Not ADD? then it could be ODD!

[Katidyd]

http://www.addadhdadvances.com/ODD.html

Like WOW! Imagine how relieved some parents are to be able to medicate their kids to another quack diagnosis.

I quote:

Common behaviors seen in oppositional defiant disorder include:


Losing one’s temper
Arguing with adults
Actively defying requests
Refusing to follow rules
Deliberately annoying other people
Blaming others for one's own mistakes or misbehavior
Being touchy, easily annoyed
Being easily angered, resentful, spiteful, or vindictive.
Speaking harshly, or unkind when upset
Seeking revenge
Having frequent temper tantrums

[Shadarach]

That covers like 100% of teenagers.

[Isaviel]

[RANT]
Ya know...

I am currently fighting with my son's school. I have been for over a year now. My son needed help with speech. That was obvious. So we put him in a speech class. Then we noticed that he's not learning as quickly as the others. This was after a year of putting him on speech. I was pulled in for a Parent/Teacher Conference which lasted for 15 mins and all I heard was them complaining and then when I wanted to address something they told me I'm sorry we have to stop now. There is another parent waiting for us. Boy was I pissed.

I take my Daycare Director to all my meetings because she offered and because she has been through this with her kids. When I got out of that meeting I was so angry. I turned to her and said you know, that was a total waste of my time. All they did was bitch and I didn't get to say a word otherwise. So we decided to call a PPT meeting with the school. I got back to work and I called the school principle asking her when my next PPT meeting was scheduled. She told me it wasn't due til March but that I could request one at any time. This was November of 04. So I promptly requested a meeting ASAP.

I got my PPT meeting in January. Again, the teachers complained about his learning. Actually it was the two teachers that constantly complain. The one nice thing was that there was a special education teacher that they brought along. She was the best. She was questioning the teachers about how they were teaching him. Then made suggestions on how to go about different ways of teaching him. They agreed to try it.

However, the two teachers who keep complaining are and have been pushing towards ADHD. They brought in a school physcologist (sp) and she listened to what everyone had to say.

They then or are doing a Connor's test. Which is a form that the Parent, Teacher and Daycare Director fill out based on his behavior. Supposeably this is going to tell them if they feel he is ADHD. Then they want me to take this information to his doctor.

Well pffffff. My son is active yes. I will admit that. I have also talked to another father from the daycare who is going through the same thing. They are 6 yr old boys with energy. They can do all the testing they want and they can label him all they want but I will refuse putting my son on ANY medications.

I have learned this much. There are definitely cases of ADHD. My sister's friend's son has it. He can not stay focussed at all. My son can stay focus when you interest him. I think he's bored with school to be perfectly honested and I told his teacher that he told me he finds school boring.

But the point is the schools like to "label" kids because they seem to have to "label" them to teach them correctly. My daycare director told me that they have ways that they teach kids with ADHD and she doesn't understand why they don't teach ALL kids in this manner because its so good.

So they can do all the testing they want and they can label him anything they want as long as they teach him the way he needs to be taught. I am more frustrated with the fact that they take so much time to get this shit done. This is his 2nd year of kindergarten and they are just dragging their feet along. I have to fight with them constantly to keep moving. In fact I need to call them to see what is taking so long with current test.

Both of my bosses have gone through the same thing and they keep telling me one thing, "Keep fighting for him, he's all that you have. Make them teach him the right way and make them do all the tests they can to find out why he's not learning the way he should." From that day that is exactly what I have been doing.

This ODD thing to me sounds like poor parenting issues. 2yrs old, 3yrs old yeah they have tempers because they are having trouble communicating and they know that screaming, crying and all that gets your attention. You need to learn to correct that and show them the right way of getting your attention. It's never too young to teach them!

But ODD seems to be coming from ADHD according to that site. It's just a later stage. Well wake up people. Take care of your kids and spend more time with them. Don't think they'll just grow out of it. If it's constantly happening with them something isn't right. Maybe a Parenting Skills class would help. I know one parenting skill that is VERY important... Be consistant. I know you get tired and sometimes the easiest thing to do is to give them what they want. But you have to be consistant. Repetitiveness is the best way to teach.

[/RANT]

[Marah]

Like WOW! Imagine how relieved some parents are to be able to medicate their kids to another quack diagnosis.

Are you saying that ADD/ADHD is a quack diagnosis? I'd agree that a great majority of kids labeled as such are NOT truly AD(H)D but simply learn differently. But let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater. True cases of AD(H)D exist, though I don't think all need to be medicated.

We've had great success with the Feingold Diet , which has cleared up other behavioral as well as physical problems we would've never linked to diet. But as I explain to my children, even if they have something off the diet, they still have a choice whether to behave or not. They've just made it harder for themselves to choose the right thing. In other words, the standard of good behavior doesn't change even if I know there's a physical cause.

As for ODD, I find it interesting that the age at which this "disorder" is so prevalent goes through a natural period of development involving questioning and opposition. Because of this, I'm going to say that most cases of ODD are also misdiagnosed since parents/teachers/childcare workers all seem to think that there is one way of dealing with children and if children don't respond to it, it's time to medicate. Still, I hesitate to say there aren't those rare, true cases of ODD which involve more than your standard defiance but are actually extreme and caused by chemical imbalances.

[Ismenia]

::Hugs:: Aww hon. That is frustrating. I think that you are doing good with having the daycare provider go with you. Does the school provide social workers or advocates that can help you if and when the provider isn't able to? Maybe an outside agency has advocates that can help in such situations. Maybe call the Board of Education. They might know the system better and know what your rights are.

If your son does have learning issues, it is best to find out early. So you are right to keep pressing things. It could be lots of things. Maybe he has dyslexia or maybe he is bored like you said and needs to learn in other ways, maybe he has a learning disability, maybe he has hearing problems. Who knows! But these short meetings with irritated teachers are frustrating.

Hang in there and keep fighting for your son!

::hugs::

[Aristotle]

ADHD is, for the most part (not all), a total money making scam.

I wish I had the statistics on hand, but the profits from ADHD medication is in the hundreds of millions.

Pick up any magazine for pediatric medicine (I have a relative who is a pediatrician, that's how I noticed this). Every 5 or 6 pages there will be an advertisement for some form of ADHD medication. It is crazy.

The schools are totally in on it because they are lazy and it makes their jobs easier if the kids are drugged zombies.

This is yet another reason why the government school system has completely and utterly failed us. It is time to fire them.

[Dalaena]

Originally posted by Aristotle
This is yet another reason why the government school system has completely and utterly failed us. It is time to fire them.

I actually think it's a parenting issue. Parents simply do not want to be parents to their children anymore. I've been out at restaurants and tons of public places where parents absolutely do NOT CARE how their children are behaving, especially towards other children.

We've tied the hands of teachers. They can barely move in fear of being sued by a parent. Of course they want a way to control the children who haven't been taught any self-control. The teachers aren't allowed to teach it, and they can't MAKE the parents do it.

The real danger here are the parents who would rather medicate their children than teach them some manners and some self control.

Having said that, there are some children who do have extreme ADHD. They and their parents get buried under the deluge of people who do not have behavioral problems but are being medicated. This trend towards over-medication is making it extremely difficult for those parents and children to get the help they need.

[Rosuav]

Sure this isn't a spoof?

What is the cause of ODD? The real answer is that nobody knows. However, since as scientist we hate to admit this, we have two current theories.

Looks like a joke to me. Then again, this whole concept of labelling people as ADD/ADHD/ODD etcetera ad nauseum is somewhat of a joke.

“If You Will Devote 10 Minutes a Day, Then I Guarantee a More Obedient Child”

Yes. Is this not what parenting is all about? "To Train Up A Child", by M&D Pearl. "What The Bible Says About Child Training", by R Fugate. You CAN cure a child of disobedience, and it doesn't require medication. :roll:

[Shadarach]

It's just laziness or irresponsibility among medical practicioners to label kids who exhibit the above symptoms as ADD.

Broadly tarring every kid who comes through the door with an attitude problem as being ADD is foolish, even kids are complex mechanisms.

Parents simply do not want to be parents to their children anymore

What about being sued by your own kid or having them taken away by the government? There are many reasons parents don't want to 'manage' their children.

But let's face it, I don't have kids, so I really don't think I should go on about something I have no clue about in a practical sense.

[Katidyd]

Originally posted by Marah
Are you saying that ADD/ADHD is a quack diagnosis?

YES! because the "symptoms" are natural stages in children. In the hectic schedule of parent/s it can be easy to fall into the drug solution as a problem of convenience. Drug your kids, keep them docile rather than dealing with what kids do when they are kids. There is huge money to be made and the drug companies push it on overworked parent/s. It's easier to prescribe drugs than social/parent skills.

Maybe there are real cases out there. Well, there are innocent people in prison too.