Sorry for the long absence.
Starting last August HUMom has experienced some drastic health problems, which resulted in extreme fatigue. We have been through four doctors, some medical procedures and many treatments & tests to try and find the cause. My neuro-typical daughter had wrist surgery and I had back surgery last week, so we have been having a swell time.
Wish you were here!
Anyway, "Anonymous" posted a comment & article on the last thread and one point stood out to me as an interesting topic. Namely, "Why is ADHD on the increase?"
The article's author maintains that there is no increase, rather we are systematically identifying and labeling children with these behaviors, thus the size of the group is growing because we are looking for them more efficiently.
While this may be partial explanation, I do not buy it totally. Here are two thoughts (not quite random) on the subject, to be expanded upon at some later date.
1) It has struck me that there appears to be a corrolation between the rise in ADHD and the Video generation. I grew up with arcade games Pong, Space Invaders, sitcoms, movies, which rapidly gave way to First-Person-Shooter games on the PC and DDR (Dance Dance Revolution). It is undeniable that hand-eye coordination is stimulated by such activities, but I wonder what effect they have on rapid-eye movement and brain chemistry. I have absolutely zero research to support or deny this idea, but it seems like a great coincidence to me.
2) There is much more scientific research and evidence to indicate a connection between ADHD and Autism, more to the point, that both conditions lie somewhere on a common continuum. The tremendous increase in occurance of Autism is proven fact, and closely follows the growth of manditory immunizations. I have read studies suggesting while vacines are not connected to this rise in Autism, the mercury derivitive used to extend the shelf life of vacines is extremely suspect.
When I get a chance, I will post links to some studies.
Are there any other theories out there?
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One theory, I have had is that since ADHD is an accepted diagnosis, it is freely given even when it is not the problem.
My son has ADHD to me there is no question. However I have seen kids that have different issues that were given the label because it is an "accepted label."
I have also seen it used when parents or teachers can not deal with a child. My best friend is being told her daughter needs to be evaluated for ADHD. The only place that she has problems is in school. She is good in scouts, at home and at Church. In school she is bored and easily distracted. In the other places she stays on task as long as you could expect a child of her age to.
Her mother is being assured that her daughter has ADHD and she will get a diagnosis and that she needs medication. I assured her mother that if her daughter had ADHD she would see problems more then just at school. My son has problems in all the fore mentioned settings. They vary based on his intrest level but he still struggles to stay focused.
So while there is no question in my mind that ADHD is real, I wonder how many times it is a scape goat when it is not the issue. My son's Dr has suggested the same thing.
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