ADHD

[Ash8]

Do you think it's over-diagnosed?

[lilacben]

Excuse me but you have never had to deal with a child with ADHD that is for sure or you wouldn't even say this.!my darling granddaughter is now 15 and has always suffered from it.! As a baby she hardly slept and as she got older she was the same. At school she always had problems and my daughter went back to doctors time and time again. But it wasn't until she was 12 that they finally admitted she was ADHD. Yes they have given her tablets... But she will not take them.!! And before you say make her take them, I would like to see anyone try.! She is not an only child as she has two younger sisters and a brother. All younger than her and non of them have it. Thankfully, having one is a real nightmare. As grandparents we will sorry for her as she is a really pretty girl and we love her to bits but she is like a rocket and one minute she is fine and the next she explodes like a bomb. Her school work has suffered and we are worried what further she has. So no it isn't over diagnosed ,infact because the doctors wouldn't. 'put a label' on my granddaughter we all have to suffer with her.

[joeluke]

Kids who lack attention at home behaving like brats

Poor parenting

[joko]

it didnt exist 30 years ago?
and 400 years ago theyd have said there was no such thing as autism, epilepsy or diabetes... doesnt mean they didnt exist!

what a stupid comment!

i have heard said that adhd is just highfunctioning low level autism, so it barely registers as somehting wrong, but is there in a small way.

that said, i do agree somewhat with what you say about over diagnosis - there is also a lot of home diagnosing - parents using it to defend their kids when they do something wrong to others - as though it excuses the kid and absolves them of all blame

some kids are just naughty, but some i think do have other issues that contribute.

[EvianBaby]

I'm sure cancer didn't existing until the 1980's either.

Or maybe they just didn't know what it was.

I do think ADHD exists but I also believe it is massively over diagnosed and I strongly disagree with the medicating of children for it, apart from in extreme cases.

[cazzz1975]

I agree completely with evianbaby.

[Le Chat]

My husband and I are convinced that in a different family our 'whirling dervish' of a son could well have been diagnosed adhd.

[boxtops]

I agree with evian and cazz - there was no ADHD when I was a child but it was there, just not identified as such. Children were labelled naughty or uncontrolled or poor learners.

[Kassee]

Of course ADHD exists, I can pick out a child with ADHD, nothing to do with parenting at all. Its the one running around like a headless chicken, with a mind so active it feels as though he is about to explode. (And it is usually a he).

It wasn't that long ago we were saying "dyslexia" doesn't exsist, or before that bright sparks were telling us that "all children were right handed - left handed children didn't exsist".

I do think it has a lot to do with the "muck" that is put into processed foods these days and the rubbish that is sold for children to eat. Look at the school meals - they weren't like that years ago. We had good wholesome food at school, and plenty was grown in the garden for us to eat at home.

ADHD is not difficult to spot, what is more difficult to recognise is ADD. Do you blame everything on the parents Ash8?

[sherrardk]

I have a Tasmanian devil here, she is like the ball in a pin ball machine - pretty sure she is just wild but not ADHD (if she had been our first child she would have been the last!).

[Kassee]

Sometimes I wish I had ADHD - I might get my housework done a bit quicker - instead of sat on the computer for hours on end !!!

[ummmm]

I think if it was known when I was a child I might have been diagnosed.

[NiallsMama]

I do believe ADHD exists and it's not just 'bad parenting' as I have seen it active in all forms from workplace to homelife.
I have worked as SENCO trained Teaching assistant in a variety of schools over 15 years and fully believe ADHD is a mental health disorder as it's behavior that cannot be controlled by the sufferer, its as much an automatic reaction for a frustrated ADHD child to have an outburst as a child with Tourettes shouting profanities.
When my own son was born 7+ half years ago I thought I would be the ideal mother with all my 'training'....Turns out my baby son didn't fancy sleeping for the 1st 4 years of his life, But, he threw himself into nursery + loved it, plus was loved by staff....Things changed when he started school....He didn't like the confines of the classroom + the structured day, he found it too stressful and would come home crying and upset. I had always had a suspicion he may be on the Autistic Spectrum because I recognised mild behaviours i had seen in other children over the years in my career. When I mentioned it to his teacher he agreed there was something so we got a referral to our local clinic.
At the clinic we did many tests and activities and his teacher and TA's were quizzed too...The Dr decided he very probably was more inclined to Attention Deficit Disorder (ADHD without the 'hyperactivity) but he couldn't diagnose as My son was too young and ADD was not a term used so much anymore....The Dr suggested putting him straight onto medication, I refused as he was only 5 at the time and felt he was too young to be given such a harsh pre-diagnosis and medicated!
Almost 3 years later, he is still in mainstream school and not on medication, he has 1-1 support for 17 hours in school which we had to fight the LEA for and has a good few close friends in his class. He is achieving level 3's + some level 4's in his school work and he's happy. Yes, we have good days followed by bad weeks, but he knows his boundaries and he know what he can and can't eat/drink. (No sweets, sugar, fizzy pop, etc)
Sorry for the ramble, but I felt some of the non-believers on this thread should hear a personal story of an educated mother with a child with ADHD.......Thanks for reading x