Nice piece on CNN.com regarding teachers telling parents their children have ADHD. While initally pushing the hysteria button by suggesting that teachers are acting as doctors, the article settles into a nice discussion about listening to professionals who see hundreds of children and are better equipped than parents to see differences in learning styles and behaviors that parents may not see. It also points out that, while ADHD does appear to be real, there can be many non-ADHD related causes for a child's inappropriate behavior: family traumas, anxiety, depression (though I'd personally be very very careful about diagnosing a child as depressed in a clinical sense)...and, most importantly, inappropriate parenting styles. By that I mean a style that is not suited to that child. I rarely meet 'bad' parents (and the 'bad' parents I do meet are almost always impaired due to cognitive reasons or socioeconomic reasons)...but I do meet many parents whose styles do not work well for their particular child. One of the things I tell them is, "It's important for you to parent the child you have, not the one you want."
Here are some good excerpts:
"I think that sometimes folks want an immediate answer and they want to help a child as quickly as possible," said Cheryl Rode, Director of Clinical Operations at the San Diego Center for Children in California. "Medication is quick and easy but it's not the answer alone for working with kids who have ADHD."
For a teacher to suggest that a child has ADHD is "inappropriate and dangerous," says Dr. Elizabeth Roberts, child psychiatrist in Murrieta, California. Depression, anxiety and abuse are all possibilities in a child's life that could lead to attention problems, Roberts said. That means that many children are receiving medication for the wrong problem.
Alana Morales, of Thornton, Colorado, is one of those teachers who has brought up the subject of ADHD testing with many parents. She doesn't tell parents to medicate their kids, but brings up the subject of getting children tested because she thinks it's important for parents to know.
"You have to be so careful because, again, we are not doctors," she said. "But does that mean we don't recognize it? No."
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Welcome to the revolution.
Adam
Here are some good excerpts:
"I think that sometimes folks want an immediate answer and they want to help a child as quickly as possible," said Cheryl Rode, Director of Clinical Operations at the San Diego Center for Children in California. "Medication is quick and easy but it's not the answer alone for working with kids who have ADHD."
For a teacher to suggest that a child has ADHD is "inappropriate and dangerous," says Dr. Elizabeth Roberts, child psychiatrist in Murrieta, California. Depression, anxiety and abuse are all possibilities in a child's life that could lead to attention problems, Roberts said. That means that many children are receiving medication for the wrong problem.
Alana Morales, of Thornton, Colorado, is one of those teachers who has brought up the subject of ADHD testing with many parents. She doesn't tell parents to medicate their kids, but brings up the subject of getting children tested because she thinks it's important for parents to know.
"You have to be so careful because, again, we are not doctors," she said. "But does that mean we don't recognize it? No."
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Welcome to the revolution.
Adam
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