Colin,
I think you summarized very well ADD, ADHD in its originating form, but
there is also another. Recently in the newspapaer in the US it was
announced that Ritalin usage (for ADD & ADHD) among 2-4 years olds had
skyrocketed. If persons with ADD, and ADHD are described as distractible,
impulsive, highly disorganized, and oppositional as they often are - that
accurately describes typical behavior for any 2-4 year old and ordinary
behavior for most 4-6 years olds. But in this age of all too frequent
surrogate parenting, children whose behavior was once accepted is now being
medicated.
ADD and ADHD are also too often are used as labels for children who have
been inadequately parented or have been involved in something seriously
wrong and the parents are in search of a quick remedy. Let me be clear, I
am not saying that it does not exist, only that its existance is rising as
quickly as the label is becoming an acceptable means to getting addtional
services, medication, or a lighter punishment for your child.
My child is 16 and is in inclusive special education. All the 29 included
kids attend the same homeroom for the first 15 minutes of each day. Why do
all the Black/African American males (over half the class) have the label
of ADD or ADHD? Why are there only 3 girls in this class - all three which
have readily identifiable visible disabilities and are not identified with
ADD? Where are the girls with ADD and ADHD? Why do nearly all of the kids
of other races who have ADD or ADHD also have another readily identifiable
disability label?
Why is the label ADD preferred over MR (mental retardation)? I have been
surprised at how many children my son has grown up with whose parents
successfully have kept the dreaded MR label at bay, only to accept the ADD
label later on. When mild MR was the only label offered - they chose to
refuse the label and services. Their kids behavior was just rowdy male
behavior and their level of low academic accomplishment due to poor
teaching/high student teacher ratios, etc. But when ADD is offered
accompanied by services and medication it is accepted.
Recently a family sued a local school district because due to their child
being expelled from school so frequently he did not learn to read and had
very poor grades. He was now of college age and had the recent diagnosis of
ADD. They claimed the school was remiss in not identifying his ADD and
offering him special education services. The school was being asked to pay
for his specialist college education.
ADD seems to be a sort of Pandora's box.
Susan Fitzmaurice
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|