ADD, ADHD and ME-- An Alternative View-

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Michael Ellner on October 2, 2008 at 3:16pm

I moved this discussion out of the Forum and Into the Alternative Medical Group

The following reply is moving with us:

Replies to This Discussion
Reply by Donna Rodolph 33 seconds ago
Might I caution... that some parents like to label their children. It takes the blame off of them, in a way, if the child has the label (with a diagnosis that is true or not true).
That being said - I hope those who want to go down this avenue... walk carefully.
Two reasons: First - unless you are a Doctor or a Psychologist... telling someone their child has been misdiagnosed (or suggesting it) could be praticing medicine without a license - right?
Second: It may be a personal...eccentricity - but...uh.... I try never to Urge. (I am laughing) Urging really is a waste of time with many human behaviors. Many people...do not respond well to urging. I often get a visual of trying to urge a mule to follow by pulling on the rope.
I encourage pacing and leading whenever one has the urge...to urge.

My best,
D.

My Reply to D is:

We do not have to be licensed health care providers to offer parents alternative info and let them make informed decisons --

Examples will be added to this thread --

Permalink Reply by Michael Ellner on October 2, 2008 at 3:23pm

Mothering Magazine
Issue 101, July/August 2000

Does ADHD Even Exist?
The Ritalin Sham
By John Breeding


Alice, the mother of a seven-year-old son, Nathan, recently visited my office for a counseling session. Nathan had reportedly been different and difficult from the beginning: exhibiting early seizure-like activity, a most challenging temperament, great sensitivity to various types of stimulation, intense frustration, aggressive tantrums, and other apparent developmental difficulties. Alice had taken him to doctors from a young age, obtaining a variety of mostly nonspecific diagnoses of developmental problems. Alice felt unappreciated as a parent, hurt and angry that the Montessori school her son had attended at ages four and five had ultimately rejected him. She felt judged by other parents, whom she felt blamed her for her son's challenging behavior. And she felt unsupported by both camps of opinion regarding "medication": the pro-Ritalin forces challenged her reluctance to use the drug for her son, and the antidrug group vehemently urged her to resist drug use.
Alice's personal stance on the Ritalin issue was clear. While she basically agreed that these "medications" are not good for children, she also felt that, in her family's case, it had been helpful. Nathan had been diagnosed at age five with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and had taken Ritalin for a year. Alice thought the drug greatly helped her son, slowing him down enough so that he could listen and process information. She and her boyfriend both felt drugs made the boy much easier to be with; further, their own reduced stress eased them so much that they were now able to consider other alternatives for Nathan, such as nutritional supplementation.
Proponents of psychiatric drugs attest that they "work," meaning they alter mood, thought, and action. They also "work," of course, in that they assuage the medical community's expectation that drugs be used to "treat" these children. I believe that fully informed adults should have every right to voluntarily use any drugs they wish, as long as they don't endanger others in doing so. Children, however, are not able to give fully informed consent to drug use--especially those under six years of age, a group in whom we are witnessing a dramatic increase in psychiatric drug prescription.1 It is, therefore, our responsibility as adults to ensure every possible opportunity for optimal development for our children, to protect and defend our children from powerful toxic drugs, particularly those prescribed for psychiatric purposes. Like Alice, a large percentage of adults who take psychiatric drugs or give them to their children would prefer to avoid them--and yet they capitulate and use them because the drugs provide relief: from tension, fear, and desperation, as well as from the external strains of judgment and coercion. Lawrence Diller, author of the best-selling book Running on Ritalin, argues that: "The 700 percent rise in Ritalin use is our canary in the mineshaft for the middle class, warning us that we aren't meeting the needs of all our children, not just those with ADD. It's time we rethought our priorities and expectations unless we want a nation of kids running on Ritalin."2 Dr. Diller decries the trend (as I do in my book The Wildest Colts Make the Best Horses), contending that this increased reliance on drugs reflects a society in distress. Rather than try to force our children to shrink into situations that do not meet their needs, he states, we need to take responsibility for our society.
Diller himself is, however, torn by the same conflict many parents have concerning Ritalin. On the one hand, he says: "As a citizen I must speak out about the social conditions that create the living imbalance. Otherwise I am complicitous with forces and values that I believe are bad for children." On the other hand, though, he concludes: "As a physician, after assessing the child, his family and school situation, I keep prescribing Ritalin. My job is to ease suffering and Ritalin will help round- and octagonal-peg kids fit into rather rigid square educational holes." 3
This seemingly contradictory stance is the same one Alice and millions of other parents face. It's not as if all parents readily accept the prescription of Ritalin. Alice, in fact, incurred the wrath of her son's neurologist because she refused to give her son Adderall, a combination of three different amphetamine-like stimulants often used as an alternative to Ritalin. Increasingly over the past ten years or so, millions of parents are nagged by their children's physicians: "If your child had diabetes," the doctors taunt, for example, "you'd give him insulin wouldn't you?"
"What could I say to that?" Alice asked me. Her question was not so much a call for information as it was a need to express her hopelessness. It was encouraging to me that she was angry, for anger is a great antidote to hopelessness. She was mad about the treatment she had received from prior medical and mental health professionals, as well as the lack of support from two opposing drug camps. Before I would hazard a possible response for that neurologist, Alice and I talked about the feelings of relief, guilt, and anger the Ritalin issue had caused for her family. Finally, I gave her what would have been my response: the diagnosis of ADHD is, itself, fraudulent.
ADHD: Nothing but a Sham
A condition such as diabetes carries detectable physical evidence of disease--abnormal blood sugar levels, evidence of pancreatic malfunction--justifying medical treatment. Families confronted with the "wouldn't you give insulin" argument could begin by asking the neurologist to provide medical evidence that a disease requiring treatment exists. Between 1993 and 1997, neurologist Fred Baughman corresponded repeatedly with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), Ciba-Geigy (now Novartis, manufacturers of Ritalin), and top ADHD researchers around the country--including the National Institute of Mental Health--asking them to show him any article(s) in the peer-reviewed scientific literature constituting proof of a physical or chemical abnormality in ADHD and thereby qualifying it as a disease or a medical syndrome. Through sheer determination and persistence, Dr. Baughman eventually got these entities to admit that no objective validation of the diagnosis of ADHD exists.4
Prescribing Ritalin for something that is not a "disease" does not, in my estimation, constitute a legitimate practice of medicine. If ADHD is not a disease, treating it medically constitutes a fraud. Yet many physicians are true believers in medically treating "mental illness," despite the consistent lack of scientific evidence of "mental illness" as a "disease."5 Herein lies the conflict for parents like Alice.
The Significance of Oppression Theory
Victims of oppression are not only blamed for their condition, and usually thought to be deserving of their inferior position, they are eventually conditioned to accept it as their reality. As the great American writer James Baldwin stated: "It's not the world that was my oppressor, because what the world does to you, if the world does it to you long enough and effectively enough, you begin to do it to yourself."6 In what may be the ultimate power play, a victim is, over time, conditioned to internalize, accept, and ultimately, forget about the very fact that they are oppressed.
There are two specific forms of oppression that are pertinent to the discussion of psychiatric drug use for children. The first is adultism--the systematic mistreatment of young people by adults simply because they are young. Like other forms of oppression, adultism is self-perpetuating: when we are treated poorly as children, we internalize the idea and feelings that life is unfair; that rank and power should be used for personal advantage; and that we are somehow unworthy of respect, incapable of clear thinking, and unable to become our own authority.
The second form of oppression is what I call psychiatric oppression: the systematic mistreatment of people labeled as "mentally ill"--including children diagnosed with fictitious illnesses such as ADHD. Institutionalized in our society, psychiatry is also guided by a worldview that embraces biopsychiatry.7 Juxtaposed with adultism, psychiatric diagnosis and treatment enforce the message that an "ADHD child" is inadequate, defective, unworthy of complete respect, and in need of drugs to control and cope with the effects of his or her "illness."
Lies My Doctor Told Me
What exactly does it mean to "help round- and octagonal-peg kids fit into rather rigid square educational holes?" I believe there are at least six fallacies that underlie the rampant prescription of drugs like Ritalin to our children.

1. "Social adjustment is good." While the ability to adjust socially may be important, it is not always a "good" thing. In its most extreme form, social adjustment leads to conformity and compliance, which has resulted in dire social phenomena, including slavery and genocide. This seems a particularly aberrant notion in a society like ours, which is so deeply grounded in the quest for individualism, free speech and association, and the "pursuit of happiness."
2. "Children must learn to conform." When a child fails to adjust to school, we should at the very least think about our abilities to consider the child's needs. It is certainly important for children to learn how to get along in various situations, and how to avoid drawing sanction upon themselves. Nevertheless, young children must be enabled to express their unique gifts within their communities. It is a mistake to force our children to fit molds imposed upon them according to the needs and conventions of the adult order.
3. "Failed social adjustment causes suffering." In our competitive culture, we tend to view mistakes as negatives to be avoided. It is hard to accept the notion that mistakes can be good, and actually, in fact, are the way we learn. We are obsessed with the notions of success and failure. We judge a child's actions as success or failure according to our expectations and demands, not through the eyes of a developing child. Eventually, the child internalizes both the standard and the evaluation: "I failed to live up to the expectations, therefore I am a failure." I would argue that it is not failure that causes suffering, but rather it is oppression--in the form of adultism--which imposes arbitrary standards, and an adult shame-based worldview. This is what causes children to feel and think of themselves as failures, and therein lies their suffering.
4. "A physician's job is to ease suffering." Certainly it is--through the practice of medicine that incorporates compassion--not labeling, coercion, or guilt.
5. "Ritalin helps children conform." Not always. Sometimes it makes them "psychotic," sometimes it makes them aggressive. Other times Ritalin makes children anxious or nauseous. It can make some children feel suicidal. And for some children, Ritalin has been a deadly prescription. 8 When it "works" well, the child is observed to produce better in the classroom. This, the research shows us, is the only positive short-term outcome. There are no positive long-term effects in any aspect of child functioning--social, behavioral, or academic--associated with the use of Ritalin.9
6. "Therefore, giving your child Ritalin lets me ease her suffering." In an 1854 speech on the Kansas-Nebraska Act, Abraham Lincoln said, "I would consent to any great evil, to avoid an even greater one."10 Many parents feel the compulsion to punish or discipline their child in hopes that even greater misfortune might not befall them. Given the reality of today's oppressive society, and its lack of resolve to truly meet the needs of our children, the argument goes, Ritalin may seem a better choice than continued pressure, disapproval, and sanction.

This "ease the suffering" argument reveals one of the most consistent justifications for the use of psychiatric drugs for children: on one level or another, Ritalin absolves each person of his or her responsibility. The child is not responsible, he's "sick." Parents, doctors, the community, the medical and educational institutions--the society at large--are relieved of their duty to meet the real needs of that child. We prescribe drugs; the child conforms; the educational and medical institutions don't have to change; and our standards of "normalcy" are passed on to the next generation of drug-assisted children learning to fit into the mandated square hole. We have endless justifications that allow us to conform to oppression with a seemingly clear conscience, while an estimated 5,000,000 children are on methylphenidate, and another 3,000,000 on other toxic drugs -- given to them by adults who care for them. Some may call this "medicine," but a growing group of parents and others are beginning to see it as institutionalized child abuse.
Sidebar: Suffer the Children?
Although ADHD does not exist as a real disease, it is a very real label imposed on children, with very real consequences for the child. On a physical level, the recommended drugs are toxic, and they have a long list of deleterious effects.1 Regarding Ritalin, the fact is that "methylphenidate looks like an amphetamine (chemically), acts like an amphetamine (effects), and is abused like an amphetamine (recreational use, Emergency Room visits, pharmacy break-ins)."2 (parentheses mine)
On a psychological level, Ritalin produces two especially harmful effects. It deprives a child of the right to develop a character and a way of living with self and world, in a drug-free state. Ritalin also creates a burden of shame, a conviction that a child who is on this drug is somehow defective, unworthy, and neither lovable nor even acceptable in his or her "natural" state.
These stimulant drugs for children truly are about enforcement of our culture's preeminent value: productivity.3 Amphetamines, as we have learned over the course of the past century, increase output. But of course, with amphetamines, the trajectory is usually crash and burn. In the US, millions of adults, and an alarmingly increasing number of children, take psychiatric stimulants like Prozac to "keep going and going." Similarly, we give children as young as two years of age stimulant drugs to help their "impaired" productivity. But wherein lies the suffering, in the "failure" to produce or achieve, or in the so-called remedy we prescribe?
Sidebar: Ritalin Use--Simply Out of Control
Psychiatric drug use by children in US schools is turning into an enormous problem. In 1970, an estimated 150,000 US children were taking Ritalin. By 1980, the estimates were between 270,000 and 541,000--double the numbers of a decade before. By 1990, the numbers doubled again; close to 900,000 children were on Ritalin. The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) estimates there was a 700 percent increase in the production of Ritalin between 1990 and 1997, 90 percent of which was consumed in the US.
Based on the available data, a realistic estimate of the number of school-age children on Ritalin today in the US is 5 million. Considering that Ritalin--like other amphetamines, a Schedule II controlled substance that carries a significant risk of abuse--represents 70 percent of the total prescriptions for amphetamine-like drugs, it is reasonable to estimate that over 7 million US schoolchildren are on some sort of stimulant drug. We can add close to 2 million children now on so-called antidepressants, so it appears that over 8 million children in this country are on psychiatric drugs today. According to census data from 1999, the US population for ages six to 18 is just under 51.5 million, meaning approximately 15 percent of our schoolchildren are on psychiatric drugs. In many schools and districts, the estimations are quite higher, as much as 20 or 40 percent. A study reported this year in the Journal of the American Medical Association revealed that Ritalin prescriptions for two to four year olds increased 200 to 300 percent between 1991 and 1995.1
In an era when we are constantly told to protect our children from drug abuse, it seems there are some very disturbing exceptions to the rule.
This article is adapted from a report by John Breeding, which can be found at www.wildestcolts.com.
Notes
"Does ADHD Even Exist?"
1. J. M. Zito, D. J. Safer, S. dosReis, J. F. Gardner, M. Boles, and F. Lynch, "Trends in the Prescribing of Psychotropic Medications to Preschoolers," JAMA 283 (2000): 1025-1030.
2. "A Nation of Kids on Ritalin," an essay posted on Lawrence Diller's website: www.docdiller.com.
3. Ibid.
4. See the website of neurologist Fred Baughman, MD, for information on the ADHD fraud: home.att.net/~fred-alden.
5. See Peter Breggin's book Toxic Psychiatry (St. Martin's Press, 1991), or the journal Ethical Human Sciences and Services, for evidence on the pseudoscience of biopsychiatry.
6. Conversation between James Baldwin and Nicki Giovanni, November 4, 1971, "A Dialogue," cited in L. R. Frank, ed., Random House Webster's Quotationary (New York: Random House, 1998).
7. See John Breeding's book The Wildest Colts Make the Best Horses (Austin, Tex.: Bright Books, 1996) or his website, www.wildestcolts.com, for a fuller exposition of the belief system of biopsychiatry.
8. Dr. Fred Baughman is currently involved in three Ritalin death cases. His essay "Who Killed Stephanie Hall?", available on his website (see Note 4), tells of one of these three and includes a brief review of relevant cardiac literature. An article by Caroline Kern in the Oakland Press, April 14, 2000, entitled "Prescription Drug, Not Skateboard Accident, Killed Clawson Teen," reports on the most recent death in March of 14-year-old Matthew Smith of Clawson, Michigan.
9. See Peter Breggin, Talking Back to Ritalin (Monroe, Maine: Common Courage Press, 1998) or Lawrence Diller, Running on Ritalin (New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell, 1998) for summaries of this research evidence.
10. Abraham Lincoln, speech on the Kansas-Nebraska Act, Peoria, Illinois, October 16, 1854. Cited in L. R. Frank, ed., Random House Webster's Quotationary (New York: Random House, 1998).
"Suffer the Children?"
1. Peter Breggin, Talking Back to Ritalin (Monroe, Maine: Common Courage Press, 1998).
2. Mary Eberstadt, "Why Ritalin Rules," Policy Review 94 (1999): 24-44.
3. See John Breeding's new e-book, The Necessity of Madness and Unproductivity: Psychiatric Oppression or Human Transformation? (Online Originals, 2000), for an explanation of how psychiatry acts to enforce our social mandate of relentless productivity. (Available at www.onlineoriginals.com.)
"Ritalin Use: Simply Out of Control"
1. Zito et al., "Trends in the Prescribing of Psychotropic Medications to Preschoolers," JAMA 283 (2000): 1025-1030.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Books
Anderson, Nina, and Howard Peiper. A.D.D.: The Natural Approach. Safe Goods, 1996. 860-824-5301.
Bell, Rachel, and Dr. Howard Peiper. The A.D.D. and A.D.H.D. Diet! Safe Goods, 1998. 860-824-5301.
Breeding, John. The Wildest Colts Make the Best Horses. Bright Books, Inc., 1996.
O'Dell, Nancy E., and Patricia A. Cook. Stopping Hyperactivity: A New Solution. Avery Publishing Group, Inc., 1997.
Zimmerman, Marcia. The A.D.D. Nutrition Solution: A Drug-Free 30-Day Plan. Henry Holt and Company, 1999.
Newsletters and Video
Extraordinary Parents is written by and for parents doing home-based programs with their special needs children. Editor Pauline Banducci has directed a successful home-based program for ten years. For a complimentary copy, call 413-528-1589 or e-mail clark@bcn.net.
New Developments published by Developmental Delay Resources, 4401 East West Highway, Suite 207, Bethesda, Maryland 20814. 301-652-2263; www.devdelay.org. Your Child and ADD/ADHD: A Parent's Guide. Institute of Human Development, 1998. (Video)
Organizations
Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR), International Office, 6362 Hollywood Boulevard, Suite B, Los Angeles CA 90028. 800-869-2247. Founded in 1969, CCHR is a private, nonprofit organization whose sole purpose is to investigate and expose psychiatric violations of human rights.
The International Center for the Study of Psychiatry and Psychology (ICCSP), 4628 Chestnut Street, Bethesda, MD 20814. www.icspp.org or www.breggin.com. Founded by Peter Breggin, MD, in 1971, ICCSP is a nonprofit network of individuals concerned about the impact of mental health practices on individual well-being, human values, and community. Spearheading reform in psychiatry, it has been called "the conscience of American psychiatry."
Support Coalition International (SCI)/Dendron, 454 Willamette, Suite 216, PO Box 11284, Eugene, OR 97440-3484. 541-345-9106. dendron@efn.org. www.mindfreedom.org. SCI is a federation of individual members and over 60 grassroots groups in eight countries promoting human rights and alternatives in the mental health system. Dendron News, edited by David Oaks, is an outstanding information service for the movement.
Texans for Safe Education (TFSE), 2503 Douglas Street, Austin, TX 78741. 512-326-8326, 800-572-2905. john@wildestcolts.com. www.wildestcolts.com. Founded by John Breeding, PhD, TFSE is a citizens' group whose purpose is to defend the safety of children in our schools. We work to influence educational leaders to take a position on the harmful effects of the ever-increasing role of psychiatry in the schools, and to redirect our focus to proven methods for enhancing learning, especially reading fluency and comprehension. We also invite individuals to discuss their stories of coercion or harmful effects of psychiatric drug use with children.
The Gluten-Free Pantry, Inc., PO Box 840, Glastonbury, CT 06033. 800-291-8386. www.glutenfree.com. International Health Foundation, PO Box 3494, Jackson, TN 38303. 901-660-7091. Founded by Dr. William Crook, author of The Yeast Connection and The Yeast Connection Handbook.
Products
Enzymatic Therapy. 800-558-7372. www.enzy.com. Makers of KidCalmTM St. John's Wort Complex
European Reference Botanical Laboratories, Inc. 877-275-3725. www.coromega.com. Makers of CoromegaTM, Omega-3 dietary supplement. Offers free sample and brochure
Gaia Herbs, Inc. 800-831-7780. www.gaiaherbs.com.Makers of Melissa SupremeTM, herbal supplement
J. R. Carlson Laboratories, Inc. 800-323-4141. Makers of Carlson Super DHATM, dietary supplements
Martek Biosciences. 800-662-6339. www.martekbio.com. Makers of Neuromins¨ DHA, dietary supplements
Nelson Bach USA, Ltd. 800-319-9151. www.nelsonbach.com. Offers free brochure "Bach Flower EssencesTM for the Family"
Nutrition Now. 800-929-0418. www.nutritionnow.com. Makers of Rhino ActalinTM, dietary supplement bars and tablets
Planetary Formulas. Soquel, CA 95073. 800-606-6226. Makers of Calm ChildTM, herbal supplement Source Naturals, Inc. Scotts Valley, CA 95066. 800-815-2333. Makers of Focus ChildTM and Focus DHATM, dietary supplements
Websites
Spirit in Action. www.spiritinaction.org
Fred Baughman, MD. ADHD Fraud website: home.att.net/~fred-alden
For more information about ADHD, see the following articles in past issues of Mothering: "Ritalin-Free Kids," no. 83; "In Amanda's Room," no. 77; "Hyperactivity?" no. 74; and "Stimulants and Children," no. 60. John Breeding, PhD, is a licensed psychologist with a private practice in Austin, Texas. He has two children, Eric, 14, and Vanessa, 10. His book The Wildest Colts Make the Best Horses is a forceful and informative challenge to the use of stimulant drugs with children, and a great resource for parents. His new work, The Necessity of Madness and Unproductivity: Psychiatric Oppression or Human Transformation?, is available as an e-book through Online Originals, www.onlineoriginals.com. Dr. Breeding is founding director of Texans for Safe Education. His website, www.wildestcolts.com, is a valuable resource on psychiatry-related issues.
Sidebar: Here's a REAL Drug-free School
By Chris Mercogliano
For 30 years, the Albany Free School has refused to allow its students to take what John Breeding and others so aptly term "biopsychiatric" drugs. A small, independent, inner-city school with 50 students, age two through 14, we see more than our share of youngsters who do not seem to be able to fit into conventional classroom settings. Increasing numbers of "Ritalin refugees," as I call them, are appearing at our doorstep every year.
Last year four new boys arrived, all of whom had fled to us to escape the juggernaut of mental or behavioral labeling and biopsychiatric drugging: Six-year-old Jamal was referred to us by a social worker at a community health clinic. The principal of the parochial school Jamal attended advised his mother to take her son in for "testing," contending that the boy was too disruptive, inattentive, and aggressive to remain in the school unless he was "treated" for a probable diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, Jamal's older brother had been taking Ritalin for three years, and their mother was unhappy with the drug's effects on him. She was anxious to find a better alternative for her younger son.
Clint's mother sought us out after she'd attended the annual Parents' Day and found her eight-year-old son slumped over at his desk. This, apparently, was the "marked improvement" in Clint's behavior that the school had reported to her after she had begun adding a third drug to his before-school ADHD cocktail. Nine-year-old Anthony had somehow managed to make it to the fourth grade without being labeled and drugged, but the school was putting increasing pressure on his mother to have him undergo a psychological evaluation because he was restless in class and was more than a year behind in reading. When Brian was in third grade, the school psychologist at his suburban elementary school recommended that Brian begin taking Ritalin "to help him focus." By the time he came to us for seventh grade, Brian had become so uncomfortable with how the drug made him feel -- jumpy, irritable, anorexic, angry -- that most days he only pretended to take the pills.
A Drug-Free Way
Why is it that these students, each with a history of academic and behavioral problems, don't need biopsychiatric drugs in our school? First of all, we believe that the existence of biologically-based "disorders" such as ADHD is a myth. Our experience has confirmed over and over again that, when you get to know the stories of kids such as Jamal, Clint, Anthony, and Brian -- or of any of the millions of others like them all across America -- you soon discover that what they are actually suffering from is an inner distress that has clear, nonbiological causes: physical and emotional neglect or abuse, absent parents, marital discord, excessive TV viewing, academic pressure, poor diet, and sometimes a combination of the above. These children don't "have" a "disorder," rather, they are living in a disordered universe. Or in some cases, they aren't suffering from anything at all. They are simply more energetic or on a different developmental timetable than the currently perceived "norm."
Secondly, our approach to education is grounded in the reality that every child is unique. We operate without a set curriculum so that students can progress at their own pace, and according to their own learning style. Some kids are ready and eager to read at age four, others not until nine or ten. Some like to learn from texts and workbooks; others are more kinesthetic and need to have their "hands on" what they are doing. We also remove the fear and compulsion from teaching and learning. In our school, children learn for their own reasons, and there are no grades or standardized tests -- and therefore no failure.
Perhaps Alexander S. Neill said it best. "The school must fit the child and not the other way around," he once wrote in Summerhill: A Radical Approach to Child Rearing.1 When you permit high-energy kids to run, jump, and make noise; when you encourage distressed ones to express their negative feelings safely; when you place ones who have grown resistant to learning in charge of the process; when you empower ones who distrust authority to participate in school governance and conflict resolution, it's unnecessary to put even the most difficult student in a chemical straightjacket.
All four boys thrived in our unconventional, individualized environment. Clint and Brian expressed immediate relief at being off the drugs. Both reported feeling calmer and more at ease. Suddenly free to move about in school and engage in frequent physical activity -- wrestling, playing basketball, swimming, climbing on the multilevel backyard jungle gym -- they quickly shed the signs of their so-called "hyperactivity."
Jamal, on the other hand, wasted no time demonstrating how he had managed to wear out his welcome in his previous school. Angry and defiant, he spent much of the time antagonizing classmates, and exhibiting little respect for his teachers whenever they attempted to stop him. As soon as he escalated to bullying his peers, his victims began calling "council meetings" in order to get help in halting his antisocial behavior. Elementary and junior high-age children who are experiencing serious problems in our school can call a meeting at any time, and by prior agreement, everyone must attend. Meetings are run by Roberts' Rules of Order, a set of standard operating rules for democratic meetings, which allows the children to work through conflicts and devise ways to set limits on each other's conduct. In this case, one of the kids Jamal was pushing around made a motion that Jamal would not get to go swimming the next time if he did it again. The motion passed, and Jamal would miss several pool visits before he stopped intimidating his peers once and for all.
And then there was Anthony, whose household was continually in crisis. He became the school thief -- and a clever one at that. He was nearly caught stealing on several occasions, but was able to talk his way out of trouble each time. Finally, one day his story unraveled in a council meeting after he was found in possession of a classmate's missing two dollars. Despite the overwhelming circumstantial evidence, however, he refused to admit to taking the money. Someone raised their hand and suggested we hold a trial, and everyone, including Anthony, agreed. It was a dramatic moment. A judge was elected, attorneys were appointed, and witnesses were interviewed. Serendipitously, the seventh and eighth graders had been out that morning and knew nothing about "the crime." They served as an excellent impartial jury. After a half-hour of deliberation, they ruled Anthony guilty as charged and sentenced him to ten hours of community service in the school kitchen, where he helped to prepare lunch the following week. Several months later, he publicly acknowledged the theft and never stole again.
By mid-year, the boys were accepted members of our school community. While their education wasn't proceeding in neat, straight lines, each was learning successfully on many levels. Clearly, none of them was suffering from a pathological disorder that required treatment with powerful psychotropic drugs. What they did require was an environment where they could be themselves, and where their individual needs would be honored and addressed with love.
Notes
1. Alexander S. Neill, Summerhill: A Radical Approach to Child Rearing (New York: Hart Publishing, 1960). Currently out of print. Also see Alexander S. Neill, Summerhill School: A New View of Childhood (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1995).
Chris Mercogliano has been a teacher at the Albany Free School for 26 years, and its codirector for 14. Author of Making It Up as We Go Along (Heinemann, 1998), he recently completed a second book, Rid-a-him: Or Why Are So Many Kids Labeled and Drugged in School? His essays and commentary on children and education have appeared in SKOLE, The Journal of Alternative Education, Friends Review, the Albany Times Union, The Journal of Family Life, Paths of Learning, The Journal of Humanistic Psychology, Yes! magazine, and Deschooling Our Lives, edited by Matt Hern.



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Permalink Reply by Michael Ellner on October 2, 2008 at 3:29pm

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/11/health/psychology/11kids.html
THE NEW YORK TIMES
November 11, 2006
Troubled Children
What's Wrong With a Child? Psychiatrists Often Disagree
By BENEDICT CAREY

Paul Williams, 13, has had almost as many psychiatric diagnoses as
birthdays.
The first psychiatrist he saw, at age 7, decided after a 20-minute visit
that the boy was suffering from depression
A grave looking child, quiet and instinctively suspicious of others, he
looked depressed, said his mother, Kasan Williams. Yet it soon became clear
that the boy was too restless, too explosive, to be suffering from chronic
depression.

Paul was a gifted reader, curious, independent. But in fourth grade, after a
screaming match with a school counselor, he walked out of the building and
disappeared, riding the F train for most of the night through Brooklyn,
alone, while his family searched frantically.

It was the second time in two years that he had disappeared for the night,
and his mother was determined to find some answers, some guidance.
What followed was a string of office visits with psychologists, social
workers and psychiatrists. Each had an idea about what was wrong, and a
specific diagnosis: "Compulsive tendencies," one said. "Oppositional defiant
disorder," another concluded. Others said "pervasive developmental
disorder," or some combination.
Each diagnosis was accompanied by a different regimen of drug treatments.

By the time the boy turned 11, Ms. Williams said, the medical record had
taken still another turn - to bipolar disorder - and with it a whole new set
of drug prescriptions.
"Basically, they keep throwing things at us," she said, "and nothing is
really sticking."

At a time when increasing numbers of children are being treated for
psychiatric problems, naming those problems remains more an art than a
science. Doctors often disagree about what is wrong.
A child's problems are now routinely given two or more diagnoses at the same
time, like attention deficit and bipolar disorders. And parents of
disruptive children in particular - those who once might have been called
delinquents, or simply "problem children" - say they hear an alphabet soup
of labels that seem to change as often as a child's shoe size.
The confusion is due in part to the patchwork nature of the health care
system, experts say. Child psychiatrists are in desperately short supply,
and family doctors, pediatricians, psychologists and social workers, each
with their own biases, routinely hand out diagnoses.

But there are also deep uncertainties in the field itself. Psychiatrists
have no blood tests or brain scans to diagnose mental disorders. They have
to make judgments, based on interviews and checklists of symptoms. And
unlike most adults, young children are often unable or unwilling to talk
about their symptoms, leaving doctors to rely on observation and information
from parents and teachers.

Children can develop so fast that what looks like attention deficit disorder
in the fall may look like anxiety or nothing at all in the summer. And the
field is fiercely divided over some fundamental questions, most notably
about bipolar disorder, a disease classically defined by moods that zigzag
between periods of exuberance or increased energy and despair. Some experts
say that bipolar disorder is being overdiagnosed, but others say it is too
often missed.

"Psychiatry has made great strides in helping kids manage mental illness,
particularly moderate conditions, but the system of diagnosis is still 200
to 300 years behind other branches of medicine," said Dr. E. Jane Costello,
a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Duke University. "On an
individual level, for many parents and families, the experience can be a
disaster; we must say that."
For these families, Dr. Costello and other experts say, the search for a
diagnosis is best seen as a process of trial and error that may not end with
a definitive answer.
If a family can find some combination of treatments that help a child
improve, she said, "then the diagnosis may not matter much at all."

A Kaleidoscope of Diagnoses
The most commonly diagnosed mental disorders in younger children include
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or A.D.H.D., depression and
anxiety, and oppositional defiant disorder.
All these labels are based primarily on symptom checklists. According to the
American Psychiatric Association's diagnostic manual, for instance,
childhood problems qualify as oppositional defiant disorder if the child
exhibits at least four of eight behavior patterns, including "often loses
temper," "often argues with adults," "is often touchy or easily annoyed by
others" and "is often spiteful or vindictive."

At least six million American children have difficulties that are diagnosed
as serious mental disorders, according to government surveys - a number that
has tripled since the early 1990s. But there is little convincing evidence
that the rates of illness have increased in the past few decades. Rather,
many experts say it is the frequency of diagnosis that is going up, in part
because doctors are more willing to attribute behavior problems to mental
illness, and in part because the public is more aware of childhood mental
disorders.

At the playground, in the gym, standing in line at the grocery store,
parents swap horror stories about diagnoses, medications or special
education classes. Their children are often as fluent in psychiatric jargon
as their mothers and fathers are.
"The change in attitude is enormous," said Christina Hoven, a psychiatric
epidemiologist at Columbia University. "Not long ago people did all they
could to hide problems like these." Attention deficit disorder is perhaps
the most straightforward diagnosis. Elementary school teachers are often the
ones who first mention it as a possibility, and soon parents are answering
questions from a standard checklist: Does the child have difficulty
sustaining attention, following instructions, listening, organizing tasks?
Does he or she fidget, squirm, impulsively interrupt, leave the classroom?
These behaviors are so common, particularly in boys, that critics question
whether attention disorder is a label too often given to boys being boys.
But most psychiatrists agree that while many youngsters are labeled
unnecessarily, most children identified with attention problems could
benefit from some form of therapy or extra help.

They are less certain about the children - perhaps a quarter of those seen
for mental problems, some experts estimate - who do not fit any one
diagnosis, and who often go for years before receiving a satisfactory label,
if they receive one at all.
These youngsters collect labels like passport stamps, and an increasing
number end up with the label Paul Williams received: bipolar disorder.

An Illness Under Dispute
Until recently, psychiatrists considered bipolar disorder to be all but
nonexistent in children under 18. Today, it is the fastest growing mood
disorder diagnosed in children, featured on the cover of news magazines and
on daytime talk shows like "The Oprah Winfrey Show."

The explosion of interest in bipolar disorder came after the approval of
several drugs, called antipsychotics, or major tranquilizers, for the
short-term treatment of mania in adults.
Beginning in the 1990s some researchers began to argue that bipolar disorder
was underdiagnosed in adults. Soon, several child psychiatrists were arguing
that the illness was more common than previously thought in children too.

Some experts who made those arguments had ties to manufacturers of
antipsychotic drugs, financial interests disclosed in professional journals.
But the message struck a chord, particularly with doctors and parents trying
to manage difficult children.

Parents whose children have been given the label tend to adopt the
psychiatric jargon, using terms like "cycling" and "mania" to describe their
children's behavior. Dozens of them have published books, CDs, or manuals on
how to cope with children who have bipolar disorder.
A recent Yale University analysis of 1.7 million private insurance claims
found that diagnosis rates for bipolar disorder more than doubled among boys
ages 7 to 12 from 1995 to 2000, and experts say the rates have only gone up
since then.

Katherine Finn, a 14-year-old who lives in Grand Rapids, Mich., said she was
grateful for the growing awareness of the disease. Possessed by feelings of
worthlessness as early as the fourth grade, Katherine said that by the sixth
grade she "threw my sanity out the window."
She became impulsive, loud, and abrasive, she said, adding, "I would blurt
things out in class, I would moo like a cow, act like a little kid, just say
the most random stuff."

A psychiatrist promptly diagnosed the problem as bipolar disorder, after
learning that there was a history of the disease on her mother's side of the
family. Katherine began taking drugs that blunted the extremes in her mood,
and she now is doing well at a new school.
"It hit me like a Mack truck when I heard the diagnosis, but I knew right
away it was correct," said her mother, Kristen Finn, who is writing a book
about her experience.
Still, many psychiatrists believe that, although childhood bipolar disorder
may be real in families like the Finns, it is being wildly overdiagnosed.
One of the largest continuing surveys of mental illness in children,
tracking 4,500 children ages 9 to 13, found no cases of full-blown bipolar
disorder and only a few children with the mild flights of excessive energy
that could be considered nascent bipolar disorder - a small fraction of the
1 percent or so some psychiatrists say may suffer from the disease.

Moreover, the symptoms diagnosed as bipolar disorder in children often bear
little resemblance to those in adults. Instead, the children's moods seem to
flip on and off like a stoplight throughout the day, and their upswings
often look to some psychiatrists more like extreme agitation than euphoria.
"The question with these kids is whether what we're seeing is a form of
mania, or whether it's extreme anger due to something else," said Dr.
Gregory Fritz, medical director of the Bradley Hospital, a psychiatric
clinic for children in Providence, R.I.

Dr. Ellen Leibenluft, a research psychiatrist at the National Institute of
Mental Health, argues that children who are receiving a diagnosis of bipolar
disorder fall into two broad groups. The children in one group, a minority,
have mood cycles similar to those of adults with bipolar disorder, complete
with grandiose moods, and a high likelihood of having a family history of
the illness. Those in the other group have severe problems regulating their
moods and little family history, and may have some other psychiatric
disorder instead.

"It is a mistake to lump them all together and assume they are all the
same," Dr. Leibenluft said. "It may be that the disorder has different
dimensions and looks different in different kids."
For parents with a child who is frantic and possibly dangerous, these
distinctions may be academic. The medications may blunt their child's
extreme behavior, which may be all the confirmation they need.

For others, though, the uncertainties about childhood bipolar disorder loom
larger. They wonder whether mania really explains what their child is going
through, and if not, what it is that is being treated. Evelyn Chase of
Richmond, Va., said that a neurologist drove home his diagnosis of bipolar
disorder in her 10-year-old son by pulling out "a copy of Time magazine and
slamming the article in front of me."
Ms. Chase said her son seemed to react most strongly to abrupt changes in
the environment and to certain dyes and chemicals. "I used the bipolar
diagnosis for school and getting services, but I don't think it covers his
behaviors," she said.

For Paul Williams, the diagnosis simply feels like a temporary stop. In his
short life, Paul has taken antidepressants like Prozac, antipsychotic drugs
used to treat schizophrenia, sleeping pills and so-called mood stabilizers
for bipolar disorder, in so many combinations that he has become nonchalant
about them. "Sometimes they help, sometimes they don't," he said. "Sometimes
they make me feel like another person, like not normal."

In recent months, his mother said, Paul seems to have improved: he visibly
tries to control himself when he is upset and usually succeeds. He is an
eager Mets fan who loves reading Harry Potter and the Goosebumps series. He
gets out and plays baseball and football, like any 13-year-old boy.
But he has grown tired of telling his story to doctors, and neither he nor
his mother expect that bipolar disorder will be the last diagnosis they
hear.

In Search of Clarity
The specialists who manage children's psychiatric disorders are trying to
bring more standards and clarity to the field. Harvard researchers are
completing the most comprehensive nationwide survey of mental illness in
minors and hope to publish a report next year. And a recent issue of the
journal Child and Adolescent Psychology was entirely devoted to the subject
of basing diagnoses in hard evidence.

Given the controversies, one of the articles concludes, "we acknowledge that
tackling the issue may be tantamount to taking on a 900-pound gorilla while
still wrestling with a very large alligator."
Dr. Darrel Regier of the American Psychiatric Association, who is
coordinating work on the next edition of the association's diagnostic manual
for mental disorders, due out in 2011, said that researchers would focus on
drawing distinctions among several childhood disorders, including bipolar
disorder and attention deficit disorder.
"We wouldn't disagree that criteria for these disorders currently overlap to
some degree," Dr. Regier wrote in an e-mail message, "and that a significant
amount of research is under way to disentangle the disorders in order to
support more specific treatment indications."

Until that happens, parents with very difficult children are left to read
the often conflicting signals given by doctors and other mental health
professionals. If they are lucky, they may find a specialist who listens
carefully and has the sensitivity to understand their child and their
family.

In dozens of interviews, parents of troubled children said that they had
searched for months and sometimes years to find the right therapist.
"The point is that not everything is A.D.H.D., not everything is bipolar,
and it doesn't happen like you see in the movies," said Dr. Carolyn King,
who treats children in community clinics around Detroit, and has a private
practice in the nearby suburb of Grosse Pointe Farms.

"Kids often have very subtle symptoms they can mask for short periods of
time," Dr. King said, "and the most important thing is to observe them
closely, and get a complete history, starting from birth and straight
through every single developmental milestone." She added, "A speech delay
can look like anxiety," an obsessive private ritual like mania.

Or struggling children, in the end, may look only like themselves, with a
unique combination of behaviors that defy any single label. Camille Evans, a
mother in Brooklyn whose son's illness was tagged with a half-dozen
different diagnoses in the last several years, said she concluded, after
seeing several psychiatrists, that the boy's silences and learning
difficulties were best understood as a mild form of autism "That's the
diagnosis that I think fits him best, and I've just about heard them all,"
Ms. Evans said. The label is not perfect, she said, but it is more specific
than "developmental delay" - one diagnosis they heard - and does not prime
him for aggressive treatment with drugs like attention deficit disorder or
bipolar disorder would. He has not responded well to the drugs he has tried.

"Most important for me," Ms. Evans said, "the diagnosis gives him access to
other things, like speech therapy, occupational therapy and attention from a
neurologist. And for now it seems to be moving him in the right direction."

Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company

FAIR USE NOTICE: This may contain copyrighted (C ) material the use of which
has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Such
material is made available for educational purposes, to advance
understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and
social justice issues, etc. It is believed that this constitutes a 'fair
use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C.
section 107 of the US Copyright Law. This material is distributed without
profit.

Permalink Reply by Ben White on October 3, 2008 at 12:29pm

I have just started a course run by Freddy Jacquin called Potensharu (Potential in Japanese) which will teach parents how to use naturally occuring trance, language, anchoring and other techniques with their children. During the first session we learnt how to spot naturally occuring trance in our children (when they're completely oblivious to you and engrossed in something else or perhaps just staring into space for a few seconds). In conjunction with that Freddy tought us how to use positive language, so instead of saying "Stop running about" you say "be calm" or similar. Also the basics of anchoring were covered both overt (for older children) and covert for those children that are very young or too young to conciously build their own anchors. Combined with things like using the naturally occuring trances and perhaps a pattern interrupt this might be a first port of call for parents with ADD labeled children? I imagine it will also force the parents not to think so negatively about their child which will have benefits of its own?

The pattern interrupt idea came around because one couple on the course were saying how their child never stops running about. Freddy suggested that they unexpectedly stop him mid run (pattern interrupt) and calmly and positiviely say something like "in a minute you will be calm and sit down" and then let him go - Genius! I can't wait until the next session (2 weeks time) to find out how they got on with it.

It seems that so much in hypnosis is often simpler than one might think.

Permalink Reply by Michael Ellner on October 3, 2008 at 12:45pm

Right on Ben!

Sometimes the biggest challenge in teaching advanced hypnosis is getting people to realize just how easy it is to do when you understand the basics...

FYI- Some times it is also as simple as recognizing that some children who never stop running, never stop running around because they are consuming 10 sodas and assorted sweets a day...

Permalink Reply by Michael Ellner on October 3, 2008 at 12:51pm

Herewith one more resource that I often share with clients-

FYI- THE PUBLICATION WAS PRODUCED BY THE CCHR -- Below find a copy of their mission statement:

CCHR's Mission Statement

The Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) is a non-profit public benefit organization that investigates and exposes psychiatric violations of human rights. It works shoulder-to-shoulder with like-minded groups and individuals who share a common purpose to clean up the field of mental health. It shall continue to do so until abusive and coercive practices committed under the guise of mental health are eradicated and human rights and dignity are returned to all. CCHR's Board of Advisors, called Commissioners, include doctors, scientists, psychologists, lawyers, legislators, educators, business professionals, celebrities and civil and human rights representatives. CCHR was co-founded in 1969 by Professor Thomas Szasz, Professor of Psychiatry Emeritus, and the Church of Scientology, dedicated solely to eradicate mental health abuse.

FAIR USE NOTICE: This may contain copyrighted (C ) material the use of which
has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Such
material is made available for educational purposes, to advance
understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and
social justice issues, etc. It is believed that this constitutes a 'fair
use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C.
section 107 of the US Copyright Law. This material is distributed without
profit.

Attachments:

• Psychiatric_Drugs_and_Your_Childs_Future.pdf, 943 KB

Permalink Reply by Shirley R. Patterson on October 3, 2008 at 4:12pm

Just downloaded the pdf. WOW. I know so many parents who are struggling with the drugs/no drugs decision. Everyone knows if there is no diagnosis, you can not bill. So diagnosis comes quick.

Shirley

Permalink Reply by Michael Ellner on October 27, 2008 at 5:13am

Pediatrician believes ADHD does not exist -- Read all about it:


High Point Enterprise (North Carolina)
Pediatrician believes ADHD does not exist
By Jimmy Tomlin
Oct 26,2008

HIGH POINT - If there's such a thing as an "ADHD Establishment," Dr. Bose Ravenel stands firmly in the anti-establishment camp.

And that badge - he refers to himself as "a rebel with a cause" - is one the 70-year-old High Point pediatrician wears proudly.

"I don't relish it," he says, "but it doesn't bother me because I'm convinced about what we're doing."

Ravenel, who has practiced in High Point since 1988, has co-authored a new book - with noted family psychologist John Rosemond - that likely will make him a lightning rod for criticism from the aforementioned ADHD Establishment.

In the book, "The Diseasing of America's Children: Exposing the ADHD Fiasco and Empowering Parents To Take Back Control" (Thomas Nelson, $24.99), the authors not only hold the ADHD Establishment's feet to the fire - they toss the establishment into the fire, using such pointed phrases as "a travesty of science," "flimsy evidence," "a scandal waiting to erupt," and "an effort that has resulted in the manufacture of diseases that do not exist."

Specifically, the authors contend that those "diseases that do not exist" - namely, ADD (attention-deficit disorder), ADHD (attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder) and ODD (oppositional defiant disorder) - are based on bad science, most likely do not derive from a genetic brain disorder, and therefore do not require potentially harmful medications for treatment.

They further contend that the classic ADHD symptoms such as inattention, forgetfulness, inability to focus, hyperactivity and impulsivity can be addressed through a behavioral treatment model rather than resorting to drugs.

"We believe the professional literature is skewed in the direction of overstating the effect of medications on these children and understating the potential harmful effects," Ravenel explains.

Ironically, Ravenel admits he's a former member of the ADHD Establishment.

"That's why I don't blame them, because I was there with them," he says. "I never knew any different. As a busy doctor, you tend to read the journals that are published by authors who have heavy pharmaceutical company ties, so you're not aware of this whole alternative perspective."

About seven or eight years ago, though, Ravenel says he began to question the alarming rate at which children were being diagnosed with ADHD, particularly considering the absence of the disease in previous generations.

"That got me to begin looking seriously at those rare individuals who would write articles suggesting that ADHD is not real - I looked at why they said that," Ravenel recalls.

His conclusion? ADHD is B-O-G-U-S.

Ravenel and Rosemond argue in their book that in the 30-plus years since ADHD was recognized as a behavior disorder, no objective diagnostic criteria have been developed; no ADHD gene has been discovered; and no ADHD biochemical imbalance has been quantified.

"We don't believe there's any evidence to support (ADHD's existence), and there's a compelling amount of evidence to support what we're proposing," Ravenel says. "We think everybody ought to be trying this alternative first."

Ravenel's primary concern, he says, is the longterm impact of ADHD medications such as Ritalin, Concerta and Adderall.

"Even establishment members would agree that no one knows what the effects of longterm exposure to these psychotropic drugs would be," he says.

The authors recommend a four-prong behavioral approach in lieu of medication:

• Reframe the child's self-image from that of a person with a disabled brain to one with great potential. That can be done, they say, through an old-fashioned parenting approach that combines "powerful love and powerful discipline."

• Eliminate or restrict the child's exposure to electronic media such as TV, video games and computers. "Children get addicted to these electronic stimuli," Ravenel says.

• Change the child's diet from the typical American diet of fast food, processed carbohydrates and sugars to more healthy foods. Also, fish oil supplements have been shown to benefit learning and behavior, Ravenel says.

• De-emphasize the current educational trend that requires kindergartners to learn what once wasn't learned until first grade, because that trend causes more children to struggle and fail.

This approach has made believers out of numerous parents who have brought their children to Ravenel's practice at Cornerstone Pediatrics, he says.

"If you talk to parents whose children were faced with the prospect of their child being on medication for the rest of their life, and then within just a few weeks or months the problem is solved, they get really passionate," Ravenel says. "And they can't believe other parents are not being exposed to the same idea."

Link to story: http://hpe.southernheadlines.com/index.cfm?section=8&story=5371

Permalink Reply by Michael Ellner on October 27, 2008 at 10:34am

The following articles may be of interest:
Please note: I am posting this without the copyright holders permission--In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.--

=^..^=

----
Fidgeting in Classroom May Help Students

ROCHESTER, Minn., Mar. 28, 2006
(AP)


(AP) The fidgety boys and girls in Phil Rynearson's classroom get up and move around whenever they want, and that's just fine with him.

In fact, stretching, swaying and even balancing on big wobbly exercise balls are the point of this experimental classroom. The goal is to see if getting children to move even a little can help combat childhood obesity.

As an added perk, there's some splashy technology, too _ laptop computers, a wireless network and iPods.

The data aren't in yet. But anecdotally, Rynearson and Superintendent Jerry Williams say the fourth- and fifth-graders are more focused on the curriculum than their peers in a comparison group in an ordinary classroom. And there are fewer distractions than in the traditional setup _ where a lot of time is spent trying to get children to sit still.

"Sitting isn't bad," Rynearson said. "But I think kids need to move."

The classroom is the idea of Mayo Clinic researcher Dr. James Levine, also the mastermind of an office of the future that encourages more movement from deskbound white-collar workers.

For schoolchildren, Levine says, "My dream was kids shooting hoops and spelling," much like the American basketball game of "H-O-R-S-E."

But the classroom at Elton Hills Elementary School doesn't go quite that far. Instead, the school replaced the standard desks and chairs with adjustable podiums that allow students to stand, kneel on mats or sit on big exercise balls.

To measure movement down to the last muscle twitch, sensors are on their legs. Levine will calculate how many calories the students are burning in the new classroom compared with their old, traditional classroom.

The concept is interesting, said Alicia Moag-Stahlberg, executive director of Action for Healthy Kids, a coalition of more than 40 health and education agencies.

While the experiment sounds "like a fun way to learn," she says that at best it would be one of many changes in diet, exercise and lifestyle students need.

"Will this really help with the obesity epidemic?" she said. "That's the area that we don't know enough about."

In Levine's experiment, a lot of the movement depends on technology. During a nutrition lesson, a group of students stood at their desks following along on their computers. Meanwhile, another group downloaded an audio file of Rynearson reading a book; a third group listened as their iPods walked them through a spelling test.

The students had mixed views of the experiment. Stephanie Mueller said she liked working on the computers, especially being able to repeat parts of lessons. And the freedom to move is "better than sitting down all day," she said.

However, another student, Mariah Matrious, didn't much like it. "I don't like standing up," she said. "My legs get tired and I like sitting down."

The experiment is due to run through the end of the school year. Rynearson said he plans to add old-fashioned desks and chairs for any students who want them.

Williams, the superintendent, has already been converted to the new concept and thinks it could be expanded, with or without the computers and iPods. "I would love to have this move from a single classroom to the whole school," he said.
___
On the Net:
Mayo Clinic: http://www.mayoclinic.com
Action for Healthy Kids: http://www.actionforhealthykids.org/
National Institute For Health Care Management Foundation: http://www.nihcm.org/finalweb/default.htm


MMVI The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

------
Too Much Emphasis on Learning Disabilities May Cause Academic Setbacks

HAIFA, SPECIAL EDUCATION, LEARNING DISABILITIES

Description Research at the University of Haifa reveals that while diagnosing learning disabilities and giving children the tools to help them overcome their disabilities is important, too much emphasis on the disability causes children to become anxious and causes a decline academic achievement.

Newswise ” Research demonstrates that while awareness of learning disabilities helps improve academic achievement, too much attention to them may cause anxiety and a decline in achievement. The research was conducted at the Department of Learning Disabilities of the University of Haifa by Liat Feingold, under the direction of Dr. Michal Shany and Prof. Avigdor Klingman. "Until now, no one had examined whether awareness of learning disabilities is always helpful in coping with the problem or whether in certain cases it is delaying factor," explained Ms. Feingold.
Eight-five elementary school children with reading delays, the most commonly diagnosed leaning disability, participated in the study which was designed to evaluate whether self-awareness of a learning disability would improve academic achievement. Two aspects of "self-awareness" were evaluated: actual awareness of the disability and the amount of concern with it. The study showed that awareness of a learning disability resulted in improved achievement, but that continuous dealing with it caused a decline in achievement and general feelings of anxiety.
"It is important that children with reading problems know what their learning disability is, what its ramifications are and how to deal with the problem. However, it is important not to spend too much time dealing with the issue," stressed Ms. Feingold who explained that the more the child thinks about his disability and how it will affect his life, the more anxious he becomes." As a result of the anxiety, the information processing systems become overloaded and the result is a decline in academic achievement."
She adds that the results contradict the currently accepted theory that parents should be as involved as possible with their child's learning disabilities, revealing that exposing a child to repeated clinical evaluations and different treatment methods causes exaggerated mental activity, which actually disrupts and harms the chances of academic success.
end-

Warmest regards,
Michael E.
"Each person is a unique individual. Hence, psychotherapy should be formulated to meet the uniqueness of the individual's needs, rather than tailoring the person to fit the ... hypothetical theory of human behaviour." Milton Erickson

Permalink Reply by Michael Ellner on November 4, 2008 at 10:21am

NY Times,
October 17, 2008, 12:09 PM
A ‘Dose of Nature’ for Attention Problems
Tara Parker-Pope on Health

Can nature walks help kids with A.D.H.D.? (Chris Cummins for The New York Times)


Parents of children with attention deficit problems are always looking for new strategies to help their children cope. An interesting new study suggests that spending time in nature may help.

A small study conducted at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign looked at how the environment influenced a child’s concentration skills. The researchers evaluated 17 children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, who all took part in three 20-minute walks in a park, a residential neighborhood and a downtown area.

After each walk, the children were given a standard test called Digit Span Backwards, in which a series of numbers are said aloud and the child recites them backwards. The test is a useful measure of attention and concentration because practice doesn’t improve the score. The order of the walks varied for all the children, and the tester wasn’t aware of which walk the child had just taken.

The study, published online in the August The Journal of Attention Disorders, found that children were able to focus better after the “green” walks compared to walks in other settings.

Although the study is small, the data support several earlier studies suggesting that natural settings influence psychological health. In 2004, a survey of parents of 450 children found that “green” outdoor activities reduced A.D.H.D. symptoms more than activities in other settings.

“What this particular study tells us is that the physical environment matters,” said Frances E. Kuo, director of the university’s Landscape and Human Health Laboratory. “We don’t know what it is about the park, exactly — the greenness or lack of buildings — that seems to improve attention.”

Dr. Kuo noted that the study used tight controls to make sure that the walks were identical except for the environment. Who the child was with, noise levels, the length of time, the time of day and whether the child was on medication stayed constant.

“If we kept everything else the same, and we just changed the environment, we still saw a measurable difference in children’s symptoms,” Dr. Kuo said. “And that’s completely new. No one has done a study looking at a child in different environments, in a controlled comparison where everything else is the same.”

Dr. Kuo said more children were initially involved in the study, but logistical problems like weather changes, late arrivals or changes in medication made it difficult to maintain tight control, leaving the study with just 17 children from which to draw conclusions.

Despite the small size, the study is important because it involves an objective test of attention and doesn’t rely on children’s or parents’ impressions. During the walks, all of the children were unmedicated — participants who normally took medications to control their A.D.H.D. symptoms stayed off the drugs on the days of the walks.

The researchers found that a “dose of nature” worked as well or better than a dose of medication on the child’s ability to concentrate. What’s not clear is how long the nature effect can last.

Dr. Kuo said that while there are “hints” exposure to green outdoor settings offers a benefit, the science isn’t advanced enough to give parents a strict formula.

“We can’t say for sure, ‘two hours of outdoor play will get you this many days of good behavior,’ but we can say it’s worth trying,” she said. “We can say that as little as 20 minutes of outdoor exposure could potentially buy you an afternoon or a couple of hours to get homework done.”

Dr. Kuo said it’s notable that parents themselves consistently report benefits for their children from green settings.

“One reason we believe this is that if the effect were short-lived, we don’t think that parents would have so consistently observed it,” she said. “But they do. They report it over and over.”

-
FAIR USE NOTICE: The posts in this discussion group thread may contain copyrighted (C ) material the use of which
has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Such
material is made available for educational purposes, to advance
understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and
social justice issues, etc. It is believed that this constitutes a 'fair
use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C.
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Permalink Reply by Steve Lovold on January 16, 2009 at 12:47pm

I like this discussion topic, I am familiar in the approach to ADD/ADHD from the point of veiw of a meditator (vipassana), as well as being a proponent for nutritional protocol.

I am also familiar with the MINDFUL AWARENESS PROGRAM ( MAPs) for ATTENTION / adhd ~ a 6-week developed at MARC witch provides an overveiw of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and applies mindful awareness exercises to adults with attention problems. I believe one can receive further info by contacting Dr. Lidia Zylowska ...
~ ALOHA ~

Permalink Reply by Bill Kennedy on May 2, 2011 at 7:23pm

This is an excellent survey of some sources of information on ADD/ADHD.  For practical strategies from a practitioner's point of view, I have summarized available resources here:  http://www.hypnothoughts.com/group/kidsworks/forum/topics/coping-wi...