A.d.h.d
 

Sorhors' & sisterfriends'

What are your views concerning the diagnostic and treatment of "attention deficit disorder", seeing that more children--considerably more boys than girls-are being diagnosed with this disease. For those of you who have an opposing view, would your perception change if it was your child who was diagnosed with this disease?

Late I will post my view point concerning this topic.








Tinese

Soror, great topic!

I have a strong view point concerning Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder because I have a child diagnosed with it. It led me to be interested in the Special Education field and further my education and understanding of it. Since I am in the field everyday and live with a 13 year old boy with this condition I almost consider myself to be an expert.

There is a biological reason why more boys have this condition than girls. I'd like to know how others feel also.

I'm still learning about this but my niece was recently put on medication for this. I personally think that people/parents/doctors are too quick to hand out meds nowadays. I think our society has just created a generation of people who have short attention spans.:(

Speaking from the view of someone who works with children who are diagnosed with this disorder or whose parents feel their child needs assessed for the diagnosis, I do feel that you are right. More boys than girls come in with the diagnosis. Many of the children we see were exposed to lead, drug exposed or were referred here due to behaviors at home and at school. Some of these children are very sick and only medication can assist them to lead a somewhat normal life. But our agency also push parents to enroll their children in our behavior groups to teach children how to deal with their diagnosis (know their onsets and how to get themselves back on task). The psychiatrist here does push meds if he feels that it is needed but, it is not always the first option.

The diagnosis and treatment is something people should be very careful with. There's several things that can mimic ADHD symptoms, if you don't have it. Even if you do have it, there's things that can make the symptoms worse.

As for medication, I don't think it is the only option. I know several people who can cope fine without meds. I discontinued it last October or November, and have been doing OKAY. I'm optimistic that my coping skills will get better and better the longer I stay off them. Controlling my impulses and channeling my energies positively is the easy part, but controlling my attention span is way more hard. Fortunately, I have been making some progress in that area also (but slowly).

I also fit into the category of people who do actually have the condition but had other things that made my symptoms worse. I was wondering why my medicine was not helping me like they said it would. I had some tests ran and I found out that I had an iron deficiency and some mild problems with blood sugar. So, if you or someone you know is taking medication and it is not helping, do some investigating. DO NOT LET THE DOCTOR CONTINUE TO INCREASE THE DOSES IF IT ISN'T WORKING!

My son was 13 year old son was diagnosed with A.D.H.D and I have major concerns regarding the medication. In my research I found out that metaphate (ritalin derivative) is considered a class b or a substance--the same catagory as cocaine. I also found that with continuous usage of the medication, that it can possible damage the brain.

I am contemplating whether my son should take the medicine or not based on this information. I'm also ascertaining alternative sollutions to the medications. If you have any suggestions, please let me know.



Tinese

One alternative to medication is behavioral cognitive therapy. It has helped some children as well as a change in diet. But every ADHD child is different. If you haven't already, contact the local CHADD group in your area for other ideas. It's not fair that some parents have to put their children on medications that haven't been reseached enough to provide the potential side effects that occur when these kids become adults. Drug companies should not use these children as guinea pigs. They should do the work before the drug comes on the market.

TheEpitome1920, there are several different theories as to why there's a increase in children who have short attention spans. There's one study out attributes the amount of exposure kids have to watching tv before the age four to the amount of add/adhd a kid may have.

Bluereign I wasn't aware that boys are more diagnosed than girls. I was under the impression that most girls weren't diagnosed as quickly as boys because they can exhibit different symptoms when it comes to add or adhd.

My daughter is also going to be tested for ADD/ADHD. At one point, I couldn't see any option but medication, but now, I'm getting nervous about it. I want to continue to try and work with her without the meds. Hopefully I can continue to channel her energy with different activities and help her to focus, although it's hard.

I agree with Dionysus. Obtaining a diagnosis and treatment for ADD or ADHD is something that people should really be careful with. Nutritional counseling can also go a long way with any child's behavioral problem. I think that parents should really look into it, even if they get a prescription. I have friends who work with kids and they had to consult physicians because their dosages were too high. The parents (and some teachers) were fine because the kids were not causing problems. The kids weren't causing problems because they were stoned.

I am not saying this happens in all cases, but ritalin is not a cureall by any means.

all of my previous girlfriends say i suffer from this.

I am still learning everyday about this condition. I feel that the name itself should be changed. It is really not a "deficit" or a "disorder". The condition is a really "a heightened awareness" about everything. The person who has this condition really is able to "pay attention" but to everything at once. It is difficult to channel what to narrow their focus on.

To a child entering a primary grade classroom it is very hard to focus on the teacher because they are able to take in everything at one time. It is almost equivalent to being in a circus. Classrooms are often "too decorated" (colors, shapes, the alphabet, things hanging from ceilings, etc.) for these children to focus on any one particular thing. The medication assists in turning off some of these "extra senses".

Medication should not be started unless everything else has been ruled out. Some children have vision/hearing problems as well as discipline problems. If the child has very little structure prior to starting school they will have problems staying seated, on task, etc. It still may take several years for them to adjust to being seated and expected to complete tasks in a timely manner.

There is so much more that I feel about this but I am saving it for my dissertation one day. ;)

I'm scuuured of you soRHOr!!

We had an inservice on this topic at school-basically they came to the conclusion that Teachers should offer Behavior Contracts and strong parental involvement as way to deal with ADHD-instead of pills. What was interesting was the fact that they said it was genetically inherited and there were numerous questions as to what brought this about?

DISCLAIMER
**I am only gonna speak from the experience of the people that I know. So if you know someone with this disorder don't take it personal**


I know people who's child/children supposedly have this condition. The problem that I have with these parents is that they NEVER disciplined their children. And if you don't discipline your child at an early age, then when will you start? Well the child was brought to our house for the holidays and she tried to jump fly by acting like she does with her mother. Well, we shut that down real quick! She was actually good the whole week. We didn't give her that medication and she was still good. As soon as her mother came over to pick her up, her mode flipped. So she started being disrespectful to her mother and the mother didn't say anything. We disciplined the child for doing that. The mother went on to say how she couldn't do anything with the child, yada yada yada. Well she decides to take the child to the doctor and of course the doctor diagnosed her with ADHD. She was put on meds and when she comes around its like she's a zombie or she's high. She sits still and looks at people with a blank stare. She shows no emotion or anything. I just can't believe that she was too lazy to discipline her child but it was ok to put the child on medication.

If the child actually have this condition that's one thing, but to put a child on meds because you don't want to face the fact that you don't feel that you should discipline your child is horrible.

And I couldn't agree with you more icebrAKA! One of my greatest challenges in this field is dealing with children who are supposedly "ADHD" when I know that they really haven't been dealt with properly in the displine area. Then when they happen to be "off the meds" for whatever reason -- whew! Let's just say that if it wasn't for God giving me the patience I would not have a job ....:rolleyes: and would be seriously considering some other occupation.