How many ADD kids does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
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Hey, wanna go ride bikes?
How many ADD kids does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
...
...
Hey, wanna go ride bikes?
Lmao, I like.Originally Posted by Amaster42
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.
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".
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.)
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?
*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.
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.
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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]
Trevelyan
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Winner of the Teh Winnar! award in the first writing contest.
There ain't no party like my nanna's tea party!
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.
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.
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