A.D.D. = B.S.

[Coopersville]

http://keirsey.com/addhoax.html

[Ichor]

Nice, but what is it doing here in this forum, instead of Everything Else?

[Coopersville]

I swear a put it in Everything Else. I guess I went here from force of habit. :(

[Ichor]

I hate it when that happens, heheh. I'm sure someone will move it eventually.

[Lüt]

heh

[Scuba Steve]

Quoth Article:
RARELY DO children AFFLICTED “WITH A.D.D.”
1) OBEY SCHOOLWORK DIRECTIVES
2) SUSTAIN ATTENTION TO SCHOOLWORK
3) BOTHER WITH SCHOOLWORK DETAILS
4) TRY TO AVOID DISTRACTIONS FROM SCHOOLWORK
5) TRY TO AVOID MISTAKES IN DOING SCHOOLWORK
6) LISTEN TO THE TEACHER'S DIRECTIVES
7) REMEMBER SCHOOL ROUTINES
8) PREPARE FOR SCHOOLWORK
9) ORGANIZE SCHOOLWORK TASKS
10) LIKE TO DO SCHOOLWORK

OK... I Do none of these? Diagnosis?

[IMJack]

"A.D.D." is the medical definition for "being a kid."

[Use]

If this is news to anyone I'm very sorry for them.

[Sharessa]

Heh...I only read the first paragraph then skimmed over the rest, but I'd have to say I completely agree. I swear, this keeps being 'diagnosed' more and more often. If they had been this consistant with ritalin treatment when I was a kid, they would have put me on it as well...and I'm only 19! Honestly, if a kid is hyperactive and has a short attention span, then that means THEY ARE A KID! Its what they do, man.

As for ritalin and other such 'cures', that stuff is just bad news. I knew one guy who was on it for years and between 3rd grade, when he started it, and high school, when he finaly got off it, he grew maybe 5 inches. He was one short motherfucker. Then when he stopped, he suddenly shot up eighteen inches in one summer. All I can think is that ritalin is some kind of growth surpressant...heh. Also, giving your kids regular doses of DRUGS cannot be psychologicaly healthy for them at all. We wonder why there are so many addicts out there...gee, where'd they all come from? I know another guy who was treated for ADD, and they gave him mild amphetamines. Now he's a big-time stoner.

What I think really happens is that the doctors/parents/teachers see some 'signs' of it and then start saying 'oh he's probably got ADD' then the kids like 'oh I have ADD that means I can go as crazy as possible and blame it on my condition', then it just goes off from there. Anyway...whatever. Society sucks, etc.

[Amaster]

Yes Ritalin is quite overprescribed. However, I do not believe that ADD is totally b.s. I know an individual, 24 years old, who has SERIOUS problems maintaining himself. Without medication he totally flips out and goes running around all over the place. So I think there may be cause for concern, we just need to improve our methods of diagnosis.

[AirRaid]

I have(had?) ADD. Trust me, it's not Bullshit.

[AirRaid]

the_Danarchist said:

All I can think is that ritalin is some kind of growth surpressant...heh.

Oh, and I was on ritalin for like, 2 years? I'm 6'2"

[Lord FlatHead]

the_Danarchist said:

Then when he stopped, he suddenly shot up eighteen inches in one summer.

GIGANTICISM !

[Little Faith]

Ritalin: Supplying the incarceration industry with generations of new addicts.

[Naked Snake]

I have A.D.H.D. and I take Adderal (sp?) for it. Yes, the meds help, a lot. I find I'm more calm during the weekdays when I take the meds than on weekends when I don't.

[Lüt]

A.D.D. is real, though not to the extent many claim, and Ritalin & other treatment drugs do help, though again not to the extent many claim.

A big reason many people are diagnosed with A.D.D. or A.D.H.D. is bad vision. Sight and vision are not the same. Sight is simply being able to see (a.k.a. "visual acuity"). Vision is a complex process, involving over 20 visual abilities and 2/3 of all the pathways to the brain, which gives us our ability to understand what we see. Vision is a learned process, in the same manner that walking and talking are learned processes. What optometrists call "20/20 vision" is a measure of visual acuity - the ability to see small objects. Visual acuity has nothing to do with the ability to learn by reading. Anybody with "perfect eyesight" can still suffer from vision disorders that undermine any effort to learn, thus setting them up for failure in a school setting. (In fact, people with vision disorders are often above average in visual acuity.)

In my case, my A.D.D. diagnosis was simply because I had never learned to use both eyes simultaneously for more than a brief period of time. When I was reading, my left eye would either wander off or "shut down", the result being that I missed words, phrases or whole chunks of paragraphs. I had no trouble reading small forum posts all day long, but I couldn't read extended material for more than a few minutes at a time - it was too tiring and I couldn't concentrate. I wasn't aware of what was happening, I only knew that what I had read didn't seem to make sense (as is true with the majority of people suffering vision disorders). Also, my eyes didn't automatically focus and refocus, so if I glanced away, I always lost my place. Since one eye was looking at one word while the other eye looked at another, it wasn't really surprising to come to the end of a page feeling frustrated. I tried hard to keep up with extended reading in school, but that's when I ended up with headaches and double vision (although most people don't complain - they simply avoid further reading). My lack of concentration in regard to the extended reading material was because all my concentration was being used on trying to read instead of actually processing the reading material. I used to think I was just stupid because it took me forever to take in anything, despite what I put out being many grade levels above average. Turns out that my intake issue was simply that matter of eye control and coordination described above.

The problem for most kids is that many years go by before even the most observant parent becomes aware that a kid has, to all intents and purposes, stopped reading. Most kids learn to listen well or to ask their friends for help, or sometimes just to cheat their way along. Most parents end up thinking the problem is the teacher, or the school, or that it's just a stage. Maybe the work is too hard.

Current research indicates that 1 out of 4 kids and 7 out of 10 juvenile delinquents have vision problems which drastically interfere with their ability to learn. Parents and teachers label these kids lazy, unmotivated, looking for attention, or simply "not good students", citing many of the A.D.D. symptoms listed on Keirsey's "The Great A.D.D. Hoax" page. Optometrists find that over 80% of these A.D.D. diagnoses have difficulty in eye control and coordination. The kids usually come to the conclusion that they're just stupid (like I did), and may become dropouts - not only from school, but from a full life. And yet, over 90% of these particular visual problems can be cured through vision therapy, quickly and forever.

Vision therapy is being done by optometrists all over the world, but almost nobody has heard of it because psychologists are so busy handing out bogus A.D.D. diagnoses. If I had known this years ago, I could have saved years of psychological and schoolboard examinations, as well as been a much better student with a much higher education level. Optometrists who do vision training can recite success story after success story. The one I'm working with now told me about a kid who had gone from doctor to reading specialist to psychiatrist for many years at enormous cost (hundreds of thousands of dollars), who was finally helped in just a few months with vision training.

Seeing as how most of you are upset with the bogus A.D.D. diagnoses, perhaps you could take some time to support P.A.V.E., a non-profit group dedicated to raising public awareness of the things I've said here. They have a lot of useful info on their page, including a "Symptoms Of Vision Problems" to counter the list of "A.D.D. Symptoms", as well as an entire "Attention Defecits" page dealing specifically with misdiagnosed A.D.D. cases.

In addition to their "Symptoms Of Vision Problems" list, I also have this list from my optometrist:

• A book held very close to the eyes (only 7 or 8 inches away)
  
• Pages counter before reading, only shorter pieces considered
  
• Person's head moves back and forth while reading, instead of the eyes
  
• Finger is used to trace lines in the book
  
• Subvocalization during reading: murmuring or silent moving of lips
  
• Complaints of blurring, double-vision or headaches
  
• Short attention span while reading, quickly fatigued
  
• Homework takes hours and hours, when it shouldn't
  
• Person seems to read well enough but recalls only portions of text or has spotty understanding, whereas person has almost total recall of text when read aloud
  
• Person is well-coordinates, yet has trouble with ball games
  
• Schoolwork that depends to a large extent upon reading - history or English - is difficult, while subjects such as math and science are learned easily.

I figure there's at least a few people here who could use vision therapy, so please consider it if you find yourself described on these symptoms lists. It really does help.

[Rotting Corpse]

I had A.D.H.D. I grew out of it.I think that takeing Ritalin is raly stuped.
They had me on it for 3 weeks. In 3 weeks I lost 30lb.I didnt eat.I sleeped all the time.I had veary bad mood swings. I got head achs and my stomic was in knots all the time. Ritalin is harron. Takeing a drug as dangors and harron is bad in any situation.If I have kids they will never, ever take Ritalin.

[Tyockell]

Yepp all of it explained me....But I just choose to not give a shit.

[NightmareZer0]

BBG said:

I have A.D.H.D. and I take Adderal (sp?) for it. Yes, the meds help, a lot. I find I'm more calm during the weekdays when I take the meds than on weekends when I don't.

I have teh same thing adhd and i take adderal

[Fletcher`]

Lüt said:

Schoolwork that depends to a large extent upon reading - history or English - is difficult, while subjects such as math and science are learned easily

Not to undermine everything you said, because I believe all of it, but everybody's got this. :P

[Use]

ravage said:

Not to undermine everything you said, because I believe all of it, but everybody's got this. :P

What? I could read before I even started school.

[Sharessa]

Use3D said:

What? I could read before I even started school.

Same here. English was probably my favorite subject...well at least Lit. I wasn't so hot on grammar.

[pritch]

I have dyspraxia, which should mean I should find ball games and English quite hard.

I play loads of football and Rugby and am majoring in English Lit. o_O

It was a different story as a kid though. It was... hard.

You can overcome anything with application.

[MagnuM]

Uhhh...The guy who wrote that article is a completely ignorant moron. A.D.D. can be diagnosed and be treated. Yeah I'll admit that sometimes it is over diagnosed, but just because people have it doesn't mean they can't control it. So take your fucking pill and shut-up...well not really.

[Sharessa]

Medicine is for the weak.

[MagnuM]

I say use some will power you bush wacked mornons.

[Lüt]

ravage said:

Not to undermine everything you said, because I believe all of it, but everybody's got this. :P

Heh, no I know quite a few people who were the opposite.

[DOOM Anomaly]

Heh, I'm still a kiddo and I don't have A.D.D. but I think I may know some people who I know who may. I'm not saying that they do, cause I don't fully know about it, but from what I've read, they can tend to act like it a lot, that, or they're just plain acting up, like me. :D

MagnuM said:

I say use some will power you bush wacked mornons.

Easier said than done, Silly. :D
Oh and not that I'm enforcing anything or anything, but is it really necessary to use such harsh words when no one has really insulted you? Kthx. :D

[Amaster]

MagnuM said:

I say use some will power you bush wacked mornons.

Yeah, Im sure these words will set a 5 year old straight.

[MagnuM]

I wrote that didn't I.....Uh I don't recall it though.
Oh well







I wuz kiddin anywayZ