ARE ADHD DRUGS HELPING OR HURTING YOUR KIDS?

Are ADHD medications putting your children in danger? Readers of this blog know my feelings on the subject and those who don't can click here to find out. In short medication should be a last resort after many other options have been examined.  

I’m so excited that Anderson Cooper is tackling the controversial issue of medicating children for attention deficit disorder in his show Anderson. In a heated debate, he has invited two moms to face off on the appropriate ways to treat children with ADHD. One of his guests Laurie A. Couture is a frequent contributor to this blog. Laurie is an unschooling, alternative education and attachment parenting coach and consultant. She is the author of Instead of Medicating and Punishing: Healing the Causes of Our Children’s Acting-Out Behavior by Parenting and Educating the Way Nature Intended which was chosen as a finalist in the ForeWord Magazine Book-of- the-Year Awards in 2009. She appears as an expert in the documentary film, The War On Kids (2009) and is the host of The Free and Joyful Childhood Radio Show. Laurie was a recipient of the 2010 Manchester Union Leader’s Forty Under 40 honors.  Visit her website at http://www.laurieacouture.com.  

The pharma companies spend billions to get society to drug their kids. Laurie will tell us the many healthier alternatives. I can’t wait to hear Laurie advocate for children on this show. Here is a preview.

If you have a child diagnosed with ADD / ADHD this show is for you. Check it out and decide what's right for your kids.


To find out when it is on in your area, click this link and enter your zip code in the WHEN IT'S ON box.
Here is when it is on here in New York.
Debuts Thursday, March 08, 2012
Channel PIX11 M-F 4:00 PM

While you'll have to watch the actual show via your service provider, you can see what happened after the show below. 

To find out  Laurie's reaction to the show here. 

You have read this article ADD / ADD cure / ADHD / ADHD Cure / ADHD Treatment with the title ADHD. You can bookmark this page URL http://benncam.blogspot.com/2012/03/are-adhd-drugs-helping-or-hurting-your.html. Thanks!

5 things you can do now before turning to ADD / ADHD drugs

Guest post by Heather Jones DeGorge

Editor’s note: I’m often disheartened to find that in many cases educators and parents are quick to unquestioningly trust pharma industry influenced doctors about best treatments for children’s mental and health issues without considering or researching other options. Before taking the advice to drug children it is helpful to get insights from health and wellness coaches like Heather Jones DeGeorge and  parenting coaches / counseling experts like Laurie A. Couture who have had great success with helping families find mental and physical health and wellness naturally. I asked DeGeorge to share the top five things families can do for children who have symptoms associated with ADD / ADHD. Here they are.

It’s a familiar scenario: Johnny or Jane (but statistically more frequently, Johnny) can’t sit still in class.  Add whatever other “disruptive to the learning environment” things you can think up.  Now add the at-home tensions.  Nobody needs me to paint a picture of what the world calls ADHD these days.  We may all have different pictures in our mind, but remarkably, they are likely to all qualify. 

The teachers and/or the doctors might tell you to remove sugar and food dyes.  MIGHT.  But at the end of the day, as recently exposed in a New York Times opinion piece by psychology professor L. Alan Sroufe most doctors are going to offer you a medication.  Some schools will bully you into believing that they will not evaluate your child for IEP/504 accommodations without a diagnosis—possibly without first trying medications (both of which are illegal—at a Federal level that overrides the state).

There are some that believe that if you simply remove the child from a classroom, the problem will be resolved—that ADHD doesn’t exist.  If you’re someone for whom that hasn’t worked, you’re thinking “No, because they’re not in the classroom on the weekends or in the summer and it’s still there!”  Admittedly, you only have it half right.  Seeing a child outside of the classroom isn’t akin to what they would be like if they were learning outside of school for a variety of reasons.
For one, they need several months of decompression once removed from the school environment just to change their behaviors and mindsets.  So even if environment is suspected and the school refuses to modify, after being pulled from the school and homeschooled, there is a period of adjustment where you will not see the final (better behavior) although many kids with serious problems “behaving” in school MAY show SOME immediate improvement just from the tension being removed all around.

But I digress…

Drugs.  Aaaaahhhh drugs.  The quick, easy fix, right?  That’s easier than trying to tolerate your kid by homeschooling, isn’t it?  Sure it is!  If you don’t care what it does to your kid internally and emotionally, it’s great!  If you don’t mind that it may not actually work, was never tested for it’s effects on children, the known side effects that may not show up for several years, the propensity it may cause for addiction and the variety of other emotional disorders that may follow because of the body being disrupted by that medication—game on!  Better yet, let’s think of the drugs you will inadvertently add for the late-day inability to focus when the full-day drug wears off and/or the evening dose of a “downer” to offset the ADHD meds (which are stimulants) so the kid can sleep.  EASY!

Here’s a secret:  Western (American) medicine has a nasty habit of 1) treating symptoms instead of root causes of problems; 2) having a medical community that is usually not fully informed about options outside of drugs; and 3) not educating their patients if they happen to HAVE the information.

On the flip side, our culture is not really willing to listen to alternatives that are more work than popping a pill.  They are short-sighted and all about what’s easy today.  They’ll deal with that other bridge when they get to it (or so they think).

But let’s assume that you’re ready to step out of that vicious scenario.  You want to do it different and simply have no clue where to start.  This is the bulk of my client base—facing all manner of health (mental and physical) challenge and just NOT happy with what they’re doing or being told to do.  What now?

When it comes to ADHD, there are some very well-known things to try before medication.  Some of them are pretty painless, and have a good chance of helping.  This is not an exhaustive list of things you can do for ADHD before turning to drugs, but these are the things that EVERYONE should do before even considering it.

1. Get a vision test that specifically screens for “convergence insufficiency”.  Any regular eye doctor can do this and the problem is easily correctable.  But the problem, believe it or not, presents as ADHD.
2. Have a full audiogram hearing test done.  Auditory processing problems can also make a child appear to have ADHD (or other behavior problems)
3. Have a chiropractor take x-rays of your child’s spine, hips and neck to review them for subluxations (compressions of the spinal bones) that are most known to present as ADHD because the crunching of these bones on the spinal nerves disrupts the communication network.  There is a high correlation between the the first vertebrae in the neck (the Atlas) and ADHD but other disruptions in the communication network can also cause ADHD symptoms.  The stress of daily living is enough to cause these bones to be out of alignment—there doesn’t need to have been an accident or fall, and you don’t need to be in pain to see a chiropractor.  The health benefit of chiropractic care is now well-enough documented that almost all health insurance covers at least some level of treatment.
4. Remove all of the food dyes from the child’s diet.  All of them.  This can be hard to do if they’re in school and you can’t supervise them; but if they’re having trouble in school—the school should work with you on this.  You could see results sooner than later (as in a month or less).
5. Last, give your child a daily dose of Omega-3 fish oil.  This may take up to 2 weeks to see some reaction to.  I happen to like Nordic Naturals brand because they are pharmaceutical grade (filtered of impurities very well) and lemon flavored—which is easy to hide.  You don’t need the child version (which is a smaller bottle giving half a dose of the same thing as the regular bottle—for the same price).  Since the American diet is extremely overloaded with Omega-6, definitely get an Omega-3.  When the two are out of balance, there are plenty of problems.

If you CAN remove your child from the school environment, try that. This can be beneficial for a number of reasons in domains that go well beyond their physical health and into their emotional health, self-esteem, ability to learn critical thinking skills, and opportunity to learn superior social skills.

As a former teacher, my experience makes it evident that a diligent, thinking, loving and supportive parent can provide a good education to their own child.  At minimum, you are not allowing that child’s problems to compound and negatively affect their learning because they cannot conform to the learning environment.

There is more to try before drugs.  Lots more.  It’s not as quick and easy as a pill, but the side effects are nowhere near as dangerous.  Consider it.

If you’ve already resorted to the pills, know that there is hope for getting them out of your family’s life.  Even if your child stays in school.  There is help.  There is support.  There are families that have been where you are.  Mine was one of them.

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Heather DeGeorge is a holistic health & wellness coach.  In addition to general health and weight loss, she specializes in dietary intervention for behavior and development problems of children; and helping people adjust to specialized or restricted diets based on medical diagnoses like diabetes or gluten intolerance with the end-goal of being able to heal the body and eat a healthy, less restrictive diet.  For more information, see her website at http://www.heatherdegeorge.com

You have read this article ADD / ADHD / ADHD Treatment with the title ADHD. You can bookmark this page URL http://benncam.blogspot.com/2012/02/5-things-you-can-do-now-before-turning.html. Thanks!

The Gifted/ADHD Connection

Guest post by Dori Staehle | Cross posted at Next Stage Educational Consulting

It reads like something from a science fiction novel: Millions of schoolchildren lining up everyday for the medication that will make them sit still, pay attention – and behave! Orwell’s1984 or Kurt Vonnegut’s Harrison Bergeron perhaps?

This is life imitating art. We’ve become so convinced that children need to be medicated in order to learn that we’ve completely ignored what’s really causing their inattention and hyperactivity in the first place.

As an educational consultant and private tutor, I’ve seen children medicated needlessly. I’ve seen the prevalent side effects, I’ve heard from frantic Moms after their sons were rushed to the emergency room. The sad fact is that the majority of children who are diagnosed as ADD or ADHD (often by their teachers!), are actually highly gifted, talented, and creative kids. The problem is: No one was looking for that.

Like they say, if all you have is a hammer, then everything looks like a nail. Since most teacher training programs and even graduate programs don’t cover this, let me explain what giftedness is. Giftedness is a complex phenomenon which encompasses high IQ and creativity, along with heightened sensitivities, and uneven development (combined definition from Dr. Linda Silverman, The Columbus Group, and this writer).

At many of my workshops, I outline the symptoms of ADD/ADHD taken from the psychologist’s “bible”, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV).  Then, I add to the right side of the screen the traits of giftedness, as per The Gifted Development Center in Denver. Yes folks, both lists are exactly the same (you can seen this chart here).People who are super-talented, creative, or bright tend to be hyper. They space out when they’re bored or when they’re trying to figure something out. They tend to hyper-focus on areas of interest.

In addition, there are literally hundreds of medical conditions that can produce hyperactivity and inattentiveness (The Hyperactivity Hoax, Dr. Sydney Walker, http://amzn.to/z1djaQ).  Within my student population, 100% were right-brained, 95% were gifted, 90% were highly gifted with IQ’s in the 150-200 range (average IQ is 100), and all of them had allergies, asthma, hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), food sensitivities, or a combination of all four.

In 2000, I spoke at a gifted education conference and posited that a huge percentage of students that are being labeled as ADD/ADHD are actually right-brained gifted, talented, and/or creative students. We are, in fact, medicating brilliance. We are also ignoring the underlying medical conditions and not accounting for the biggest trigger: stress.

Schools are left-brained institutions taught by predominantly left-brained individuals (Right-Brained Children in a Left-Brained World: Unlocking the Potential of Your ADD Child, Jeff Freed). They don’t understand those of us who are right-brained and creative, who think in pictures and tend to be random, not sequential. So, they medicate what they don’t like or don’t understand. Surely, there must be something wrong with these kids’ brains! In fact, ADD used to be known as a brain disorder – even though most of these kids have high IQ’s! You can almost call it a “left-brained conspiracy”. No wonder these kids are stressed out – they’re not allowed to be themselves!

Therefore, it is no surprise that there is a huge incidence of gifted, talented, and creative kids within the homeschooling population (www.hoagiesgifted.org). They can learn in ways that work for them and be with others like them. They can spend a great deal of time on their passions and take breaks or blow off steam when needed. This is their version of normal. Maybe it’s time to accept that and not try to change it.

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Dori Staehle has close to 20 years of tutoring and consulting experience and has worked with public, private, and homeschooled students and their families.  She holds a BA in French and German from Wagner College in NY, and an MBA in finance from Fairleigh Dickinson University in NJ. In addition, she has done both graduate and post-graduate work in gifted education and gifted psychology while in CO.

Dori has written and published several articles on gifted education and homeschooling and developed the theory known as The Gifted/ADHD Connection. She is currently writing a book which is tentatively titled Hearing the Music: Why We Chose Homeschooling Instead of Ritalin.

You have read this article ADD / ADD cure / ADHD / ADHD Cure / ADHD Treatment with the title ADHD. You can bookmark this page URL http://benncam.blogspot.com/2012/01/the-giftedadhd-connection.html. Thanks!

How Ritalin ruined my childhood

Guest post from Peter Jung @peter_d_jung | Cross posted at EduPeter.

I like Adderall. I don't take it often at all, but I have a prescription that I can get filled whenever. When I need to write a 20 page paper in a few days, I take a pill, drink a caffeine drink, and turn into a robot for a while. Normally, I don't need to take pills to succeed in a class- I pay attention well enough, keep up on the reading, and take decent notes. If I lapse in any of these things, it's not something that can be attributed to any deficits in my ability to pay attention, but another source, such as frustration with the teacher's lecturing style, exhaustion from sleep deprivation, or something of the sort.

I don't have ADD, at least not in a way that impedes my learning in any real way. So, then, why can I get Adderall?

When I was 6, ADHD was a big thing. Everybody's kid had it, which explained any number of frustrating behaviors that their kids would engage in. I was a kid that engaged in frustrating behaviors, who also had a bit of neurological damage thrown in there. The neurological damage caused a speech impediment and gross motor dysfunction, which led to me going through physical and speech therapy for many years, but caused no apparent cognitive deficits.

What my parents and first grade teacher saw was a kid who would wander off, get frustrated easily, cry when faced with math homework, and had a hard time paying attention, preferring to draw constantly instead. My parents and teacher had a lot of frustrations with me concerning math homework around this time, and finally decided they needed to see a doctor about me. After taking a test that involved me staring at a computer monitor, trying to determine which orientation a blip of light was facing, I was diagnosed with ADD.

From my perspective, first grade was a really hard time for me. I loved to read and draw, but didn't really get along with any of the other kids. They were often mean to me, and I found I preferred to be alone with my drawings. My teacher would force the entire class to do these idiotic 'two minute timings' that involved 200 basic math problems, and a two minute time limit.

Of course, most kids blew through these. I looked at the seemingly endless pile of problems, and the two minute time limit, and had the first grade equivalent of a mental breakdown. I mean, two minutes? Who can do two HUNDRED problems in TWO MINUTES?! Two minutes is not a lot of time! 200 is a VERY LARGE NUMBER. NOBODY IN THEIR RIGHT MIND SHOULD BE ABLE TO DO THIS. I DON'T LIKE THIS SCHOOL PLACE ANYMORE.

So, while such thoughts flew around my head, the unfinished two minute timings piled up, and my teacher decided that I needed to stay in during lunch and recess every day to finish them. I would just stare at them, occasionally attempt to finish one and get discouraged, then just draw. So, I missed recess for a good chunk of my first grade year, which led to me spending every recess inside with the teacher after that. Part of it was I liked to draw more than I liked being outside, but another part of it was that I was very shy, and didn't really like how the other kids treated me. Having missed that year made me feel like an outsider, and I was too introverted to try to make friends.

Of course, that led to me going to the emotional counseling support group with all the junior sociopaths in the school. I would just talk about my collection of toy robots, or stay quiet.

Anyway, Ritalin happened around the beginning of second grade. I was given a time release pill that I was supposed to swallow so it would dissolve slowly over the day. Well, that didn't happen, as I had a gag reflex. I chewed it, and got a day's worth of Ritalin in a very short period of time.

I really don't remember much else from that point on. I have pretty vivid memories of my childhood up until taking Ritalin, and then... nothing. I have seen reports of my behavior that are pretty disturbing, and found artifacts from that time period that seem to imply some degree of massive depression, although my memories are a haze. What I do remember is being a complete loner who was content to sit in the back and draw or read all day. I also remember being able to see the logical circuits for traffic lights, and other patterns.

In 5th grade, my mom became so tired of hearing all these problems with me, and had the district give me an IQ test. The next day I was placed in the highly capable program, although I still tended to prefer to disengage and draw, as I was still pretty introverted.

Somehow, I managed to skate through elementary school, but in 6th grade, by month three, I was doing terribly. I was failing one class, and doing badly in all the rest. I didn't know what was going on, but I started to get scared, as no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't do well. They apparently made an IEP for me that involved me sitting at the front of the classroom so I would pay attention better, and the teacher could keep track of me. It was all very frustrating for everyone involved.

Finally, a math teacher asked me if I could see what she was writing.

I told her I could, and then she asked me what she was writing. I told her the wrong answer.

Within weeks, I had glasses and my grades went from Fs to Bs. I was still on Ritalin, which made me very socially awkward and led to a lot of bullying, which made my entire middle school experience a horrible mess of bruises and cuts.

By 8th grade, my parents took me off the Ritalin, and I began making actual friends with the nerdy kids. I'm still friends with some of them today, and hang out with one on a weekly basis. I slowly learned how to socialize, and became more like a normal person that wasn't stoned out of their mind.

By 12th grade, I was pretty much normal. I had been in the IB program for the first two years of high school, then switched over to Running Start, which allowed me to take a few classes at the community college to knock out high school credits, and get free college credit. I still took a few classes at the high school, but they were all classes I was interested in- Calculus, Advanced Biology, Weight Training, Art, etc. I had a good group of geeky friends, and could make friends easily. I was really awkward around girls, but not in an unusual way. I was a pretty stereotypical nerd.

One day, I got pulled out of class to talk with the school psychologist. He asks me to sit down and tells me I have an IEP. I ask what that is, and he tells me that it's something that has to do with my mental health issues. At that point, I had begun conversing with the ceiling about how this man was not to be trusted, and the psychologist just laughed. So, I asked what this was all about, and he describes the IEP to me- I am to sit in front of the class and the teacher is to make sure I'm paying attention. Now, I had forgotten about this IEP thing, and generally sat in the front of the class because I was a teacher's pet, but I was rather shocked. He told me I had Static Encephalopathy, which explained why I needed physical therapy and speech therapy, but didn't really explain why I had to sit in front.

I ask him when this IEP was made. He tells me, beginning of 6th grade. I take off my glasses and gesture with them, "I got these a few months into 6th grade."

He chuckles, and shreds the document.

I think most of my problems with Ritalin could have been avoided with two simple things. If the teacher had just sat down with me and really talked with me about the two minute timings, and offered to let me do 10 problems instead of 200, I could have shown her I was competent. Also, if someone had given me a vision test earlier, I would have avoided being consistently high and losing so much of my childhood.

Even so, I think I did okay. I am largely self educated, having read the entire time-life science series of books my dad found at a garage sale in a summer, and spending so much time in the corner reading. I have no difficulty with math, social skills, or academic ability. I just think it is very important that a kid is consulted when dealing with medication, as often, kids know exactly what's up. Sometimes, yes, medications are necessary, but the application of them is so often done as a blunt weapon rather than a precise tool. With me, the problems were easily solvable, not based on any neurological deficit. As such, I feel that the psychologist's diagnosis was most certainly wrong.

Although, I must say, it is nice being able to get Adderall legally. And I use it honestly, only when I need to really cram or finish a project. Still, the feeling I have while on it is incredibly potent, and the idea that I was on this stuff for years frightens me greatly, just from the possibility that it might have impeded my brain's development. Thus far, I think I've developed normally, but I can't really tell.

In any case, I just thought I'd throw that out there, as a story of someone who went through elementary and middle school in a drugged out haze because he needed glasses.

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Peter Jung is a graduate student interested in information technology and DIY Education. http://www.linkedin.com/pub/peter-jung/13/6/5a6

You have read this article ADD / ADD cure / ADHD / ADHD Cure / ADHD Treatment with the title ADHD. You can bookmark this page URL http://benncam.blogspot.com/2012/01/how-ritalin-ruined-my-childhood.html. Thanks!

What the doctors and teachers may not tell you when recommending medicating your ADD / ADHD child

I'm pissed off! I am pissed off because parents and educators are hurting children and they may not even realize it. This post is written to change that.  


If you are a parent or educator who is allowing a child you know to be drugged because they have an ADD / ADHD "disorder" you could be responsible for receiving short-term gains in exchange for long-term detrimental effects.  


Drugging children has well-known risks which I share below, but now there's another to add to list as a parent / friend just informed me. Schools had convinced her to drug her son providing all sorts of evidence from doctors and others that this was best for her child. The risks were not presented. Fortunately, she eventually realized something was very wrong with the path down which schools were leading her child and she pulled him out of school so he could own his learning and have a happy and successful life.



Unfortunately, the damage may already have been done.

I was not given a list of this as a side effect and I may have condemned him to an adulthood of trials and pain. Doctors play down rare side effects just as well as educators. Children are statistics not people.

This mother shared what she just learned.

Did you know that a study last year indicated that there is a possible correlation between stimulant use (including ritalin and adderal) and parkinson's disease. Why is this important? My barely 20 year old son was given a tentative diagnosis yesterday of early onset Parkinson's disease (onset under 50). His only known risk factor having been prescribed Ritalin and risperdal before the age of 10. We will look for an early onset doctor and PUSH for more research to save other children from this debilitating disease. My focus changed yesterday!

Fortunately, there is at least one group that is trying to get information to parents. It is the responsibility of parents and teachers to deeply research this decision. Once they do it will be crystal clear that if you allow children to be drugged without standing up and sharing the numerous alternatives that can pursued instead, you may very well be condemning that child to serious long term effects which not only include Parkinsons but also include:



Effect on the developing brain — Some researchers are concerned that the use of drugs such as Ritalin in children and teens interferes with normal brain development.



Psychiatric problems — Stimulants for ADD/ADHD can trigger or exacerbate symptoms of hostility, aggression, anxiety, depression, and paranoia. People with a personal or family history of suicide, depression, or bipolar disorder are at a particularly high risk, and should be carefully monitored when taking stimulants.



Potential for abuse — Stimulant abuse is a growing problem, particularly among teens and young adults. College students take them for a boost when cramming for exams or pulling all-nighters. Others abuse stimulant meds for their weight-loss properties. If your child is taking stimulants, make sure he or she isn’t sharing the pills or selling them.



Heart-related problems — ADD/ADHD stimulant medications have been found to cause sudden death in children and adults with heart conditions. The American Heart Association recommends that all individuals, including children, have a cardiac evaluation prior to starting a stimulant. An electrocardiogram is recommended if the person has a history of heart problems. Unfortunately that didn’t happen in the case of this child:

The day after Christmas 2010, a grandfather discovered his 8 year old grandson dead in bed. The child was on Adderall, the prescribing physician missed an underlying heart murmur, the parents and grandparents under informed on proper use, the school and classroom teacher pushed for the child to remain on drugs after the father's resistance, when he became the primary caregiver. Evidence indicates that children on Medicaid are more likely to be prescribed than otherwise. This was also the case.

Parents or educators who do not intervene are responsible for hurting children if they are not trying options that don’t involve medicating first.  Pediatrician Lawrence Diller says that non-drug interventions value engagement with the child; they require more time, more involvement by adults and initially cost more money. Medical and educational systems value efficiency. Parents generally value engagement but if the treating systems only offer pills, parents will surely take them over no treatment.



Parents and teachers if your not sure what you can do instead of drugging children, here are some ideas.

• There are health and wellness coaches like Heather Jones DeGeorge that can help guide families to find the food and lifestyle choices that best support them.
• There are parenting coaches like Laurie A Couture who help children live drug-free lives and empowers them with healthy alternatives.
• There are guides like “Fix the School, Not the Child,” and books like “Instead of Medicating and Punishing” that offer numerous alternatives to drugs for children.
• If school is causing your child’s ADD / ADHD you can remove him or her.  
• If you are misinformed to believe ADD / ADHD is real, you can read information from these doctors, educators, and parents who disagree. They don’t disagree that children have behavior associated with ADD / ADHD they disagree that this is a disorder that should be medicated out of children.

As with most things in America, money factors rule. But a society that chooses to cope by using drugs, in the long term, does so at its own peril. -Lawrence Diller, M.D., Behavioral and Developmental Pediatrician, Author, UCSF Clinical Faculty

If you know a child who is being drugged, they and their parents should know the risks. If you don't want to tell them, just give them this article and save a child.

If you want to join the conversation you can do so here on my Facebook page or here on my page for parents, educators, and students interested in discussing innovative learning opportunities that provide a brand new type of learning environment outside of traditional school options.

You have read this article ADD / ADD cure / ADHD / ADHD Cure / ADHD Treatment with the title ADHD. You can bookmark this page URL http://benncam.blogspot.com/2012/01/what-doctors-and-teachers-may-not-tell.html. Thanks!