QOTW: ADD--ADHD---thoughts?

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-26-2003
QOTW: ADD--ADHD---thoughts?
6
Mon, 05-05-2008 - 8:35am

QOTW:


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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Mon, 05-05-2008 - 7:22pm

Grabbing this from off the page.


I think ADD and ADHD can be serious issues but it seems everyone seems a little too eager to slap that label on any kid who doesn't quite fit the form they want. Some will use it as an excuse. Oh he couldn't help beating that kid up, he had ADHD. Ummm. Sorry, its not an illness that can't be control. I've also seen people who refuse to medicate kids who could really use it and who profit from it, and others who are quick to pop a pill because the child doesn't like math or is lippy. So I think it is quite overdiagnosed. It does exist of course and for some kids its really a difficult situation but you hear so many stories of schools who want the problem child diagnosed and medicated rather than dealing with the underlying issues. I am very fortunate that I don't have to struggle with this with my child because I know for many families it can be very very difficult.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Mon, 05-05-2008 - 8:20pm

My BFF has 3 sons, all of whom have ADHD & each is on a different medication.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 05-27-1998
Mon, 05-05-2008 - 8:30pm

I was diagnosed with ADHD in 1971, when it was just called hyperactivity or hyperkinesis. No one in the lay community had heard of it, and people who did know about it didn't think it occurred in girls. Fortunately, I lived near a university that was involved in the post-market

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-21-2006
Mon, 05-05-2008 - 9:45pm

I have to deal with it almost on a daily basis. My son has ADHD and is on meds for it. I don't like giving him meds but without them, he is very disruptive in class, cannot focus in class, and gets absolutly nothing done. I do believe however that it is way over diagnosed. A child cannot sit still or is really active and it is automatically ADHD. Sometimes it is just normal childhood behavior.



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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Mon, 05-05-2008 - 10:45pm

I've worked in the school system as a therapist, so I have seen what happens, I'm not just talking here as a disgruntled homeschooler or anything! (and I am NOT disgruntled!!). ADHD/ADD is a real condition, with real issues. It is also highly overdiagnosed in an attempt to cookie cutter our children to fit into classroom settings. I can't help but notice that as we have less help in the classroom and more kids in the same classrooms, there is less tolerance for the need for movement and the need to learn differently.

Kids NEED to learn to move, it's a physiological fact, however it's also irritating and disruptive. It's easier to blame it on ADHD than it is to try to give children the movement they need. I've worked in schools that allowed their children "body breaks" when they were having behavioral issues, they had rooms to go to where the kids could somersault, bounce, jump, swing. It was an amazing turnaround for these kids, allowing them to move helped STOP their behavior, allowed them to focus.

I honestly think a lot of kids diagnosed with ADHD actually have Sensory Integration issues or food allergy. ADHD is real and there is a real need for medication for it. But a very large number of the kids on medication should not be.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-07-2008
Tue, 05-06-2008 - 4:41am

I can see both sides. Some people use it to excuse behavior without any responsibility and others do not let it affect their parenting of their children

I have a friend who's son has adhd and everytime he comes to my house medicated or not he is a very good boy. He has loads of energy and can be silly but he is not aggressive/violent. Even when we say no he moans but doesn't do anything else because we expect he will control what he can control. When he's with his siblings/mother he is a demon and the excuse is "well he has adhd he can't help himself" and that's it. There are no expectations that he will even try! She is now trying to get her other 2 kids dx'd as well and is furious that they aren't being labelled as well.

I have another friend with an adhd child who is very violent and cannot help it but he is made accountable for what he is doing even though he can't help it because she feels that if she shrugs it off then he learns his actions have no consequences.

BTW both boys are medicated and the first one won't take his meds because he "likes to do stupid things" - those are his words not mine.

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