OT behavioral/medical question

My son suffers from ADD. Although one of the symptoms is the inability to concentrate on something for any length of time, many people with ADD can hyper-concentrate if something sparks their imagination. (usually something fun!) DS2 is still on medication for ADD at 34, and also suffers from depression and panic attacks. His ADD wasn't diagnosed properly until he was at University, and they had a whole team testing him over a whole semester. He is gifted, and was able to cope well enough to mask symptoms. Also, most males have the H in there too - hyperactivity, and my son was a couch potato. I shudder when I hear that a teacher suggest that a child has ADD - a full, careful workup should be done by medical professionals. The medication is not to be taken lightly.

A teacher should not go beyond stating that he seems to exhibit some behaviors that are typical of ADD but that only a medical professional can make a diagnosis. I usually suggest a pediatric neurologist be consulted. It is my understanding that LICENSED Clinical (not school) psychologists are allowed to diagnos, but I would still recommend a neurologist.

L>I shudder when I hear that a teacher suggest that a child has ADD - a full,

Linda PATCHogue, NY

Oh. My. Dear. Lord.

Surely, surely, surely, you *must* be joking, right?????

*taking a deep breath - I'm shocked, upset, and angry over what I've just read - so I can only *imagine* how you must feel*

NightMist, I honestly would sue the living pants off of them (them? the school, the judge that would allow such underhanded tactics, the local child protective agency ... you name it). You did *not* deserve to be treated that way - nor your hubby, nor your kids. To think that the school system indulged in such immoral, unethical tactics to manipulate you - especially when it's clear that you *were* acting in the best interests of your child(ren) ... it's absolutely stymying. As Jeanne would say, I'm honestly gobsmacked.

I know it takes money to fight the system ... and I know that everyone's not rich (I certainly am not), but good Lord above, in this case, I would beg and borrow to pay a lawyer to stuff that "open ended ruling" straight up the judge's butt - and then the school, then CPS. I can't imagine that what they did was legal. You say that in family court, you don't have much in the way of rights, but ... umm ... you're *supposed* to. And if your rights were stepped on (and in this case, mooshed into the ground and pooped on), you should be able to take it to another judge (are there appeals in this sort of thing????).

I'll be honest, I am scared poopless of the child protective system. I've heard too many horror stories about parents losing their kids over so little. There was one woman, back in the 90s who lost her son: one morning, she was putting his coat on him (he was, IIRC, about 3) and his arm broke! So, what does any caring parent do? She took him to the hospital. At the hospital, they heard her explanation and said it was ridiculous that simply putting on a coat would break a bone, so they took her son away. By all reports (and her "record" or lack thereof) she was a wonderful, loving mother. She begged them to find out *why* his arm broke so easily. To do tests on him to see if something were wrong. They just screamed at her and told her what a monster she is and tossed the poor child into a foster home. In that foster home, two weeks later, his other arm broke! It turned out that he had a bone disease that made the bones so very brittle. Did she get apologies? Nope. In fact, they delayed returning her son to her as long as they could - even though it had been proven that very little "force" would break one of his bones, they still maintained that they felt she must have been abusing him.

I honestly think that happens more than any of us think. Too many times, I've seen reports (and talked to CPS officials that I know) where children who should be with their parents are taken away, and children that should

*never* be with their parents are given back. One "mother" (and I use the term lightly) even told the case worker that she feared that she would *kill* her child (she had extensive mental disorders - voices that told her to kill her child) ... so what happened? They gave her the little girl back (forced her to take her daughter back) and within a week, she was dead. Murdered by her own mother. :(

A friend of ours was a victim of this sort of thing, too. His girlfriend has two kids - a little girl and a teenage son. His future MIL hated his guts and filed a complaint against him for sexual abuse (did I mention that she, herself, is a CPS case worker???). Well, they investigated the crap out of him, even after it was pointed out to them that the MIL was looney, hated his guts and had even admitted that she had lied. Did that stop the investigation? Nope. They continued to investigate it even after she admitted that she had lied (and was put on "suspension" for it - not fired). He's got to worry about this thing when his government security clearance comes up for renewal. It's on his record.It shows that he was found "innocent," but the fact that he was suspected is still there. :(

I think there *are* good people in the child protective system, but I also think that a lot of them get "burned out" and don't care that they are dealing with *people* anymore. They get jaded and think that every mother, father, etc, are potential abusers, neglectful, and just plain scum. Again, I've talked to quite a few ... and most of them agree. They've seen too much and have become too suspicious of their fellow man. I am just really, really, really, sorry that you've been a victim of those kind of people. And I really wish for you the best ... and I honestly wish that one of these days *soon* you can stuff their rulings, their crappy controlling, pompous, underhanded tactics right up their rear ends. With a BIG stick. >:(

Hugs to you, NightMist!!!

-- Connie :)

implications

pediatrician's

similarities

imagination

try removing ALL tv shows that are fast paced....most likely will meet resistence at first but if you stay the course you will see a difference. Shows like Speed Racer do just that to a young child's mind....make it race and thus the body tries to keep up the same pace.

Mix in some games that require the mind to think....like concentration, battleship, etc.....reading to a child also helps. Soon the brain will re-program itself.

Walking together and getting out and talking also help.

Been there...

Well I came into this late in the conversation, but I experienced the school pressure to medicate as well... grrrr anyhow, my son does have some legitimate issues (as opposed to the ones the school is to lazy to work with) such as tics and such. Anyhow everyday for three years that school phoned me and asked me to medicate my son, then he went to a new school, I never told them about any of my sons issues and guess what... he is an A/B student and I havent had a single phone call. His issues did not go away miraculously, just the attitude of the school did. And what a difference that made. My son is on a medication now, but it is not a stimulant as he has tics on top of other things so stimulants are not so great. It works good for him, so if anyone is interested in a non stimulant medically prescribed ( as opposed to natural or alternative remedy, these are definatly prescription medications) add intervention, please feel free to email me with any questions. As to answer the first question, he went through councelling first and then he was refferred to a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist gave him the original add diagnoisi after a few assessment type visits but more for insurance purposes, as she is not convinced yet because of his tic, and his iq (questioning gifted as well) and the fact that he is a little boy and little boys are supposed to be active what on earth are those schools thinking lol. He has a lot of unusal symptoms such as extereme tactile sensitivities, but according to dsm iv only has 3 of the 6 required add traits. After working for a long time in mental health myself, I have to my own conclusion that when society does not want to deal with a group of behaviors (such as overactive bored of school boys) they give it a lable and a med and call it cured rather than change what might be wrong with the system (sitting in a little desk all day listening to a teacher bla bla bla all day yikes how fun hey) They have developed psychological tools for testing add but these are often quite expensive, and definatly beyond the ability of a scool to use. Anyhow that would be as close to "proof" as you can get I guess. Either way some kids have real difficulties managing in the current school system designs, and some kids a difficult times managing across a ranmge of activities, and their probelms are definatly valid and need to be listened to, but honestly I do not care so much about the needs of the silly school with nothing better to do than phone me each day to whine.

Carissa ( who is tired after the first week at a bigger city mental health center wow... I am wondering if I am the worker or the client now lol )