Adhd?

[vergla]

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

ADHD is the popular diagnosis for everythign right now. On e of our children was misdiagnosed with it and they puy her on drugs that turned her into a zombie with no personality. After years of further testing, someone finally figured out that she has a different disorder that has no name or initials. Several doctors were suprised at the ADHD diagnosis becuase they said it was absurd, however several other doctors diagnosed her with ADHD and recommended the same zombie medication.

I am loathe to put my children on mind altering medication, especially when the medical profession seems to know so little about this area. Sometimes it seems that ADHD medication is the answer for lazy parenting rather than a true disorder. All children are easily distracted. That is becuase they are children. We have learned the hard way to look with skepticism at all mental/processing diagnosis. Apparantly it is just guesswork.

my daughtler is on med and she isnt a zombie and i asked the doctor for to get her evalurated to see if theres is something else wrong so were going out of town to a unaverity hospital to have sorts of test run on her.

[zebrashoes]

If someone really has ADHD I think it is def worth it to seek out help, and do what you have to do. But I also think you have to be careful because ADHD is one of those things that is overly diagnosed. I think 5 is too young to tell. I would wait it out and see if he settles down. Like you said he didnt go to preschool so it is his first time in a school structre. I dont know many kindergardeners who are not hyper.
But my husband who has ADHD but was not diagnosed until he was 25 and was told by his 3rd grade teacher he would never be more than a "C" student. Years later he graduated valadictorian from highschool and graduated college top 5%, so dont get discouraged by what a teacher tells you. I would wait it out a couple years, and let him develope more.

[charz]

Originally Posted by miasmommy

The whole Autism Spectrum is SO new it hasn't been established for sure whether or not to include ADHD on the spectrum. Some sites will tell you it is, others will not. It all depends where you find your info ONLINE! If you type in "saying the word blue can make you turn blue," I'm sure google will find something that matches your search!

I agree that one can find any research to support an opinion. I had not heard that ADHD is on the autism spectrum in any Autism training I had received or in all my years of teaching special education. Because autism research is relatively new and autism is not my specialization, I checked some research before I answered. Admittedly, I didn't read every research that popped up; however, I did use a doctor who specializes in neurology and pediatrics, not Wikipedia.

[jimj]

Originally Posted by Hollytree

The reason that your young son sat so long is that amphetamines act as despressants in young children. It is the same as your taking valium.

ADHD as presently diagnosed (read the DSMIV) is a behavioral problem AT BEST- not a neurological disorder. Is a scam of major proportions being foisted on the American public by the drug companies and perpetrated by ignorant school teachers who naturally want all the kids to stay quiet.

PLEASE do not medicate your child!!!! He is a little boy who may need some new method of discipline but he is VERY LIKELY completely normal. The long term effects of amphetamines on children are starting to become known- one of the biggest is stunted growth. Educate yourself on this before you go to see the doctors!!! Go on Medline and look up the side effects.

Nice try but you're info is misleading at best and a disservice at worst. From CHADD:
Research has demonstrated that AD/HD has a very strong neurobiological basis. Although precise causes have not yet been identified, there is little question that heredity makes the largest contribution to the expression of the disorder in the population.

In instances where heredity does not seem to be a factor, difficulties during pregnancy, prenatal exposure to alcohol and tobacco, premature delivery, significantly low birth weight, excessively high body lead levels, and postnatal injury to the prefrontal regions of the brain have all been found to contribute to the risk for AD/HD to varying degrees.

Research does not support the popularly held views that AD/HD arises from excessive sugar intake, excessive television viewing, poor child management by parents, or social and environmental factors such as poverty or family chaos. Of course, many things, including these, might aggravate symptoms, especially in certain individuals. But the evidence for such individual aggravating circumstances is not strong enough to conclude that they are primary causes of ADHD. A related problem that has some accumulating evidence is sensitivity to food or additives such as colorings and preservatives. Several controlled double-blind studies suggest that these might be important for a minority of children with ADHD, and a couple of controlled studies suggest a small effect on all children whether or not they have ADHD. Further research on this connection is warranted.

[jimj]

Originally Posted by Hollytree

I agree Tex. Standards of behavior have changed for a lot of reasons- a few I can think of include:
1. No more corporal punishment- although it certainly worked well for previous generations!!
2. In the 50s parents had 3-5+ children- today they have 1-2 and are overindulging and underdisciplining the kids. "Childhood" lasts well in the 20s.
3. Schools have been focusing on sex ed, drug ed, people skills, etc and not on academic performance. Many kids I see cannot spell or write properly at all!! They can't add and subtract without a calculator. Many are functionally illiterate- even computer illiterate- which is really shocking since they grew up with them.
4. The popular culture of vulgarity and relaxed standards has taken over in mainstream America. Do you remember when showing your underwear in public was simply not done? When only sailors and whores had tattoos? When cursing in public would have gotten you ostracized- today- kids use curse words in class and get away with it.

It's a brave new world all right- no wonder America can no longer compete on the world stage.

Yes, let's not forget that "back in the old days" kids with ADD were labled behavior problems or retarded or just plain dumb and either kicked out of school or placed in special ed and written off. Yep, those were the days alright! Hey I know, send them to a chiropractor, it's probably that their spine is out of adjustment.

I wonder how many of the "opinions" here come from parents with actual experience with a child that has either ADD or something on the Autism spectrum? I also wonder how many of the opinion holders here have ever spoken/worked with with someone who has an MD or PHD after their name and is educated in Autism and/or ADD or just get their info from the 'net?
After living as an adult with self medicated Aspergers/ADD and having delt with my son who's been diagnosed since about 5 yrs old, gone through the denial, tried the diet thing, took him off meds for almost a whole year at the request of his teacher who didn't beleive in meds ( a real good guy imo) only to be begged to put him back on by that same teacher and after speaking with many MD's and PHD's as well as doing my own independent research I think I might have a little insight into this condition.
Has ADD been over diagnosed? Without question yes! So have many,many other conditions but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist or that medication isn't warranted in some/many situations just as it would be for parinoia,bipolar etc.

I beleive many parents know before a teacher tells them that something is amiss but choose not to see/admit it (denial) because no one wants to admit that their child is not perfect according to society/school standards and the real pity in this is the pain inflicted on the child who's trying to fit in and can't.
I would suggest that if any school official suggests that your child might have an LD issue (they are not allowed to diagnose) that you take it just as serious as you would if you were told by the P.E. teacher that your child was passing out after running and might have a heart issue, that is take them to a professional or two to be evaluated, I'm a big believer in testing by a neuropsych btw.
The sooner you do that the sooner you'll know what you're dealing with (if anything) and if an issue does exist the less amount of learning time will be wasted and less "pain" will be inflicted on the child.
As for those that believe that ADD/Aspergers is quackery or just a condition that's made up by the drug industry, you keep up your faith healing and laying of the hands to cure people 'kay? We'll see how well that works out for y'all...

[USAFMOM]

Tracy,

I was in the same boat as you are now. Due to my circumstance, my son could not attend pre-school and we enrolled him in Kindergarten when he turned 5. At the time it was only 1/2 day. He had many of the same problems in the classroom and doing homework was an absolute nightmare. I had concerns about him being ADHD but I was advised by his teacher that he might be too young to diagnose him appopriately. If I knew better then, I would have held him back in Kindergarten to catch up because he was not ready for the 1st grade. He could not even read and write all his ABCs at the end of Kindergarten when the other kids were already reading. The school pushed him through and sent him to a special literacy class the following year. His teacher also worked with him a lot to get him caught up. At the end of the 1st grade we ended up sending him to Sylvan all summer 4 days a week to get him ready to move up. My husband was also against diagnosing my son and relentlessly opposed to medication. My son was fortunate to have understanding teachers until about the 4th grade and then the work load and responsibility became grueling. We finally gave in and had him properly diagnosed and put on medication. It greatly improved his behavior and attitude and mental posture however it is not a cure. We are still trying to get him into a special ed program or possibly a 504. My recommendation to you is do not wait. Get him diagnosed and see if he needs the meds. I regret waiting. And if he is not ready for 1st grade don't let him move on. It won't hurt him at all to stay behind at that age. It's probably better for him since he missed pre-school. That way he will be much better prepared. Good luck.

[USAFMOM]

Also, I am learning this all very late but that's partly because it's hard to get help from the schools. If you feel alone on this it's because you probably are. There is very little support for ADHD kids and parents of, and as you can see from some of these posts it has a very bad rap.

There are some tests you can have done. Ask the school about it and make them tell you all your options. Also talk to you pediatrician about ALL your options even if he/she can recommend a specialist. My son also had a T.O.V.A test. You can Google it. My insurance paid for it. Do some research. Don't wait thhough. get your son the help he needs, medicine or not. Even with ADHD meds he still may need a tutor.