Rethinking the AAP Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Guildlines

http://www.healthsentinel.com/news.p...st_item&id=326

Lydia Furman, MD and Brian W. Berman, MD, "Rethinking the AAP
Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Guildlines", Clinical
Pediatrics, October 17, 2004,

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Guidelines for Attention
Deficit/Hyperactivity (AD/HD) are now several years old and have
garnered widespread acceptance. We urge our colleagues, however, to
reexamine and review the existing evidence critically, rather than
accept this approach at face value. The practice of medicine can only
benefit from open-minded rethinking of conventional treatments.

First, we are concerned about oversimplification. Do all children with
any school or behavioral problem likely have AD/HD? Can a medically
trained pediatrician "rule out" childhood depression, neurotic and
anxiety disorders, learning disabilities, mental retardation, family
dysfunction, remote or recent physical or sexual abuse, and inadequate
educational environment (in 3 office visits or less)? Does the
"serendipitous discovery 60 years ago that dl-amphetamine reduces
disruptive symptoms of hyperkinetic children" make stimulants the best
treatment for all overactive 6-12-year-old boys with school problems
(and preschoolers and adolescents)? We believe that the guildlines
vastly oversimplify and trivialize answer to important questions
parents may raise about their child, and ask primary care
pediatricians to conduct evaluations of mental health and educational
ability that are outside the scope of their expertise and training.
There are no data that primary care pediatricians can do this
successfully.

The AAP guildlines clearly state that there is no identification
etiology for AD/HD and that neither brain imaging,
electroencephalography, "continuous performance tests," nor any blood
test can distinguish children with or without AD/HD. In fact, "no
pathognonomic findings currently establish the diagnosis," and
decisions regarding diagnosis "depend on subjective judgments of
observers/reporters." Perhaps, then we should conclude that AD/HD is
actually not a specific condition or illness or "neurobehavioral
disorder." One might reasonably conclude that the "core symptoms" of
AD/HD, i.e., inattention, impulsivity and hyperactivity, are just that
– symptoms. Every child with a symptom or problem deserves an
appropriate and full evaluation. In this case an evaluation may need
to include a full educational evaluation and a psychological or
psychiatric evaluation by qualified professionals. The constraints of
time, resources, and money are considerable, but these should not
present an insurmountable barrier to an thoughtful approach to each
individual child, which is what our training demands of us.

Reducing diagnostic certainty to a behavioral checklist, as we have
done for AD/HD, is a leap of faith rather than a scientific plan.
Hinging treatment with a schedule II medication solely on potentially
overinclusive and at least subjective reports from parents and
teachers skips an important step the child and family deserve: an
evaluation. Others have considered the possibility that the symptom
complex of "inattentiveness, hyperactivity, and impulsiveness"
represents maturational lag, differences in temperament, or rigid or
age-inappropriate parental or societal expectations. The extraordinary
discrepancy in the number of children with AD/HD in different regions
of the United States suggests the last possibility may be correct.

Some physicians (and teachers) are convinced that "I know it" [AD/HD]
when I see it." But the question is know what? A symptom is not a
diagnosis, and symptoms demand confirmatory testing in every other
area of medicine. Is response to stimulant medication a confirmatory
test? It has been well shown that stimulant medications affect both
normal and hyperkinetic children similarly. Note that suppression of a
behavior is not necessarily treatment of an underlying cause of the
behavior.

As an analogy, imagine a 9-year-old boy presents to your office with a
complaint of daily cough for several months. You would examine the
child and ask: (1) Does the cough interfere with school? (2) Does the
cough interfere with sleep? (3) Does the cough seem harsh at times?,
and so on. If the answer to 6 of 8 questions are "yes", you would
inform the parents that their son likely has excessive cough disorder
(ECD) and needs to be treated with a Schedule II cough suppressant
(i.e. codeine). The medication, you inform the parents, has been
documented to be effective up to 14 months, is better than behavior
therapy, and has manageable side effects. In this unlikely scenario,
you would not consider an underlying diagnosis of sinusitis, reactive
airway disease, tic, or even cystic fibrosis or immune deficiency. Of
course, this scenario is more hyperbole that analogy, but the
similarity to diagnosis, evaluation, and treatment of AD/HD is
worrisome.

There is currently thought about extending the diagnosis of AD/HD to
toddlers and preschoolers, even though the DSM-IV criteria do not
apply to this age group. Recent articles address the trend toward
giving stimulants to younger and younger children. One early childhood
specialist working in a public school setting notes that fully half of
the preschoolers in her and five other centers' experience AD/HD were
"found to be living in families with serious adult problems" (domestic
violence, maternal depression, sexual abuse, terminal illness in a
parent). She in collaboration with colleagues, identifies several
worrisome trends for under-fives, including (1) "multiple caregivers
and interruptions in care during the first 30 months of life," (2)
"limited understanding of "developmental appropriateness" by parents
and caregivers," and (3) "failure to foster self-soothing, adaptive
mastery, and the ability to delay gratification in mainstream
child-rearing." There is evidence that "experimental factors" in the
first 4 years may play a role in the pathogenesis of difficulty
sustaining attention and learning. The hypothesis, though fraught with
confounders, bears investigation.

We agree with the AAP guidelines that more that more research into the
etiology of the symptom complex of AD/HD is crucial. But rather than
another (pharmaceutical company-funded) medication trial, we need
prospective longitudinal studies that begin in infancy and toddlerhood
and that are conducted by professionals knowledgeable about child
development who are not funded by the drug industry. In summary, we
urge primary care pediatricians not to bow to pressure from schools,
from the pharmaceutical industry, or even from parents, to
conveniently label children and medicate them without evaluation that
truly addresses the origin of their symptoms. We must avoid the desire
for a "quick fix."

All children identified as suffering from AD/HD should be referred to
appropriate specialist for confirmation of diagnosis and proper treatment.



"Roman Bystrianyk" wrote in message
m...
http://www.healthsentinel.com/news.p...st_item&id=326

Lydia Furman, MD and Brian W. Berman, MD, "Rethinking the AAP
Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Guildlines", Clinical
Pediatrics, October 17, 2004,

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Guidelines for Attention
Deficit/Hyperactivity (AD/HD) are now several years old and have
garnered widespread acceptance. We urge our colleagues, however, to
reexamine and review the existing evidence critically, rather than
accept this approach at face value. The practice of medicine can only
benefit from open-minded rethinking of conventional treatments.

First, we are concerned about oversimplification. Do all children with
any school or behavioral problem likely have AD/HD? Can a medically
trained pediatrician "rule out" childhood depression, neurotic and
anxiety disorders, learning disabilities, mental retardation, family
dysfunction, remote or recent physical or sexual abuse, and inadequate
educational environment (in 3 office visits or less)? Does the
"serendipitous discovery 60 years ago that dl-amphetamine reduces
disruptive symptoms of hyperkinetic children" make stimulants the best
treatment for all overactive 6-12-year-old boys with school problems
(and preschoolers and adolescents)? We believe that the guildlines
vastly oversimplify and trivialize answer to important questions
parents may raise about their child, and ask primary care
pediatricians to conduct evaluations of mental health and educational
ability that are outside the scope of their expertise and training.
There are no data that primary care pediatricians can do this
successfully.

The AAP guildlines clearly state that there is no identification
etiology for AD/HD and that neither brain imaging,
electroencephalography, "continuous performance tests," nor any blood
test can distinguish children with or without AD/HD. In fact, "no
pathognonomic findings currently establish the diagnosis," and
decisions regarding diagnosis "depend on subjective judgments of
observers/reporters." Perhaps, then we should conclude that AD/HD is
actually not a specific condition or illness or "neurobehavioral
disorder." One might reasonably conclude that the "core symptoms" of
AD/HD, i.e., inattention, impulsivity and hyperactivity, are just that
- symptoms. Every child with a symptom or problem deserves an
appropriate and full evaluation. In this case an evaluation may need
to include a full educational evaluation and a psychological or
psychiatric evaluation by qualified professionals. The constraints of
time, resources, and money are considerable, but these should not
present an insurmountable barrier to an thoughtful approach to each
individual child, which is what our training demands of us.

Reducing diagnostic certainty to a behavioral checklist, as we have
done for AD/HD, is a leap of faith rather than a scientific plan.
Hinging treatment with a schedule II medication solely on potentially
overinclusive and at least subjective reports from parents and
teachers skips an important step the child and family deserve: an
evaluation. Others have considered the possibility that the symptom
complex of "inattentiveness, hyperactivity, and impulsiveness"
represents maturational lag, differences in temperament, or rigid or
age-inappropriate parental or societal expectations. The extraordinary
discrepancy in the number of children with AD/HD in different regions
of the United States suggests the last possibility may be correct.

Some physicians (and teachers) are convinced that "I know it" [AD/HD]
when I see it." But the question is know what? A symptom is not a
diagnosis, and symptoms demand confirmatory testing in every other
area of medicine. Is response to stimulant medication a confirmatory
test? It has been well shown that stimulant medications affect both
normal and hyperkinetic children similarly. Note that suppression of a
behavior is not necessarily treatment of an underlying cause of the
behavior.

As an analogy, imagine a 9-year-old boy presents to your office with a
complaint of daily cough for several months. You would examine the
child and ask: (1) Does the cough interfere with school? (2) Does the
cough interfere with sleep? (3) Does the cough seem harsh at times?,
and so on. If the answer to 6 of 8 questions are "yes", you would
inform the parents that their son likely has excessive cough disorder
(ECD) and needs to be treated with a Schedule II cough suppressant
(i.e. codeine). The medication, you inform the parents, has been
documented to be effective up to 14 months, is better than behavior
therapy, and has manageable side effects. In this unlikely scenario,
you would not consider an underlying diagnosis of sinusitis, reactive
airway disease, tic, or even cystic fibrosis or immune deficiency. Of
course, this scenario is more hyperbole that analogy, but the
similarity to diagnosis, evaluation, and treatment of AD/HD is
worrisome.

There is currently thought about extending the diagnosis of AD/HD to
toddlers and preschoolers, even though the DSM-IV criteria do not
apply to this age group. Recent articles address the trend toward
giving stimulants to younger and younger children. One early childhood
specialist working in a public school setting notes that fully half of
the preschoolers in her and five other centers' experience AD/HD were
"found to be living in families with serious adult problems" (domestic
violence, maternal depression, sexual abuse, terminal illness in a
parent). She in collaboration with colleagues, identifies several
worrisome trends for under-fives, including (1) "multiple caregivers
and interruptions in care during the first 30 months of life," (2)
"limited understanding of "developmental appropriateness" by parents
and caregivers," and (3) "failure to foster self-soothing, adaptive
mastery, and the ability to delay gratification in mainstream
child-rearing." There is evidence that "experimental factors" in the
first 4 years may play a role in the pathogenesis of difficulty
sustaining attention and learning. The hypothesis, though fraught with
confounders, bears investigation.

We agree with the AAP guidelines that more that more research into the
etiology of the symptom complex of AD/HD is crucial. But rather than
another (pharmaceutical company-funded) medication trial, we need
prospective longitudinal studies that begin in infancy and toddlerhood
and that are conducted by professionals knowledgeable about child
development who are not funded by the drug industry. In summary, we
urge primary care pediatricians not to bow to pressure from schools,
from the pharmaceutical industry, or even from parents, to
conveniently label children and medicate them without evaluation that
truly addresses the origin of their symptoms. We must avoid the desire
for a "quick fix."

We live in a society today that unfortunately is under the spell of
pharmacuetical companies. Drug companies know that children and
seniors are easy prey. Many parents lack the knowledge or don't have
the time to do any research regarding ADD or AAP. Teachers are now
becoming the so called experts in recognizing children with ADD and
recommending that parents take their children to a professional for
further evaluation. I am appalled that many parents today are so
willing to put their children on these potent drugs with severe side
effects including suicidal ideologies. My own son I was told was ADD
until I nailed the entire "Child Study Team" with studies from medical
journals to prove that this does not exist. Eventually I was told he
was just bored in some of his classrooms. When I met the two teachers
who decided he had a problem, it is no wonder he was looking out the
window and fiddling around with his pencil and paper, I would have
been diagnosed myself with attention deficit disorder. BORING! Today
every behavior including shyness and blurting out answers is
patholigzed and a drug prescribed. Parents need to know that in many
schools each child that is labeled with ADD, etc, the school gets
extra funding for "special care". That tells me there is a bounty on
each childs head. Why not find out what the underlying cause might
be,,gee, perhaps I give my child too much sugar,,too much dye in their
fruit juices,,too much wheat, too much dairy that can cause brain
fog,,food allergies in general can be the culprit in causing
behavorial problems and really need to be addressed before parents run
to their doctors and put their children on these psychotropic drugs.





Mark Probert" Mark wrote in message et...
All children identified as suffering from AD/HD should be referred to
appropriate specialist for confirmation of diagnosis and proper treatment.



"Roman Bystrianyk" wrote in message
m...
http://www.healthsentinel.com/news.p...st_item&id=326

Lydia Furman, MD and Brian W. Berman, MD, "Rethinking the AAP
Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Guildlines", Clinical
Pediatrics, October 17, 2004,

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Guidelines for Attention
Deficit/Hyperactivity (AD/HD) are now several years old and have
garnered widespread acceptance. We urge our colleagues, however, to
reexamine and review the existing evidence critically, rather than
accept this approach at face value. The practice of medicine can only
benefit from open-minded rethinking of conventional treatments.

First, we are concerned about oversimplification. Do all children with
any school or behavioral problem likely have AD/HD? Can a medically
trained pediatrician "rule out" childhood depression, neurotic and
anxiety disorders, learning disabilities, mental retardation, family
dysfunction, remote or recent physical or sexual abuse, and inadequate
educational environment (in 3 office visits or less)? Does the
"serendipitous discovery 60 years ago that dl-amphetamine reduces
disruptive symptoms of hyperkinetic children" make stimulants the best
treatment for all overactive 6-12-year-old boys with school problems
(and preschoolers and adolescents)? We believe that the guildlines
vastly oversimplify and trivialize answer to important questions
parents may raise about their child, and ask primary care
pediatricians to conduct evaluations of mental health and educational
ability that are outside the scope of their expertise and training.
There are no data that primary care pediatricians can do this
successfully.

The AAP guildlines clearly state that there is no identification
etiology for AD/HD and that neither brain imaging,
electroencephalography, "continuous performance tests," nor any blood
test can distinguish children with or without AD/HD. In fact, "no
pathognonomic findings currently establish the diagnosis," and
decisions regarding diagnosis "depend on subjective judgments of
observers/reporters." Perhaps, then we should conclude that AD/HD is
actually not a specific condition or illness or "neurobehavioral
disorder." One might reasonably conclude that the "core symptoms" of
AD/HD, i.e., inattention, impulsivity and hyperactivity, are just that
- symptoms. Every child with a symptom or problem deserves an
appropriate and full evaluation. In this case an evaluation may need
to include a full educational evaluation and a psychological or
psychiatric evaluation by qualified professionals. The constraints of
time, resources, and money are considerable, but these should not
present an insurmountable barrier to an thoughtful approach to each
individual child, which is what our training demands of us.

Reducing diagnostic certainty to a behavioral checklist, as we have
done for AD/HD, is a leap of faith rather than a scientific plan.
Hinging treatment with a schedule II medication solely on potentially
overinclusive and at least subjective reports from parents and
teachers skips an important step the child and family deserve: an
evaluation. Others have considered the possibility that the symptom
complex of "inattentiveness, hyperactivity, and impulsiveness"
represents maturational lag, differences in temperament, or rigid or
age-inappropriate parental or societal expectations. The extraordinary
discrepancy in the number of children with AD/HD in different regions
of the United States suggests the last possibility may be correct.

Some physicians (and teachers) are convinced that "I know it" [AD/HD]
when I see it." But the question is know what? A symptom is not a
diagnosis, and symptoms demand confirmatory testing in every other
area of medicine. Is response to stimulant medication a confirmatory
test? It has been well shown that stimulant medications affect both
normal and hyperkinetic children similarly. Note that suppression of a
behavior is not necessarily treatment of an underlying cause of the
behavior.

As an analogy, imagine a 9-year-old boy presents to your office with a
complaint of daily cough for several months. You would examine the
child and ask: (1) Does the cough interfere with school? (2) Does the
cough interfere with sleep? (3) Does the cough seem harsh at times?,
and so on. If the answer to 6 of 8 questions are "yes", you would
inform the parents that their son likely has excessive cough disorder
(ECD) and needs to be treated with a Schedule II cough suppressant
(i.e. codeine). The medication, you inform the parents, has been
documented to be effective up to 14 months, is better than behavior
therapy, and has manageable side effects. In this unlikely scenario,
you would not consider an underlying diagnosis of sinusitis, reactive
airway disease, tic, or even cystic fibrosis or immune deficiency. Of
course, this scenario is more hyperbole that analogy, but the
similarity to diagnosis, evaluation, and treatment of AD/HD is
worrisome.

There is currently thought about extending the diagnosis of AD/HD to
toddlers and preschoolers, even though the DSM-IV criteria do not
apply to this age group. Recent articles address the trend toward
giving stimulants to younger and younger children. One early childhood
specialist working in a public school setting notes that fully half of
the preschoolers in her and five other centers' experience AD/HD were
"found to be living in families with serious adult problems" (domestic
violence, maternal depression, sexual abuse, terminal illness in a
parent). She in collaboration with colleagues, identifies several
worrisome trends for under-fives, including (1) "multiple caregivers
and interruptions in care during the first 30 months of life," (2)
"limited understanding of "developmental appropriateness" by parents
and caregivers," and (3) "failure to foster self-soothing, adaptive
mastery, and the ability to delay gratification in mainstream
child-rearing." There is evidence that "experimental factors" in the
first 4 years may play a role in the pathogenesis of difficulty
sustaining attention and learning. The hypothesis, though fraught with
confounders, bears investigation.

We agree with the AAP guidelines that more that more research into the
etiology of the symptom complex of AD/HD is crucial. But rather than
another (pharmaceutical company-funded) medication trial, we need
prospective longitudinal studies that begin in infancy and toddlerhood
and that are conducted by professionals knowledgeable about child
development who are not funded by the drug industry. In summary, we
urge primary care pediatricians not to bow to pressure from schools,
from the pharmaceutical industry, or even from parents, to
conveniently label children and medicate them without evaluation that
truly addresses the origin of their symptoms. We must avoid the desire
for a "quick fix."

In article ,
(lvlyritameetr) wrote:

We live in a society today that unfortunately is under the spell of
pharmacuetical companies. Drug companies know that children and
seniors are easy prey. Many parents lack the knowledge or don't have
the time to do any research regarding ADD or AAP. Teachers are now
becoming the so called experts in recognizing children with ADD and
recommending that parents take their children to a professional for
further evaluation. I am appalled that many parents today are so
willing to put their children on these potent drugs with severe side
effects including suicidal ideologies. My own son I was told was ADD
until I nailed the entire "Child Study Team" with studies from medical
journals to prove that this does not exist. Eventually I was told he
was just bored in some of his classrooms. When I met the two teachers
who decided he had a problem, it is no wonder he was looking out the
window and fiddling around with his pencil and paper, I would have
been diagnosed myself with attention deficit disorder. BORING! Today
every behavior including shyness and blurting out answers is
patholigzed and a drug prescribed. Parents need to know that in many
schools each child that is labeled with ADD, etc, the school gets
extra funding for "special care". That tells me there is a bounty on
each childs head. Why not find out what the underlying cause might
be,,gee, perhaps I give my child too much sugar,,too much dye in their
fruit juices,,too much wheat, too much dairy that can cause brain
fog,,food allergies in general can be the culprit in causing
behavorial problems and really need to be addressed before parents run
to their doctors and put their children on these psychotropic drugs.


At a gathering of publishers, editors, writers, artists, & actors, we got
onto the subject of ritelin as one of the most popular & most profitable
drugs going, & the high percentage of children on these things. The
conversation got pretty interesting because just about everyone in the
room felt they would probably have been medicated if they were kids today,
because their behavior was bored, distracted, & disruptive -- also their
play was imaginative, investigatively & intellectually curious, &
self-motivated to do stuff teachers & parents didn't arrange. If they'd
been drugged-out as kids, probably none of them would be successful in the
arts as they are now.

-paghat the ratgirl

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
Visit the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com

--
Donna DeVore Metler
Orff Music Specialist/Band/Choir
Mother to Angel Brian Anthony 1/1/2002, 22 weeks, severe PE/HELLP
and "Cuddles", EDD 12/24/04
"lvlyritameetr" wrote in message
om...
We live in a society today that unfortunately is under the spell of
pharmacuetical companies. Drug companies know that children and
seniors are easy prey. Many parents lack the knowledge or don't have
the time to do any research regarding ADD or AAP. Teachers are now
becoming the so called experts in recognizing children with ADD and
recommending that parents take their children to a professional for
further evaluation. I am appalled that many parents today are so
willing to put their children on these potent drugs with severe side
effects including suicidal ideologies. My own son I was told was ADD
until I nailed the entire "Child Study Team" with studies from medical
journals to prove that this does not exist. Eventually I was told he
was just bored in some of his classrooms. When I met the two teachers
who decided he had a problem, it is no wonder he was looking out the
window and fiddling around with his pencil and paper, I would have
been diagnosed myself with attention deficit disorder. BORING! Today
every behavior including shyness and blurting out answers is
patholigzed and a drug prescribed. Parents need to know that in many
schools each child that is labeled with ADD, etc, the school gets
extra funding for "special care". That tells me there is a bounty on
each childs head. Why not find out what the underlying cause might
be,,gee, perhaps I give my child too much sugar,,too much dye in their
fruit juices,,too much wheat, too much dairy that can cause brain
fog,,food allergies in general can be the culprit in causing
behavorial problems and really need to be addressed before parents run
to their doctors and put their children on these psychotropic drugs.

Students with ADD are not covered under IDEA (PL 94-142-the .law governing
special education). Rather, modifications for such students fall under the
rehabilitation act sec 504 and the ADA (504 plans). While IDEA is funded in
a marginal way by the federal government, students on 504 plans are NOT
funded under special education, and the school just is expected to make
accommodations.

ONLY if the child has a disability under IDEA, which requires more than just
ADD, does any additional funding become available, and in most cases the
funding provided is well under the additional costs for educating that child
because students qualified under IDEA effectively have a blank check drawn
on the school system for whatever their education costs.

It is MUCH cheaper for the schools for a child to remain undiagnosed,
whether with ADD/ADHD or anything else, because then there is no legal
obligation to provide services beyond those provided to everyone.

"lvlyritameetr" wrote in message
om...
We live in a society today that unfortunately is under the spell of
pharmacuetical companies. Drug companies know that children and
seniors are easy prey. Many parents lack the knowledge or don't have
the time to do any research regarding ADD or AAP. Teachers are now
becoming the so called experts in recognizing children with ADD and
recommending that parents take their children to a professional for
further evaluation. I am appalled that many parents today are so
willing to put their children on these potent drugs with severe side
effects including suicidal ideologies. My own son I was told was ADD
until I nailed the entire "Child Study Team" with studies from medical
journals to prove that this does not exist. Eventually I was told he
was just bored in some of his classrooms. When I met the two teachers
who decided he had a problem, it is no wonder he was looking out the
window and fiddling around with his pencil and paper, I would have
been diagnosed myself with attention deficit disorder. BORING! Today
every behavior including shyness and blurting out answers is
patholigzed and a drug prescribed. Parents need to know that in many
schools each child that is labeled with ADD, etc, the school gets
extra funding for "special care". That tells me there is a bounty on
each childs head. Why not find out what the underlying cause might
be,,gee, perhaps I give my child too much sugar,,too much dye in their
fruit juices,,too much wheat, too much dairy that can cause brain
fog,,food allergies in general can be the culprit in causing
behavorial problems and really need to be addressed before parents run
to their doctors and put their children on these psychotropic drugs.

Well, I'm afraid you can't convince me there's no such thing as ADD. I'm
willing to concede that it, and ADHD, are quite probably misdiagnosed with
an appalling frequency, but my daughter is definitely ADD. We are just now
trying drugs (not Ritalin -- Adderall) for the first time -- she's 12. From
age 5, we've tried dietary restrictions with much experimentation,
counseling, herbal remedies and even a dabble in homeo-pathic medicine.

She is also very artistically inclined, and besides drawing, painting, and
sculpture, plays and actually ENJOYS PRACTICING (eat your heart out,
parents) the flute, and has been doing by choice for nearly three years. Oh,
yeah, we remind her to practice, and sometimes it's tooth and nail to get
her started, but more often than not, she runs significantly over her
required amount of practice time (not only also since she started with the
Adderall, but _especially_ since).

We've had to adjust the dosage, as after the first introductory period, it
was too high, and she was almost bi-polar, as a result, but after a dosage
reduction, it's evened out and what a world of difference! We were really
concerned about the potential for stifling creativity, but with Adderall,
there has been no such effect -- her creative efforts have actually
improved, in part due to being able to concentrate enough to get the
drudgery out of the way so that she has more free time to explore her
creative pursuits.

I'm one of the first to be suspicious of pharmaceutical companies (and still
am), but in this case, the results speak for themselves.

Don't get me started on floride, though.


--
Byron "Barn" Canfield
-----------------------------
"Politics is a strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles."
-- Ambrose Bierce

"lvlyritameetr" wrote in message
om...

Edited for focus.

My own son I was told was ADD
until I nailed the entire "Child Study Team" with studies from medical
journals to prove that this does not exist.

Are you claiming that you found medical studies in peer reviewed medical
journals that prove that AD/HD does not exist? I would abosolutely love to
read them, so please provide the references so I can readily look them up.

Eventually I was told he
was just bored in some of his classrooms. When I met the two teachers
who decided he had a problem, it is no wonder he was looking out the
window and fiddling around with his pencil and paper, I would have
been diagnosed myself with attention deficit disorder. BORING! Today
every behavior including shyness and blurting out answers is
patholigzed and a drug prescribed.

If that was the sole criteria for AD/HD diagnosis, you would be right. Since
it is not, you are wrong.

Parents need to know that in many
schools each child that is labeled with ADD, etc, the school gets
extra funding for "special care".

That lie has been put to rest many years ago. I am quite familiar with
funding schools, having sat as a trustee on a school board, and know that
every child who is identified as requiring special education services
actually costs the district money. Parents often have to beg, fight and
litigate to get their children what they need. I have only been advocating
for children in this area for sixteen years, so, if I am wrong, please
document my error with some real proof.

That tells me there is a bounty on
each childs head.

It would be far better if there were a clue in some writer's heads.

Why not find out what the underlying cause might
be,,gee, perhaps I give my child too much sugar,,

Proven not to cause AD/HD, next...

too much dye in their
fruit juices,,

Proven not to cause AD/HD, next....

too much wheat

No proof of causality found, next...

too much dairy

No proof of causlaity found, next...

that can cause brain
fog,,

I won't comment on who has the brain fog....

food allergies in general can be the culprit in causing
behavorial problems and really need to be addressed before parents run
to their doctors and put their children on these psychotropic drugs.

Well, if you did have any real knowledge of the diagnostic protocol for
AD/HD, you would know that it requires that all other possible causes of the
behavioral symptoms be ruled out before a diagnosis of AD/HD can be made.
IOW, what you want is already on the books.

"paghat" wrote in message
news
In article ,
(lvlyritameetr) wrote:

We live in a society today that unfortunately is under the spell of
pharmacuetical companies. Drug companies know that children and
seniors are easy prey. Many parents lack the knowledge or don't have
the time to do any research regarding ADD or AAP. Teachers are now
becoming the so called experts in recognizing children with ADD and
recommending that parents take their children to a professional for
further evaluation. I am appalled that many parents today are so
willing to put their children on these potent drugs with severe side
effects including suicidal ideologies. My own son I was told was ADD
until I nailed the entire "Child Study Team" with studies from medical
journals to prove that this does not exist. Eventually I was told he
was just bored in some of his classrooms. When I met the two teachers
who decided he had a problem, it is no wonder he was looking out the
window and fiddling around with his pencil and paper, I would have
been diagnosed myself with attention deficit disorder. BORING! Today
every behavior including shyness and blurting out answers is
patholigzed and a drug prescribed. Parents need to know that in many
schools each child that is labeled with ADD, etc, the school gets
extra funding for "special care". That tells me there is a bounty on
each childs head. Why not find out what the underlying cause might
be,,gee, perhaps I give my child too much sugar,,too much dye in their
fruit juices,,too much wheat, too much dairy that can cause brain
fog,,food allergies in general can be the culprit in causing
behavorial problems and really need to be addressed before parents run
to their doctors and put their children on these psychotropic drugs.


At a gathering of publishers, editors, writers, artists, & actors, we got
onto the subject of ritelin as one of the most popular & most profitable
drugs going, & the high percentage of children on these things. The
conversation got pretty interesting because just about everyone in the
room felt they would probably have been medicated if they were kids today,
because their behavior was bored, distracted, & disruptive -- also their
play was imaginative, investigatively & intellectually curious, &
self-motivated to do stuff teachers & parents didn't arrange. If they'd
been drugged-out as kids, probably none of them would be successful in the
arts as they are now.

Medication for AD/HD does not affect creativity.

"Donna Metler" wrote in message
. ..


--
Donna DeVore Metler
Orff Music Specialist/Band/Choir
Mother to Angel Brian Anthony 1/1/2002, 22 weeks, severe PE/HELLP
and "Cuddles", EDD 12/24/04
"lvlyritameetr" wrote in message
om...
We live in a society today that unfortunately is under the spell of
pharmacuetical companies. Drug companies know that children and
seniors are easy prey. Many parents lack the knowledge or don't have
the time to do any research regarding ADD or AAP. Teachers are now
becoming the so called experts in recognizing children with ADD and
recommending that parents take their children to a professional for
further evaluation. I am appalled that many parents today are so
willing to put their children on these potent drugs with severe side
effects including suicidal ideologies. My own son I was told was ADD
until I nailed the entire "Child Study Team" with studies from medical
journals to prove that this does not exist. Eventually I was told he
was just bored in some of his classrooms. When I met the two teachers
who decided he had a problem, it is no wonder he was looking out the
window and fiddling around with his pencil and paper, I would have
been diagnosed myself with attention deficit disorder. BORING! Today
every behavior including shyness and blurting out answers is
patholigzed and a drug prescribed. Parents need to know that in many
schools each child that is labeled with ADD, etc, the school gets
extra funding for "special care". That tells me there is a bounty on
each childs head. Why not find out what the underlying cause might
be,,gee, perhaps I give my child too much sugar,,too much dye in their
fruit juices,,too much wheat, too much dairy that can cause brain
fog,,food allergies in general can be the culprit in causing
behavorial problems and really need to be addressed before parents run
to their doctors and put their children on these psychotropic drugs.

Students with ADD are not covered under IDEA (PL 94-142-the .law governing
special education).

Unless they have other learning disabilities which would be comvered without
the diagnosis of AD/HD. Under the first Bush administration--1991--the Dep't
of Education issued a memo dealing with this subject.

Rather, modifications for such students fall under the
rehabilitation act sec 504 and the ADA (504 plans). While IDEA is funded
in
a marginal way by the federal government, students on 504 plans are NOT
funded under special education, and the school just is expected to make
accommodations.

Said accommodations are at the local taxpayers expense.

ONLY if the child has a disability under IDEA, which requires more than
just
ADD, does any additional funding become available, and in most cases the
funding provided is well under the additional costs for educating that
child
because students qualified under IDEA effectively have a blank check drawn
on the school system for whatever their education costs.

It is MUCH cheaper for the schools for a child to remain undiagnosed,
whether with ADD/ADHD or anything else, because then there is no legal
obligation to provide services beyond those provided to everyone.

Well put.

On Tue, 19 Oct 2004 18:55:54 GMT,Ritalin Pusher "Mark Probert" Mark
wrote:


Gibberish.


.... Ritalin Pushing Gibberish.

http://www.humanticsfoundation.com/P...stProbert.html