> PAUL NOURSE (On 30 Jan 97) was overheard expounding to ALL
 >  Paul:
 >  PN> I have been reading some of the posts and feel that alot of people
 >  PA> like Ritalin use to cure their kids.
 >  My almost 10 year old has been taking ritalin for almost 3 years.  It
 >  has not, and will NOT, _cure_ ADD/ADHD.  I don't "like" using
 >  ritalin, and I seriously doubt that any other parent "likes" doing
 >  it.  Liking or disliking something is an emotional response not an
 >  intelligent one.
 >  PN> As it has a place in treatment of ADD/ADHD it should be ONLY as a
 >  PN> last resort.
 >  For most of us it is the last resort.  Everything else has been
 >  tried, often more than once or twice, and eliminated.
 >  PN> Lately there's been a pandemic of ADD/ADHD diagnosis's and the
 >  PN> cure of choice is RITALIN.
 >  Pandemic?  (Nice $.05 word btw)  Widespread -  yes, large numbers - no;
 >  you need to recheck your sources.
 >  PN> I can fix my car engine by replacing the engine anytime it has a
 >  PN> problem but ofcourse that is over kill.
 >  There is some relationship between that comment and ADD/ADHD?
 >  PN> There are those that read on the safety of the drug but fail to
 >  PN> understand who did the studies where their research money came
 >  PN> from.
 >  Okay...suppose YOU tell us, _specifically_, where it comes from and why
 >  YOU think the funding source(s) exert undue influence on the
 >  researchers.  Please name the funding source(s) and the researchers
 >  who bow down to the cash cow.
 >  PN> Ritalin is a bull in a china shop. For some it is a miracle for
 >  PN> others it is a grand experiment a potential Big risk.
 >  It is none of those.  A statement like that comes from someone who
 >  knows little or nothing of the history of the med, the effect it
 >  produces or what the risk factors are.
 >  PN> I have a friend who is a lousy parent and has a
 >  PN> misbehaving child. Now after 10 years on Ritalin he is now a manic
 >  PN> depressive.
 >  There it is...the first "I have a friend who..." followed by an
 >  outrageous and unverifiable claim that ritalin caused ....
 >  If your friend is a lousy parent that undoubtedly contributed to the
 >  bipolar disorder in the child, didn't cause it but sure didn't help
 >  it either.  If the child has been taking ritalin for 10 years that
 >  would put him well into the teenage years.  The BPD was there all
 >  along and your lousy parent friend accepted an incorrect diagnosis.
 >  PN> Oh yes the last few years the Doc was trying to ADJUST
 >  PN> his dose of Ritalin (speed) to correct the symptom.
 >  Ritalin is not speed - don't even go there with that.
 >  PN> Did  I mention that he tried committing suicide!
 >  No, as you well know, you did not.
 >  That's not uncommon in those with BPD.  Surely you are not trying to
 >  convince anyone that ritalin caused the suicide attempt?
 >  PN> Bodybuilders use Steroids ...
 >  ---8<---
 >  So.... what's your point?  That body builders who take steroids
 >  shouldn't take ritalin?  If they don't take their ritalin they'd
 >  forget to take the steroids and soon all that muscle tissue would be
 >  sagging and wagging like Grandma's upper arms.
 >  CONTINUED NEXT POST
 >  
 > --- PPoint 2.02
   I am new here.  My name is Bonnie.  My son was diagnosed (sort of) with 
ADHD when he was 5 years old.... I feel like this is such a long story.  It 
seemed to stem from massive ear infections and a loss of hearing up untill he 
started school.  It took me two years of his pre-school life to tell the base 
doctors (so that they would listen)  that if he wasn't speaking intelligable 
words at almost five,  then something was wrong with his hearing.   
   We have been through the whole horror story.....The teachers who 
absolutely 
know that "you" are the problem with your child,  to the know all 
Psychologists who throw ritalin at you as if it were a shield.  It took a 
month of hospitalization for my child while they turned him into a test-tube 
of different medications for me to wise up......Want to know the results?
   After all that and $4,000 later,  I was told that they didn't think he had 
ADHD because none of the medications worked.
That was four years ago.
He is 10 years old now and has been medication free for 4 years.   To this 
day 
I have teachers and counselors and principles drilling this medication into 
my 
head.  Don't they read files?   
And yes,  If you don't follow their suggestions as law,  you might as well 
consider yourself an unfit mother in their eyes.   
   The only way to help your child succeed is to educate yourself not only to 
the  condition itself,  but your child as well.  You have to get as close to 
him as possible.
   This may come as a shock to some,  but what worked for me,  (and has to be 
practiced constantly)  is cracking down on the discipline.   The more excuses 
you make for your childs behavior,  the more he uses them.   It was hard to 
suddenly switch tactics because I had idiots telling me (paid Professionals) 
not to discipline him...He wouldn't understand why he was being punished.  He 
was my first child,  I was a young parent and I listened.  A Doctor might be 
able to give you suggestions on his experiences with such children 
statistically,  but he does not know your child.   When they make a 
suggestion 
that seems wrong,  you tell him so and you tell him why.   Teachers I have 
just about written off as having any common sense whatsoever.
   Happily,  My son is with a new teacher this year.  She is younger and she 
and I had a meeting the first week of school.  She knows exactly where I 
stand 
with my son and she also knows that I want to work with her as long as it's 
not against me.   His experience has been 150% better this year.  He is not 
problem free,  but My son knows his teacher and I  TALK and that has made a 
big difference.
/s
--- AdeptXBBS v1.07g (Registered)
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