ADHD Disqualifying

[docmirror]

Guys I'm clearly sensing the hate for the education system in this country. Honestly, let's not throw stones here. Stop using offensive phrases like schools are doping up kids who don't fit into a sense of "normal.". That's absurdly not true and completely offensive to the teaching profession. Show some respect and stop talking on a topic for which the vast majority of you have proven your ignorance over and over again.

http://www.cdc.gov/Features/dsADHD/

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/childh...reased-25-percent-2001-2011/story?id=18277934

http://www.pharmacytimes.com/news/ADHD-Diagnoses-in-Children-Increase-Worrying-Some-Doctors

Medication overuse is a concern. Stimulant sales have risen from $4 billion in 2007 to $9 billion in 2012. “We need to ensure balance,” Thomas R. Frieden, MD, MPH, director of the CDC, told the Times. “The right medications for ADHD, given to the right people, can make a huge difference. Unfortunately, misuse appears to be growing at an alarming rate.” Geographic variations in ADHD diagnosis were also notable. In Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, South Carolina, and Tennessee, roughly 23% of school-age boys were diagnosed with ADHD. In Colorado and Nevada, fewer than 10% were. -These are statements from a major Pharma site!

I can do this all day. Notwithstanding my own personal evidence. You want to call me ignorant on the issue, maybe you should step off and buy a clue. It's rampant, it's out of control, and the main reason is the additional funding provided by the progressive school admin system which seeks increased funding from both state and fed ed sites. Don't believe us, but you are wrong, wrong, wrong.

 

[N801BH]

I can't answer that question. My sense is simply this. This country has developed a tremendous interest in learning how the brain works fairly recently. The scientific based information simply did not exist long ago. I'm sure because of a heightened state of knowledge coupled with an intense increase in standardized testing parents and schools have become more aware of things than 30 years ago. When students do poorly on a standardized test, parents ask question and want answers. If that continues time and time again, well then it is worth a shot to try an help figure out why is going on here.

By the way, just because a child is diagnosed with ADD does not require they use medication. That is a parent choice, one that is truly hard!

Good answer.... I think....

35 years ago the USA was tops in student knowledge and productivity... Now we are 32 with some third world countries out scoring us....

Why is that ??? Cause it surely ain't the money we have thrown at our education system..

 

[Old Geek]

We raised our daughter in a small college community known for it's affluent and *cough* intelligent population. She said that at least half of her high school was getting physiological therapy and medication. It's not just the urban schools.

 

[jspilot]

I'm sure we are not going to get any further on this because people don't see the distinction I'm making. I'll try one last time- schools only play a role in this ADD issue. It is not the sole job of the school to label, diagnose, teach and support. I teach kids- I don't label, I don't diagnose. I will raise a concern if a kid is struggling because I want that kid to do well! In full disclosure I work at a private school so funding is never enters my thoughts at all! I can't speak to the public system!

Any facts that discus medicating and diagnosing are better suited at the medical field. Parents decide to medicate kids, doctors diagnose.

I hate the idea of medicating kids. It makes me sick. That's why I defended the nameless parents who would take offense to phrases like "doping kids up" and "drugging a generation." I am very comfortable doing that will continue to so for as long as required. It's an intensely emotional decision to make so my only hope is people respect that.

I can't stop the hate of teachers. It's just a shame we can't seem to separate the system from the individual teacher!

 

[jspilot]

Good answer.... I think....

35 years ago the USA was tops in student knowledge and productivity... Now we are 32 with some third world countries out scoring us....

Why is that ??? Cause it surely ain't the money we have thrown at our education system..

No clue Ben another impossible question to answer. I'd say that this speaks way more to the culture of society than it does to every school in America! I'm not saying you do this but some people honestly just dump everything onto the schools plate and say fix everything.

 

[JHW]

it could also have something to do with the fact that the schools used to teach language, mathematics, geography, history. Now they teach multiculturalism, revisionist history, tolerance, etc.

 

[N801BH]

No clue Ben another impossible question to answer. I'd say that this speaks way more to the culture of society than it does to every school in America! I'm not saying you do this but some people honestly just dump everything onto the schools plate and say fix everything.

I will say the "family unit" is a huge factor in todays kids being unruly, rude, brats, etc, etc, etc...

Nowadays,,, teacher are just glorified babysitters and their hands are tied to prevent them from educating this generation...

Ps... I will research it further but I was under the impression private schools get funding for ADD/ADHD just like public schools do...

 

[RJM62]

I'm sure we are not going to get any further on this because people don't see the distinction I'm making. I'll try one last time- schools only play a role in this ADD issue. It is not the sole job of the school to label, diagnose, teach and support. I teach kids- I don't label, I don't diagnose. I will raise a concern if a kid is struggling because I want that kid to do well! In full disclosure I work at a private school so funding is never enters my thoughts at all! I can't speak to the public system!

Any facts that discus medicating and diagnosing are better suited at the medical field. Parents decide to medicate kids, doctors diagnose.

I hate the idea of medicating kids. It makes me sick. That's why I defended the nameless parents who would take offense to phrases like "doping kids up" and "drugging a generation." I am very comfortable doing that will continue to so for as long as required. It's an intensely emotional decision to make so my only hope is people respect that.

I can't stop the hate of teachers. It's just a shame we can't seem to separate the system from the individual teacher!

Well I wish the heck you'd said that earlier. Although I suspected as much in the post a few notches up where you described the process your school uses to make diagnosis. No public school I have ever dealt with does anything even close to that sort of testing. Private schools, on the other hand, are primarily responsible to parents; so I am not in the least bit surprised that your school does the right thing. So I apologize for my abrasive attitude.

People in my family have been majorly getting on my case for disclosing too much about them, so all I can say is that if you ever get around to my neck of the woods (or I to yours), I'll show you some real-life documents detailing how the process works on the inner-city, public school side of things. It will give you nightmares.

-Rich

 

[Henning]

Glad you chimed back in...

My question, as others have asked too..

Why is ADHD /ADD so widespread now as opposed to 30 years ago.. Climate, paranoia, scam, diet, ????

Well, interesting question. What major changes have we seen? There are the cultural changes of single parent families where supervision and discipline are lacking. This would only be an answer if one believes that ADD/ADHD is not a new condition, but a new diagnosis where the condition was previously treated through self control that used to be maintained by corporal punishment both at home and in the schools. There are good arguments in this regard.

Then there is the dietary argument. The main changes we have seen in the last 30 years are the replacement of sugar with high fructose corn syrup and GMO "Frankenfoods". There is no 'evidence' of this because we have not done any proper testing to produce any evidence. The fact that we have former Monsanto executives at both FDA and on the Supreme Court are disconcerting to many.

Then there is the monetary benefit to the medical and pharmaceutical industries to having these 'conditions' controlled by drugs.

My question to the education industry is why with the increase of these drugs in use, do the educational results continue to decline? If this was all so effective I would think that we would see an opposite result.

 

[N801BH]

Well, interesting question. What major changes have we seen? There are the cultural changes of single parent families where supervision and discipline are lacking. This would only be an answer if one believes that ADD/ADHD is not a new condition, but a new diagnosis where the condition was previously treated through self control that used to be maintained by corporal punishment both at home and in the schools. There are good arguments in this regard.

Then there is the dietary argument. The main changes we have seen in the last 30 years are the replacement of sugar with high fructose corn syrup and GMO "Frankenfoods". There is no 'evidence' of this because we have not done any proper testing to produce any evidence. The fact that we have former Monsanto executives at both FDA and on the Supreme Court are disconcerting to many.

Then there is the monetary benefit to the medical and pharmaceutical industries to having these 'conditions' controlled by drugs.

My question to the education industry is why with the increase of these drugs in use, do the educational results continue to decline? If this was all so effective I would think that we would see an opposite result.

That is the one trillion dollar question.

 

[Matthew]

My daughter is a couple months away from college graduation as a HS English teacher. She's been a student teacher now in a couple different schools and districts from remedial classes to AP. I'll have to ask her about this stuff.

 

[jspilot]

Well I wish the heck you'd said that earlier. Although I suspected as much in the post a few notches up where you described the process your school uses to make diagnosis. No public school I have ever dealt with does anything even close to that sort of testing. Private schools, on the other hand, are primarily responsible to parents; so I am not in the least bit surprised that your school does the right thing. So I apologize for my abrasive attitude.

People in my family have been majorly getting on my case for disclosing too much about them, so all I can say is that if you ever get around to my neck of the woods (or I to yours), I'll show you some real-life documents detailing how the process works on the inner-city, public school side of things. It will give you nightmares.

-Rich

Hey Rich I'm glad we came together on this a little bit and no need to apologize. I would be furious too if my family was getting railroaded by an inadequate system. I'm sad to hear you have documents that show this in action! It just should not go on!

Again I can't answer why these medications don't seem to improve test scores. The truth is as someone mentioned before, often kids with ADD have above average to average IQ's and these medications don't make them smarter or better test takers. For some, they simply make students more capable of learning by allowing them to remain available for instruction for longer. The sad fact is with that on any state or national standardized testing( which is vastly different from cognitive ability testing), they rarely, if ever, actualy measure actual intelligent and almost always measure the degree to which a student has learned the material covered. If a student has focus issues and can't stay on topic they learn way less, and therefore do much worse on the state/ national tests.

Ben, yes private schools can and do receive funding but I believe the process is totally different. The school I work at does not receive state or national funding at all so I can honestly say it never crosses my mind.