Poll: Kids and ADD

[YurdleTheTurtle]

I actually am diagnosed with ADD (or ADHD). In fact, I was diagnosed twice, so I'm pretty sure I know I have it.

A lot of people tend to forget that some ADD cases do not mean hyperactivity at all. For me, I have trouble concentrating and may need accommodations (such as more time for tests). It doesn't really affect my behaviour though. It just makes work a bit more difficult. I take longer to complete work compared to other students, and it's really annoying when I require more time to do stuff.

Since it doesn't really have a clear effect on how I behave, my brother thinks I don't really have ADD. Other than that though, I have some very caring parents, so I doubt my ADD was falsely diagnosed twice.

 

[Radelaide]

My boyfriend has ADHD, which he's able to control (when he's taking his medication) and you wouldn't think he has it. But every one has their off days where the meds don't work and he's like a small child.

There probably are people who fake it just for the attention, but then there are others, like my boyfriend, who go and see specialists about it and get the help they need.

 

[sirdanrhodes]

I have ADD and I

I can't believe you're trying to bring THAT old cliche b

Well, it felt like the right time to

 

[Bretty]

ADD.... one of the biggest cons out there.

American kids take so much medication now a days that good parenting could easily resolve.

Umm. sorry to burst your bubble, but I have ADHD and it is not a con. MY parents are really great and have helped me develope as a person without sheltering or coddling me. I do rely on medicaton. I also have straight A's. I graduated high school with a 3.8 gpa (I went to an academically challenging private school, where A's actually take work to get). I now have a full-tuition academic scholarship at IIT in Chicago. SO take your ignorance elsewhere, pal.
Peace and Cookies,
Adrienne

Whos to say you wouldnt have done all this if you weren't diagnosed as ADHD....

ADD is a cop out to sell parents, worried about their children's futures, drugs. Maybe I was a little strong in my parenting statement. But I think in most cases it is correct. Parents ARE spending less time with their kids when they hit teens nowadays and hope that the drugs will do their parenting for them.

Grats on being a good kid.... did you want a cookie?

 

[Valiance]

ADD doesn't really exist, it's just an excuse to not pay attention.

 

[badgersprite]

As a person who actually has ADD, I think there's a lot of misdiagnosis. People tend to associate ADD with bad behaviour and disruptive, oppositional defiance, but those attitudes are completely separate from ADD, which is a learning disorder, and not a behavioural disorder. ADD seems to have become the diagnosis of choice for kids who are just uncooperative, but, I can tell you, I was always good in class, and every teacher knew I was a smart kid, which is probably why it took me so long to get diagnosed.

ADD is really no big deal, I think it's just been sensationalised by the media to the point where most average people have an inaccurate picture of what ADD is.

My experience with ADD is that I would get distracted really easily and forget to do things that should come naturally. As a little kid, I would frequently forget to eat, because I was too busy running around doing other things. I got heatstroke once because I forgot to drink water at a school carnival on a hot day. At school, I lost lunchboxes and hats and pencil cases constantly, because I would leave them behind and completely forget that they were there. This also meant that tasks I had to do could not stick in my mind. It wasn't that I was just lazy and didn't want to do homework, it was that I could not even access the memory that I was supposed to do something. With Ritalin, this doesn't happen. Problem solved.

 

[Kimjira19]

ADD.... one of the biggest cons out there.

American kids take so much medication now a days that good parenting could easily resolve.

Umm. sorry to burst your bubble, but I have ADHD and it is not a con. MY parents are really great and have helped me develope as a person without sheltering or coddling me. I do rely on medicaton. I also have straight A's. I graduated high school with a 3.8 gpa (I went to an academically challenging private school, where A's actually take work to get). I now have a full-tuition academic scholarship at IIT in Chicago. SO take your ignorance elsewhere, pal.
Peace and Cookies,
Adrienne

Whos to say you wouldnt have done all this if you weren't diagnosed as ADHD....

ADD is a cop out to sell parents, worried about their children's futures, drugs. Maybe I was a little strong in my parenting statement. But I think in most cases it is correct. Parents ARE spending less time with their kids when they hit teens nowadays and hope that the drugs will do their parenting for them.

Grats on being a good kid.... did you want a cookie?

Actually, before the diagnosis, I was having trouble both academically and behaviorally. So yeah I would say I would not have gone as far without proper diagnosis and medication. Yes there are SOME parents who are irresponsible and all too willing to drug their kids. But it is not MOST. You have no imperical evidence to support that claim. In fact, my five-year-old cousin (who is exactly like I was at his age) has been diagnosed with ADHD. So it is legitimate, in fact it is (in my case) genetic. My father (who was never actually diagnosed) shows striking similarities in behavior and work style to myself. And I do not expect a cookies... Unless I go to the dark side, because they have cookies...

 

[Just Pman]

I have Aspergers syndrome.

Nobody has heard of it!

My best friends sister has it. Makes her extra sensitive pretty much.

 

[asinann]

But you do believe Asperger's is legit, right?

A lot of the time Asperger's and autism are used interchangeably by schools (not drs, schools.)

Actually, before the diagnosis, I was having trouble both academically and behaviorally. So yeah I would say I would not have gone as far without proper diagnosis and medication. Yes there are SOME parents who are irresponsible and all too willing to drug their kids. But it is not MOST. You have no imperical evidence to support that claim. In fact, my five-year-old cousin (who is exactly like I was at his age) has been diagnosed with ADHD. So it is legitimate, in fact it is (in my case) genetic. My father (who was never actually diagnosed) shows striking similarities in behavior and work style to myself. And I do not expect a cookies... Unless I go to the dark side, because they have cookies...

MOST cases being diagnosed currently are not of the variety you have. And a dr should not be diagnosing ADHD in a child at 5 years old, children at that age aren't supposed to be able to focus on a single task for long periods of time and are supposed to run around like little monkeys.

And I'm pretty sure in 20 years when drs look back on autism (as they are now doing with ADHD) they will most likely say that they over diagnosed it and only 20-40% of diagnosed cases are legit. My senior year in high school (1996) my graduating class has 287 students in it. Of those 287 students over 200 had an ADHD diagnosis. I had one, I'm not ADHD, I just didn't feel like paying attention in class so the school psychologist (in other words, someone who is licensed, but isn't really good at the job) diagnosed it. To diagnose it he gave me a standard IQ test first to see if I was retarded, when it came back and I wasn't, with nothing other than a "You're not retarded but you can't or won't pay attention in class you have ADHD."

 

[Kimjira19]

But you do believe Asperger's is legit, right?

A lot of the time Asperger's and autism are used interchangeably by schools (not drs, schools.)

Actually, before the diagnosis, I was having trouble both academically and behaviorally. So yeah I would say I would not have gone as far without proper diagnosis and medication. Yes there are SOME parents who are irresponsible and all too willing to drug their kids. But it is not MOST. You have no imperical evidence to support that claim. In fact, my five-year-old cousin (who is exactly like I was at his age) has been diagnosed with ADHD. So it is legitimate, in fact it is (in my case) genetic. My father (who was never actually diagnosed) shows striking similarities in behavior and work style to myself. And I do not expect a cookies... Unless I go to the dark side, because they have cookies...

MOST cases being diagnosed currently are not of the variety you have. And a dr should not be diagnosing ADHD in a child at 5 years old, children at that age aren't supposed to be able to focus on a single task for long periods of time and are supposed to run around like little monkeys.

And I'm pretty sure in 20 years when drs look back on autism (as they are now doing with ADHD) they will most likely say that they over diagnosed it and only 20-40% of diagnosed cases are legit. My senior year in high school (1996) my graduating class has 287 students in it. Of those 287 students over 200 had an ADHD diagnosis. I had one, I'm not ADHD, I just didn't feel like paying attention in class so the school psychologist (in other words, someone who is licensed, but isn't really good at the job) diagnosed it. To diagnose it he gave me a standard IQ test first to see if I was retarded, when it came back and I wasn't, with nothing other than a "You're not retarded but you can't or won't pay attention in class you have ADHD."

I do agree with your point that my cousin should not have been tested and diagnosed so early. While i do see similarities in our behavior, I realize that he might no actually have adhd. In fact, I was upset with his mother (my first cousin) for getting him evaluated so early. it does not seem to me like one can make an accurate diagnosis for ADHD at alex's age. and i am sorry that your high school psychologist was too stupid to see the difference between lack of interest and ADHD. that probably sucked for you, did they medicate you? I hope not.

 

[Margrave Rinstock]

When I was in Grade 8, my mother (who is a MD) diagnosed me with ADD, and told me to visit the School counselor because of my "Organizational Deficiency". The counselor, within a short amount of time, Informed me that I was a Pillar of Orderliness relative to most people in the school.

Seriously, though I know one person who really has ADD, the rest (Myself Included) are Lazy because IT IS FUN TO BE IDLE.

 

[asinann]

I do agree with your point that my cousin should not have been tested and diagnosed so early. While i do see similarities in our behavior, I realize that he might no actually have adhd. In fact, I was upset with his mother (my first cousin) for getting him evaluated so early. it does not seem to me like one can make an accurate diagnosis for ADHD at alex's age. and i am sorry that your high school psychologist was too stupid to see the difference between lack of interest and ADHD. that probably sucked for you, did they medicate you? I hope not.

They can't force medicate kids where I live unless you are in a hospital, but I didn't care enough to stop them anyway if they had tried.

 

[Cid Silverwing]

Why would someone fake ADD?

Because it makes you "special" and entitles you to special treatment.

 

[Robby Foxfur]

I do and when he started his meds he really really changed for the better. As for the number of people that have "ADHD" (since ADD no longer exists) I think its starting to become a catch all for when doctors just don't have an answer, or when parents just don't accept the facts.

 

[KurtzGallahad]

My twin brother, He has add, I have adhd, It has taken me years of training to be able to function at a normal level, And I find all of the posts refering to add as an "Excuse" or a "Fake" to be marginally offensive, It is a disorder, and because of it and it's cousin I spent most of my young life as an outcast.

 

[manaman]

I "have" ADD. I don't take any medicine for it.

It's not a disorder, It's simply a different learning style. There is nothing wrong with me, I just learn differently.

Funny thing is, it seems like all of the people that I know who "have" ADD are extremely intelligent (including myself).

Well you can add me to that list.

I was diagnosed as a kid, back in the dark ages before it was a fad. I was diagnosed with adult ADD a few years back. They wanted to stick me back on medication I told them not to bother prescribing anything. Growing up taking the crap turned me off it. Thankfully it was never a heavy dose.

 

[kawligia]

ADD, along with OCD, is the most common "Self-Diagnosed" illnes (i.e Oh-Em-Gee I can't pay attention in History, IM SO ADD >_<. Along with, I always flush after I pee, IM SO OCD!!!)

^ This.

It's also one of the most misunderstood conditions.

I have ADD and yes, I am actually, rightfully diagnosed. I take 10mg of Ritalin 2-3 times a day. I am also a 28 year old lawyer, so I'm pretty far from the stereotypical spastic preteen that people think of when they hear ADD.

That misconception began back in the early 90s when we were first figuring out what ADD was. Because it was misunderstood, it got WAY over-diagnosed for bad parents with children who were simply undisciplined. (Just look at how many people on this site alone are claiming to have been diagnosed with ADD which is only ACTUALLY present in about 5% of the population) Those kids never *really* had ADD in the first place. The Ritalin (which is a stimulant) only made them worse. Anyone who says the medication didn't help them, just didn't need the medication to begin with...they were misdiagnosed.

I am the "predominantly inattentive" type. That means that I am not hyper. If I don't take the pills, I have a harder time paying attention than other people depending on how bored I am. If I am not bored at all, then I am not much different than anyone else. But when I am bored, I *cannot* force myself to focus for very long at all. Everyone has a harder time paying attention when they would rather not, but there is a big difference between being able to pay attention when you try hard and not being able to pay attention no matter how hard you try.

So when I am doing something that isn't boring but is actually very engaging, like playing a video game, there is no problem. (That might even be a large part of why I like videogames come to think of it.) But when I am doing some tedious legal reading or writing for long periods of time, I am very glad for the help from the pills. I would still get the work done without them, but I will be constantly drifting off so it will take me at least 3 times as long to do it...and time is money.