As a college student, the amount of students on powerful meds for ADHD and ADD is shocking. It is a topic seen in every classroom and heard in many dialogues. Conversations can be overheard frequently about how easy meds are to get and how effortless it is to receive a diagnosis. However, while I know that a vast number of students are taking prescription drugs for ADHD, I don’t think that I ever realized the full extent to which this disorder was effecting America’s youth. It wasn’t until I spent my time volunteering as a paraprofessional in a fourth grade classroom that I felt I truly understood the weight that the number of ADHD diagnosis’s were having on our nation’s children. The supervising teacher I was working with told me that in her classroom of 22 children, six of them were on some sort of prescription medication for ADHD, and many parents that I spoke to tended to blow off the risk factors involved, remarking that the drugs improved their school performance. I was shocked at this figure, especially because after working with the children, even on the days that they forgot to take their medicine, I found that by using different methods of instruction, many of the children didn’t seem to have much less trouble focusing than the children who did not have ADHD. So when we were assigned this paper, I set out to disprove the myth that children who act out in school have must ADHD and need to be put on prescription drugs in order to do well in school.
ADHD is a disorder that has been on the rise for several years now. The disorder is one that can cause many impairments to a child’s attention span, making it difficult to concentrate and to keep on task, especially on schoolwork. (Graham, 2007) The statistics have been growing ...
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Like Jason, more and more children are being diagnosed with ADHD or its less hyperactive cousin, attention deficit disorder (ADD). And, correspondingly, during the past decade the production of stimulants used to treat ADD has risen dramatically, (see Graph 1.). However, an increasing number of parents, doctors, and public health officials are becoming alarmed about the jump in the use of Ritalin and amphetamines to treat ADD. In the last year, at least three prestigious medical journals published articles examining whether the condition is being overdiagnosed and American children are being drugged unnecessarily, (N...
The next time you visit the newsstand, take a look at a parenting magazine and you are likely to find an article about Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) as well as at least one pharmaceutical advertisement for a drug to manage its symptoms. ADHD is diagnosed in 3% to 7% of American school-aged children, of which 15% of these children are currently taking medication to alleviate the symptoms of ADHD. It is the most commonly diagnosed neurobiological disorder in school-aged children. (CDC, 2011). Other studies suggest that rates of diagnosis are much higher.
Stolzer, PhD, J. M. (2007). The ADHD Epidemic in America. Ethical Human Psychology and Psychiatry, 9, 109-116.
Stimulant drugs are widely used to treat the symptoms of ADHD. These stimulants dramatically reduce the hyperactivity of sufferers and improve their ability to focus, learn and work. Such medication may also improve physical coordination, for instance handwriting and sports. Research completed by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) suggests that these medicines may also help children with an accompanying conduct disorder to control their impulsive, destructive behaviours. The three medications that have been proven by the NIMH to be most effective in both children and adults suffering from ADHD are: methylphenidate (Ritalin), dextroamphetamine (Dexedrine or Dextrostat), and pemoline (Cylert). (NIMH 1999) Yet there is currently much research on the treatment of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, such as t...
Treatment. (2012, September 13). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved December 14, 2012, from http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/features/adhd-key-findings-play.html
Many people in America are not very educated about the false Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) epidemic. There has been a documented rapid increase in diagnoses in the past decade. Many psychological experts believe the proper diagnoses are not being made, and that many of the children being diagnosed today do not actually have ADHD. These experts blame the increase of diagnoses on the current practices of doctors and teachers. Doctors are the ones who write the prescriptions, but teachers inflict fear within the students and parents that can make them believe that they are not preforming sufficiently in class, and that students can do better in school simply if they change their behavior by medication. So who is really to blame for the epidemic of youth being diagnosed with ADHD? Teachers and doctors are both equally responsible for the ADHD Epidemic, although some researchers say it is not an epidemic at all.
Political correctness and the constant fear of impending litigation from any number of sources has forced society to find other means through which they can control their children. Though other avenues for treatment exist, recent developments in educational and familial systems have produced a situation where children are over prescribed stimulant medications to treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder for educational purposes. For that reason, we must consider the appropriate treatment for ADHD in education. Four main aspects to this issue need to be discussed in order to fully understand the situation: a description of ADHD, the symptoms of ADHD, the statistical information regarding the over prescription and a description/history of stimulant use, and some possible alternatives to drug therapy.
According to Dr. Robert Epstein, Medco’s chief medical officer, seventeen percent of total drug cost spending last year was for behavior medicines; compared with sixteen percent for both asthma and antibiotics, eleven percent for skin disorders and six percent for allergy medicines. There was also a 369% increase in spending on ADHD drugs for kids under the age of five. A lot of children have been diagnosed with ADHD, and many of their parents have opted to give them behavioral drugs. Some parents give the drugs because they are not aware of the long term effects or the psychological dependency, and lastly because they are not aware of the alternatives. As parents we have to be more cognizant of what these disorders are and how they affect the child. Drugs are not always the only solution.
Chandler, C. (2011). The Science of ADHD: A Guide for Parents and Professionals. New York:
While the DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition (DSM-IV) of the American Psychiatric Association) put forth a list of behaviors which predominantly fall in the category of ADD and/or ADHD, many researchers still maintain that there is no set way to diagnosis or develop a treatment program to these disorders which will be guaranteed to work. At the same time there is another set of researchers who maintain that these disorders actually do not exist at all. However, in the real world, parents and educators still continue to struggle with the task of coping with children who are hyperactive and who have very low attention span and whose behavior often interferes with schooling and family life. [Armstrong, 1997]
Recent media coverage might lead one to believe that ADHD is something new, a nineties thing, some vogue malady that somehow explains our disaffected modern youth. Yet the hyperactive child has always been around. He was class clown, the kid in the back row who never shut up. He was the kid whom the teacher constantly sent out of the room or to the office. In the past, these were the children...
The purpose of this research was to describe and understand Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and the most effective treatment options that are available today. ADHD is a mental health disorder that affects 3-9% of the population in ways that, if left untreated, can wreak havoc on the mind of the sufferer. It makes concentration difficult, large tasks seem insurmountable, and causes impulsive and hyperactive tendencies. Fortunately, research and experiments have led to new and effective treatments to help those who suffer from this disorder (Dupaul 8). This research examined journal articles and internet sources on the topic to help unlock the complexities of the disorder through scientific research. It also was a way to separate the myths of the disorder from the truths, while discovering the causes, diagnosis methods, and best treatment alternatives to battle this prevalent disorder.
...ity when any form of treatment is active. Improved focus means improved learning and the ability to attentively listen. This could mean a higher average, and academic confidence for many. Also, treatment can allow for improved social skills, and a better understanding of surroundings and social cues. This makes a huge difference in many people’s lives as they can develop good habits and make healthy relationships with others regardless of the disorder. Lastly, medication and treatment lead to a more unified and balanced lifestyle, where daily problems become a lot easier to deal with. Time and time again, researchers have successfully demonstrated the remarkable precision of stimulants in regards to relieving the symptoms of ADHD. Attention Deficient Hyperactivity Disorder can make life difficult, but there is always a way to make things more manageable and easy.
As children grow up they develop selective attention. Selective attention is the ability of focusing one’s attention on relevant information and disregarding what is irrelevant. This skill becomes more and more relevant to a young student as the school year goes by. Each new school year brings new difficulties and new learning objectives. If students want to succeed, they must be able to pay attention and stay alert during class. However some children struggle though class due to ADHD. Attention- deficit/ hyperactivity disorder is a common behavioral disorder that affects an estimated 3% to 5% of school-age children. These kids “act without thinking, are hyperactive, and have trouble focusing” (Chaban, 2014). Although they can understand what teachers’ expect out of them, they still have trouble doing any task because they can’t sit still.
Sindelar,R., (2002) Recess: Is It Needed in the 21st Century? Available at: http://ecap.crc.illinois.edu/poptopics/recess.html, (accessed: 08/01/14)