a coma on a respirator.

Now … the really good news! The Psychiatric Alliance of the Blue Ridge is studying an “investigational medication” that may help children with ODD! So, in the very near future you may not only be able to discuss your child’s hideous new disease, you may actually be able to DRUG him!

[clamper1797]

These kids are easily recognized because they DO react positively (extremely positively) to being treated with Ritalin--they stop bouncing off the walls and they can focus on their schoolwork

That's a good way to tell a real case of ADHD from one that has ADHD like symtoms. Stimulants like amphetamines cause an ADHD's mind to slow down to the point where the ADHD striken person can actually stay focused close to as long as a normal person could. Also they actually mellow out and don't bounce of the walls ... for a change. A normal person on stimulants is like an ADHD person is without the stimulant. Funny how it works ....

[Politicalmom]

Does he have a problem with the physical part of writing.(dysgraphia) or the actual writing? My son has both. He was in Occupational Therapy for a while to help with the physical part of writing. Maybe your son would do better if he could dictate, or learn keyboarding, if it the physical part of writing that he has trouble with.

[Politicalmom]

Do you know if there are ANY restrictions put on people who took Ritalin as a child? I have heard that a person can't be a pilot in the Armed Forces if they have that in their history. This has been another reason I have fought so hard against medication. I don't want to put limits on what he can do in the future.

You have relieved one of my worries, anyway. Thanks. : )

[Politicalmom]

Nope. My Dad used his belt, although he didn't need to with me. I was scared to death of his HANDS. He is a BIG guy, and his hands are huge!! : )

[clamper1797]

One tip for those who's ADHD kids can't focus on reading something not entertaining to them .... have them yellow line the book with a marker. It REALLY helped me in college. I found that if I yellow penned as I read, I would actually memorize the parts that I penned as I penned them. AND it also helped keep my eyes focused on what I was reading instead of wandering.

[Poohbah]

That's a good way to tell a real case of ADHD from one that has ADHD like symtoms.

Some "ADHD-like" symptoms are actually symptoms of BATS--"Boring-A$$ Teacher Syndrome."

[clamper1797]

You got that right .... I had the Ben Stein of teachers for english in high school. Always caught up on my sleep in that class. That is where one learns to ALWAYS sit in the back row.

[FourPeas]

have them yellow line the book with a marker

Interesting observation. I just IMed that to my husband and he agrees. He always found that whatever he wrote down, he remembered even if he couldn't read it later.

[clamper1797]

You don't have to write it .. just line over the important parts with a yellow marker as you read ... works absolute wonders for the ADHD ... at least it does for me.

[clamper1797]

BTW ... in post 253 ... I had to check to see if I was married to you ... you described me to a tee when you wrote about your husbands symtoms

[Pan_Yans Wife]

For me, it also worked if I typed out my notes in school, on the word-processor. Take the notes, read the notes, and type the notes. That way you are taking in the information more than once.

[clamper1797]

That works for me too ... it's that computer thing

[Poohbah]

Do you know if there are ANY restrictions put on people who took Ritalin as a child? I have heard that a person can't be a pilot in the Armed Forces if they have that in their history.

There are a LOT of things that will disqualify one as a pilot--temporary medication is extremely unlikely to.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

My mother used to chase my eldest brother about the house with the broom. One day, when he was about sixteen, he said, "No, Ma! You aren't going to do that!" and he promptly took the broom away. My mother retaliated, by removing her shoe. Needless to say, my brother ran!

Ha!

[Kewlhand`tek]

i have ODD occupation defiance disorder :) will my boss give me a time out doh, i guess so thats a pink slip but if its a disorder then they cant fire me under the americans with disabilities act! so they would have to accomodate me. btw im joking i actually like my job

[luckystarmom]

He definitely does have problems with the physical part of writing. I have him dictate some of his reports to me. He's just learning to type on the computer, but I think I'm going to encourage that over the summer. He actually was working on a report on the computer last night, and he was doing much better on the computer than with actually writing it.

OT would help, and we have had him evaluated. However, it's expensive and time consuming, and he won't qualify for help at school.

[luckystarmom]

Thanks for the input. I'm trying to get prepared for next year. If we're having lots of problems, then something is going to change. I'm tired of having homework problems and an unhappy kid. It's very trying to see a very smart kid struggling with school.

I would definitely do things differently than school.

[Coleus]

FYI

http://www.breggin.com/ Seen on Hannity & Colmbs a few times
http://www.brainrecovery.com/
http://www.adhdfraud.com/
http://www.dadi.org/ritalin.htm
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/824747/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3b2dd43f0823.htm
http://www.fightforkids.com/purpose.html
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/833635/posts
http://www.mercola.com/2002/apr/20/ritalin_patch.htm
http://www.mercola.com/2002/apr/13/depression_drugs.htm
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/648293/posts

Read this, then read the posts regarding the book "The War Against Boys"
http://www.dadi.org/ritalin.htm

The War Against Boys

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0684849577/qid=1010179628/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_3_1/002-0565676-2218456
http://umbc7.umbc.edu/~korenman/wmst/hoffsommers.html
http://www.friesian.com/sommers.htm
http://www.cblpolicyinstitute.org/waragainst.htm
http://www.humaneventsonline.com/articles/11-24-00/harder.html

[DaGman]

"I have long been saying ADD is just an excuse for bad behavior. And then Neal Boortz comes along and validates it."

Oh, wonderful. You use Boortz to validate a medical opinion?

Boortz is absolutely irresponsible. He isn't smart enough to shut up. What Boortz says about ADD/ADHD borders on crying fire in a crowded theatre. He has no right to say these things as he has no clue about these conditions.

[TeresaAyers]

A lot of these are the ones who dropped out of school, got kicked out of school, or ended up in prison because they turned to drugs, alcohol, or violence. Had there been treatment for this very real ADHD, these very smart kids wouldn’t have ended up as adults with a very low self esteem.