Originally posted by Grantref

I really wish everyone questioning the existence of ADD would LEARN A DAMN THING ABOUT IT FIRST!
You cannot expect everyone to understand something they have not experienced before ...think about it. I don't like it when bible thumpers or 'saved' people tell me to read the bible so that I would believe in Jesus Christ and that his life was sacrificed for our sins. I hope they don't feel snubbed by my not believing what they believe or not experiencing what they've experienced.

In your support though, I have a son who was diagnosed with ADD by a psychiatrist and there were extensive tests perfomed only after years of effort were made to save him from self-destruction. Not one teacher, not one counselor and not even one person who had a child on medication for AD(H)D recommended that we get him seen by a professional. It was our own fear that something was terribly wrong because he was exhibiting what we now have learned is an acquired Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) which was explained to me as being onset when children are no longer able to cope with their ADD, or any other 'problem' in the confines of an environment within which normal children are able to cope. Self-esteem issues arise and can create alot of rebelliousness in kids, especially when they are good children who are having difficulties that they cannot explain.

Trust me...no parent wants to open themselves up to scrutiny by having their environment combed over with a fine-toothed comb in order to eliminate all other possibilites that could be causing the bad behavior in a child (including child abuse physical and/or mental) just to slap a label on their child as being ADD or something else that can just be explained away and medicated.

When caught at an early age, I think that it's hard to determine if there is a parenting issue or if there is actually something going on with the chemistry and hormone imbalance in the brain because younger children do not have the same ability to articulate how they perceive things and how they relate to their environment when being tested for such things. Mine was a special case because my son maintained a normal life and only exhibited signs that he was struggling when things became more complex for him (changing schedules, demanding workload). Focus is definitely something that I've seen corrected through medication, only he is not on Ritalin but Aderall instead.

All this I gained from being totally involved in the process and not letting a bunch of professionals blind-side me with non-sense. There is alot more involved in diagnosing a child with ADD than just talking to a hyper or out of control child and slapping some meds on a parent's belt as a tool to control the child. However, that's not to say that the pharmaceutical companies aren't pushing the propaganda that YOUR child may be ADD and that you should get them checked out. It DOES happen unfortunately.