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I understood what you meant. I was merely trying to illuminate the difference between the denotation of the word hyper (which you've provided) and the connotation of the word hyper (which I've provided). We often use words in ways that differ from their official definitions/denotations. That was my understanding of Margritte's point.
I understood what you meant. I was merely trying to illuminate the difference between the denotation of the word hyper (which you've provided) and the connotation of the word hyper (which I've provided). We often use words in ways that differ from their official definitions/denotations. That was my understanding of Margritte's point.
If you actually bothered to read the medical definitions that NoExcuses quoted you would see that they essentially contain the same criteria. If we had a "hyper" child we would say they are normal and just need to burn off some steam, or something else. If we have the other type of "hyper" we prescribe medicine so they aren't hyper anymore. The exact definition of hyper remains the same in either case, it's just that one is viewed as normal and one is viewed as a psychiatric disorder.
Again, I'm not, nor is anyone else on the thread railing against ADHD in it's entirety, we're merely pointing out that it has rapidly become a diagnosis dujour. Some people (formercalifornian's son for instance) have legitimate ADHD that requires treatment. Still others are reaching for a diagnosis to explain behavior that IMO just doesn't fit into the mold. Diagnostic rates are increasing because we changed the criteria.
Look at it like a spectrum:
Normal ----> "hyper" ----> ADHD
All we have done is move the line on the spectrum closer to normal to envelope more people that are more on the side of hyper than they are on ADHD and started handing out the meds. The problem with this is twofold:
1. It creates a stigma for people who have legitimate ADHD as it creates enough doubt regarding the condition in total.
2. We end up with kids on meds who could have been helped through other methods and since we paint with such a broad brush and have loose criteria, we even end up with kids who are "normal" being diagnosed simply at the request of a parent.
This ties back in to my semi-rant on schools. Just as it was in Tom and Huck's day schools are still just a box where everyone is expected to be the same and strive for the same goals. We don't allow deviation to exist, especially if it contradicts with the way that we choose for people to learn. The solution then is to take the outliers and make them normal. Previously this was done through punishment and other "demeaning" methods or outright expulsion. Now, we have designer drugs (most ADHD meds are based on the same compounds that provide stimulation from cocaine and amphetamines, but without the addictive qualities) and classifications to categorize kids and shuffle them along. I wonder why so many teaching publications contain advertisements for ADHD drugs...hmmm?
All I am arguing for is stricter diagnostic and treatment standards with drugs as an absolute last resort when other treatments fail. Doping kids because they aren't compliant with the way we think they should be does no one any good and the schools need to change to accomodate this among many other things.
Quote: What is attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)?
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a condition in which a person has trouble paying attention and focusing on tasks, tends to act without thinking, and has trouble sitting still. What are the symptoms?
The three types of ADHD symptoms include:
Trouble paying attention. People with ADHD are easily distracted and have a hard time focusing on any one task.
Trouble sitting still for even a short time. This is called hyperactivity. Children with ADHD may squirm, fidget, or run around at the wrong times. Teens and adults often feel restless and fidgety and are not able to enjoy reading or other quiet activities.
Acting before thinking. People with ADHD may talk too loud, laugh too loud, or become angrier than the situation calls for. Children may not be able to wait for their turn or to share. This makes it hard for them to play with other children. Teens and adults seem to "leap before they look." They may make quick decisions that have a long-term impact on their lives. They may spend too much money or change jobs often.
Thats me.
Well except the quick decisions and often changing jobs bit.
Mind you these paragraphs describe most kids especially boys. Maybe as a society, we expect more sitting down as we no longer need the boys to spend the day hunting for our dinner.
I have to be honest, there was a time I doubted the existance of ADHD. I have since changed my mind after my son's friend, dx'd ADHD, spent the night at my house. This child was not only 'hyper', but totally unable to focus on anything for longer than 5 minutes. He wants to watch a movie he picked out, but could not even sit still long enough for me to get the movie in the DVD. It went on like this until he fell asleep and continued the minute he woke up (at 5 am!)!!
That being said, I still feel there is overdiagnosing going on and the numbers reported by the CDC are skewed. Many school districts in many states allow the school to dx children with ADHD and autism for educational purposes. Many of these kids do not have a dx from a medical doctor, and the CDC in ludes these children in their reporting.
I also wanted to express my opinion that the schools, and this includes school psyches, school therapists and teachers, DO pressure parents to dx their kids when they don't fit their ideal mold. And it often DOES start with the teacher. This is who usually gets the ball rolling simply by expressng concerns to the parents. I think it is irresponsible for a teacher to plant the seed in a parent's mind, then adopt the attitude that they have nothing to do with the child getting dx'd. Untrue! Because while the teacher may describe the behaviors only, this is often followed up with notes and phone calls home repeatedly regarding the child's behavior until the parent takes action. Usually the action the teacher expects is a visit to a physician.
Many parents, even highly educated ones, feel a teacher is more qualified regarding these issues and never think to question where he/she received his/her expertise, take their child to a doctor and insist there is a problem because the teacher says there is.
In most cass, if not all cases, a teacher is not qualified to recognize these disorders. And while I realize tea hers are not allowed to dx or tell a parent what they suspect a child' disorder might be, it's really not too hard to figure out exactly which disorder a teacher is implying when they rattle off their list of behaviors.
Another thing to be aware of is both autistic and ADHD symptoms need to be present in all areas of a child' environment, not just the classroom.
We had a kid sleepover at our place. He is on Rittalin. Each morning one pill with breakfast. His parents arrived at 4pm and the kid was like the walking dead. I suggested that they take him to the doc with a view to getting the dose reduced. The parent commeted that maybe its our no softdrink and no sugar diet. Well thats true. In our house the kid had had no softdrink (much to the kids disapointment). In his house he drinks soft drink all the time. and so on.
So to me, before people consider drugs, they should check out the diet thing and that is hard. You just try changing your own diet. Its hard real hard. Old habits die dard.
We had a kid sleepover at our place. He is on Rittalin. Each morning one pill with breakfast. His parents arrived at 4pm and the kid was like the walking dead. I suggested that they take him to the doc with a view to getting the dose reduced. The parent commeted that maybe its our no softdrink and no sugar diet. Well thats true. In our house the kid had had no softdrink (much to the kids disapointment). In his house he drinks soft drink all the time. and so on.
So to me, before people consider drugs, they should check out the diet thing and that is hard. You just try changing your own diet. Its hard real hard. Old habits die dard.
I honestly believe that parents listen to the teacher suggest something is wrong with their child and have them put on drugs without taking a look at other possibilities like diet.
When my youngest was very small, she would get hysterical and completely unmanageable from time to time and I could not figure out what her problem was. For a while I tried to pay close attention to what happened immediately prior to her going off and discovered that even one chocolate chip I gave her while I was making cookies would put her in such a state that she became a totally different child for two or three hours.
After experimenting with giving her only one a couple times, I realized she had a hypersensitivity to the caffiene in the chocolate chip. All it would take was one.
After finding that out, I kept close watch that she didn't get anything with caffiene and that behavior completely stopped. Now she's 16 and doesn't even like chocolate. It still makes a difference in her behavior but not to the same degree. If she drinks soda, she's wired for hours.
No doctor or drugs necessary; just some effort on my part.
My point is, perhaps the boy who visited you, Aidxen has a hypersensitivity to caffiene (in the soda) and the parents have him on drugs because giving him drugs is easier than changing his diet. The drugs work to couteract the caffiene, and when he had none at your house, he ended up much lower functioning than he should.
That should have been a wake up call for his parents to say the least.
Even worse---Mozart and Einstein would be identified as autistic in utero, and aborted.
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