Reply #163: How could they tell they were succeeding in school? Praise from adults? [View All]

[mzmolly]

I'm glad your son is doing well, but many kids who were not medicated (after being told they had ADHD, or not) are doing fine also. I know a few - personally. Some have been mentioned in this thread. My guess is your sons, in a learning environment that was respectful of who they were/how they learned, would have thrived as well? I realize that a typical school setting can not always accommodate the various learning styles/personalities of all children, however. Especially given the number of students often in a class room today.

That said, I dislike the attitude that one HAS to medicate a child who acts in a certain manner. I would not criticize a parent for doing so, but I would ask that those who choose to medicate refrain from the same?

Here is the flip side: http://www.breggin.com/classactionmore.html

It is important for the Education Committee to understand that the ADD/ADHD diagnosis was developed specifically for the purpose of justifying the use of drugs to subdue the behaviors of children in the classroom. The content of the diagnosis in the 1994 Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders of the American Psychiatric Association shows that it is specifically aimed at suppressing unwanted behaviors in the classroom.
The diagnosis is divided into three types: hyperactivity, impulsivity, and inattention.

Under hyperactivity, the first two (and most powerful) criteria are "often fidgets with hands or feet or squirms in seat" and "often leaves seat in classroom or in other situations in which remaining seated is expected." Clearly, these two "symptoms" are nothing more nor less than the behaviors most likely to cause disruptions in a large, structured classroom.

Under impulsivity, the first criteria is "often blurts out answers before questions have been completed" and under inattention, the first criteria is "often fails to give close attention to details or makes careless mistakes in schoolwork, work, or other activities." Once again, the diagnosis itself, formulated over several decades, leaves no question concerning its purpose: to redefine disruptive classroom behavior into a disease. The ultimate aim is to justify the use of medication to suppress or control the behaviors.