ADHD preschoolers helped by structure, consistency

[Prrkitty]

http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/conditions/09/05/preschool.adhd.ap/index.html

This might help for older children and adults as well :) <hug>

[Glenn the Great]

ADD and ADHD are a joke. Almost all of my teenage friends say they are diagnosed with it, and so are a lot of my older friends. Everyone has ADD these days. In college, everyone who talks in class or doesn't pay attention claims ADD when confronted. If a student fails a test, it is because his or her ADD prevented them from paying enough attention.

I think that ADD and ADHD are nothing but an excuse for poor self-discipline. It also looks like elementary school and parental discipline has been too soft. When I was young, teachers and adults were very vicious at discipline. Too vicious. While it certainly worked, everyone around me was saying things like...

"When I have kids, or if I were the teacher, I'd never punish the kids and they'd all think I was cool."

It seems that people are making good on that promise, and now we have lots of little kids screaming and running around while the mother waddles after them going "Okaaay Billy, let's tone things down a little bit."

[The_Amaster]

On the front page the title here is reduced to "ADHD preschoolers helped by..." and I swear my first thought was "...ritalin"

Seriously, though, Glenn's right. It's "fashionable" now to have ADD or ADHD, or some other disorder. All the cool kids have them.

While I believe that in some cases there are true examples of the above, a lot of them are just people blowing little personality things out of proportion.

[Trevelyan_06]

I too think that ADHD and ADD are over used. However, this is an actual disease that some kids have to suffer with. What sucks is all the lazy sons of bitches that use ADHD and ADD as an excuse make it that much harder for those that legitimately have the disease.

Part of the reason there has been such and upsurge in the number of ADD/ADHD diagnosis I believe is the current totally unrealistic push for higher eduction. Not that I believe that a college education is not a noble goal to work for, some parents need to realize that their little sweet heart is not college material. When he's 14 and still trying to put the square pegs in the round hole, chances are, he's not college material. Parents, though, just HAVE to get their kids into the most prestigious program in the most ivy of the ivy league school. When junior doesn't get the grades needed, then something must be wrong! It's not that the kid just doesn't try, no he has ADHD/ADD and therefore needs special allowances for tests, etc.

I wish I could find the article I read a little while back that dealt with this subject. They found that in some upper class neighborhoods many of the children were diagnosed with various learning disabilities and therefore rated special allowances during test times. Turns out these parents had enough money to go to a doctor and hound him until he found some type of BS condition to diagnose their kid with which in turn would mean that the kid would get special allowances come test time for that all important SAT time. It was disgusting

[AtmaWeapon]

All the cool kids have Asperger's these days anyway :toast:

[mikeron]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJYQnf2KJ4c

[Lilith]

I kind of agree. When I was in therapy they immediately tried to pin ADHD or w/e on me for lack of concentration instead of like...anxiety. Which is what I was in there for. Because it's harder to treat duuurrrr

[Dechipher]

My friend had a huge problem last year (freshman year of college.) He couldn't focus or understand a lot of concepts in class, but apparently over the summer he went to the doctor and they diagnosed him with ADD and put him on ritalin. Now he's fine and he can cope with school and everything, so I don't know. I know it's certainly not something that is BS. I'm fairly certain that I've got some form of ADD, probably ADHD, but I've never been to the doctor and I'm not on any meds for it, so I don't ever use that as an excuse. I don't think I've ever said "Hey, relax, I've got ADD" for anything before.

[erm2003]

I don't think you can discount all cases of ADD/ADHD as bull. There are definitely some people out there who have real problems keeping attention and need help with it if it is severe enough, as pointed out in the example Dechipher gave. The problem is there are many who try to use ADD/ADHD as an excuse for laziness or a general lack of interest in something. There is a difference between not being able to pay attention and choosing not to pay attention. Instead of getting to the root of the problem, some parents and doctors find it easier to medicate and claim that it helps instead of doing something about the real issue.

The sad part is when there are people out there who actually need the medication but don't take it, or if they are minors, their parents don't "believe" in medication even though it could really help their child.

[Sute]

lmao, this girl was jealous of me for having ADD, what's funny is that I know ADD/ADHD is a joke and I make fun of it all the time.

Then, that same girl's mother rushed her four year old son to the clinic and he was diagnosed with ADD because he'd rather play video games than focus on doing chores. What a horrible future that child will have.

[The_Amaster]

How many ADD kids does it take to screw in a lightbulb?

...

...

Hey, wanna go ride bikes?

[Sute]

How many ADD kids does it take to screw in a lightbulb?

...

...

Hey, wanna go ride bikes?

Lmao, I like.
What's great is that my mom was jealous of me for having ADD, so she went out and bought THICK BORING BOOKS on how to get rid of ADD. Pretty sure giving a boring, lengthy book to someone with an attention deficiency disorder is an oxy moron.

[AtmaWeapon]

My mother works or has worked with kids that display pretty much every developmental disorder from ADD to Cerebral Palsy. ADD/ADHD is over-diagnosed but it is definitely not a fantasy. Some kids can't focus on a conversation long enough to answer the first question you ask them. A typical conversation with a child who truly suffers from severe ADD would go something like:
Therapist: Now, what color is this?
Child: We have a refrigerator at my house!
Therapist: What color is the refrigerator?
Child: I like to jump on the Koopa Troopas when I play Mario.

As you can imagine, teaching a child with such a condition how to read and write is difficult at best. It takes powerful medicine and years of therapy to train these kids how to function well in society. The worst part is when the parents make the child aware of their condition in a bad way*. There's no reason why a parent should hide the fact that their child is different, but ADD does not mean the child is stupid. When the parents introduce the disorder in such a way that "You act different because you can't help it and your teachers know this and will make allowances", then quite often the child acts out simply because they know they can't be called on it. It's much better to introduce it as "You are different and there's nothing wrong with that, but you do not have a golden ticket to do whatever you want. You will still be punished for poor behavior." You can disagree if you like, but I've heard a behavioral therapist with 20+ years of experience with ADD children gripe about this so I'm confident this is correct.

I guess the point I'm trying to make is that ADD is a valid condition, and in rare cases the person is uncontrollable. However it the definition for the disorder has had its scope widened enough to basically include "being a kid". There are some people who really struggle with this and have to dramatically change their lives to overcome it. It's not fair to trivialize their efforts because some parents think raising a kid is as easy as it looked on TV.

*Actually, far worse is when the parents refuse there is anything wrong with their child. A lot of people with perfection complexes refuse to acknowledge there is anything wrong with their child and insist that the teachers just don't understand how to handle their kid. The children end up being babied through an education system that values "percentage of students passed" over "percentage of students who display understanding of the curriculum" (thanks No Child Left Behind!) and ultimately become unsuccessful, unhappy adults that live with their parents, who insist the world is simply being unfair.

It's a shame these parents are so certain that having a child with a disorder is a mark of shame. Most kids that go through a good therapy program grow into perfectly normal adults. Severe cases will result in a person who is cognizant of their problem and just has to warn coworkers that they have issues with focusing, but "requires special consideration" is much better than "cannot function in normal society".

[The_Amaster]

Oh yeah, I know that ADD is a genuine condition. I have a friend with a legitimate ADD. Even with medication he still can't pay attention all that well. But a lot of times people say that they or their children have ADD because A.) They want to feel special. B.)They want the privliges that oftentimes go with it, or C.) The misdiagnose small symptoms, like, say, not being able to pay attention to a reading of "The Great Gatsby" in one sitting.

And like Atma Weapon said, the denial parents are always diasasters, ADD or no. It's not always even having a perfect child. Sometimes it's just this new policy of "self esteem" where a child has to think that they are perfect in every way, and that the rest of the world is what's messed up.(I also have a (former) friend like this) One of my biggest beefs with the whole "special treatment for ADD and other condition kids" is that I think it's really mean. It's like their softening them up by giving them extra help, so that when they get out in the real world where everyone isn't willing to work around their condition, they can't cope.(Mind you, I'm not talking about the true mentally disabled, like the retarded and such. They need all the help they can.)

[Aegix Drakan]

Seriously, though, Glenn's right. It's "fashionable" now to have ADD or ADHD, or some other disorder. All the cool kids have them

:cool:Well I guess that make me part of the "cool crowd" then, eh? Oh man...I can't believe I said "eh"...

Oh, and did I mention I have aspergers too?:naughty:


*ahem* So yeah, I got diagnosed with ADD (no hyperactivity) when I was real young. Yeah, I can't seem to focus on anything very well if I'm not genuinely interested, but that aside, I've had a perfectly normal life. I turned down all special help I was given, ever, and I just dealt with it mostly on my own (ok, I'll admit I've been on ritalin for a long long time, but I've never wanted extra attention). So far, so good. A couple of failed course in college, but that's it. Never failed anything else in my school career. Personally, I don't see my "condition" as a problem. Sure my imagination is almost always in overdrive, but that's not a bad thing. Makes life that much less boring. that, and I'll always have interesting ideas for stories/games/books I want to make. XD.




I guess the point I'm trying to make is that ADD is a valid condition, and in rare cases the person is uncontrollable. However it the definition for the disorder has had its scope widened enough to basically include "being a kid".

Yeah, I agree. A lot of peole are simply going "WTFBBQQ!!! My son is all hyper! quick, get him the...the...the med stuff there!" It's rediculous. they just want an excuse to calm the kid down, so they don't have to deal with his monkey-like attitude, which is what's normal for a kid anyway.

[Trevelyan_06]

. It's much better to introduce it as "You are different and there's nothing wrong with that, but you do not have a golden ticket to do whatever you want. You will still be punished for poor behavior."
[/i]

But Atma, the would mean that parents would have to work with their child that is afflicted with ADD/ADHD in some type of special program. Further, it would require that a special program and understanding be reached with every one of the child's teachers. This would entail much extra parent/teacher time. It's almost as if you're saying that someone with an ADD child should spend their time helping that child overcome the affliction. Why can't they just let the system medicate the child and take care of him/her? Isn't that what it's all their for? [/end sarcasm]

[Glenn the Great]

The best treatment plan I've ever seen proposed is that of Dr. Richard Shay. It's such a common sense approach. I'm in a hurry here, so rather than describe it to you, let me just show you this video which sums it up nicely.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJYQnf2KJ4c

[erm2003]

The best treatment plan I've ever seen proposed is that of Dr. Richard Shay. It's such a common sense approach. I'm in a hurry here, so rather than describe it to you, let me just show you this video which sums it up nicely.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJYQnf2KJ4c

I love that scene! Thank god we really can't do that or my brother would have been popped a lot when he was younger.

[Sute]

My mother works or has worked with kids that display pretty much every developmental disorder from ADD to Cerebral Palsy. ADD/ADHD is over-diagnosed but it is definitely not a fantasy. Some kids can't focus on a conversation long enough to answer the first question you ask them. A typical conversation with a child who truly suffers from severe ADD would go something like:
Therapist: Now, what color is this?
Child: We have a refrigerator at my house!
Therapist: What color is the refrigerator?
Child: I like to jump on the Koopa Troopas when I play Mario.

Oh man, that's crazy how quick it is. It's just ADD is ruled out as fake since it's overly diagnosed, so there's only like, 1% of kids who honestly have this disorder. It's so horrible how parents are quick to rush their kids out to the doctor, let along the doctor rushing quick to diagnose them with a handicap.

There was a kid in class who messed around a lot, he was just a jerk, yet the teacher would pull him aside and tell him to knock it off. The kid would just give a victim look and say, "I HAVE ADD!!!!!!!!".. lame, seriously, he didn't have it at all, especially compared to the example you gave.