*Sigh*  I DO have an open mind!!!!
        ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
You don't even know me!  I raised 4 children as a single mother, the
youngest of the four is mentally retarded and is autistic.  I remarried
and now have a 10 year old with ADHD.  I suspected my son that is
mentally retarded my have been damaged when I was 7 months pregant with
him and FORCED to take a swine flu shot while we were stationed in
Panama C.Z.  I realized early on that there was something wrong because
he was way behind for his age when comparing what he could do as
compared to my other children at the same age.  I immediately got him
into an infant stim. program.  When he was three he was enrolled in a
special pre-school to help is developement.  The physical therapist, or
the occupational therapist, I can't remember...convinced me to put him
on the Feingold diet, plus wanted me to put him on an elimination diet.
It was fery difficult to follow.  I went to the health food store and
even there couldn't find foods free of the ingredients/additives she
wanted me to avoid.  I bought goats milk, kosher yogurt colored with
beet juice, chickens from a farmer that he plucked for me so he wouldn't
eat poultry from a processing plant that is sprayed with SOMETHING she
said was bad for him as the poultry is being prepared for packaging.
Well, to make a long story short-it didn't work, didn't make any
difference at all.  I know you say pediatricians aren't educated in food
allergies, etc., but my 10 year old son's pediatrician says that studies
have proven that diet has nothing to do with affecting the behavior of
ADD children.  I know from personal experience that diet did not make
a difference with MY children!!!!  Behavior modification techniques
greatly helped my retarded/autistic son.  They're not as effective with
my ADD son.  RITALIN has been a great help to my ADD son.  It isn't a
magic solution, to be sure.  He still needs a lot of structure and
monitoring and he can be very exasperating.  But if RITALIN will help in
the school setting, and it DOES, I will continue to give it to him.
When you have a child with a problem, it seems everyone believes that
gives them a right to come up to the mother and give unsolicited advice.
Ritalin is bad, I heard this horror story and that horror story...etc.
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