<p>I used to socially smoke in college, and drink-A LOT, almost every night along with other "STUFF". I never got addicted and am 34 years old, hardly drink 3 beers a month and havent had a cigarete in several years. So, by your logic, cigarettes and alcohol are not addictive and shouldn't be blamed for premature death and high cost of health in the US. Also, you say that other drugs have trade offs, this is absolutely TRUE. The difference is that as an adult, you make a CHOICE to take them. Children don't have that choice. As for crack babies not existing, I think it is best to use common sense here. There was a time when meth amphetamine was perscribed to stay at home moms as a "pick me up" by doctors and a time when smoking not too bad for you. There are many studies which tout the safety of drugs that were then yanked off the market for killing people. Sometimes common sense has got to trump "Scientific research" It wasn't that long ago when a :low fat" diet was considered healthy. Now we know that without the right kinds of fats, we are at risk for depression, heart disease, strokes, diabetis, immune system depression, etc. If anyone choses to believe that cocaine is not bad for their unborn child, they are not only an addict, but dare I say stupid. I can see where this line of thinking is becomming more accepted though, as millions of women don't even consider unborn children as human beings anyway, so what does it matter if they put them in harms way. Man, this has gotten way off the original topic.</p>
<p>There are several aspects that would be impossible for the study to cover such as the development of the crack babies who were so bad off that they are instatutionalized or died before they had a chance to grow up, or the ones that were aborted due to the drug, or aborted by the mom because she did not want the child. It also doesn't take nto account that many of the mothers in the study could have lied about not doing drugs. Also, how many of the women took depression drugs while pregnant which may cause the same type of problems as coccaine exposure?</p>
<p>Tom-Did you actually read the article to which you posted the link? To quote:</p>
<p>An estimated 3.3 million Americans who are 19 or younger and nearly 1.5 million ages 20 and older are taking ADHD medicines. </p>
<p>Twenty-five deaths linked to ADHD drugs, 19 involving children, were reported to FDA from 1999 through 2003. Fifty-four other cases of serious heart problems, including heart attacks and strokes, were also reported. Some of the patients had prior heart problems. </p>
<p>"The numbers (of side effects) are puny compared to the numbers of stimulant prescriptions per year,'' said Dr. Tolga Taneli, a child and adolescent psychiatrist at University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in Newark. ``I'm not alarmed.'' </p>
<p>Nearly two-thirds - overdoses and accidental use - could be prevented by parents locking the pills away, the researchers say.
"These are cases where a young child took someone else's medication or they took too much of their own,'' CDC epidemiologist Dr. Adam Cohen said. </p>
<p>In another letter in the journal, the heads of the American Psychiatric Association and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry wrote they are concerned a black box warning would discourage use of ADHD drugs, raising patients' risks of academic failure, substance abuse and other problems. </p>
<p>Sue 22 adds:
Study after study has shown that treating ADD kids with appropriate levels of medication actually lowers their risk of later drug dependency. And no, despite FDA scrutiny, stimulant meds have not been found to be addictive in any reputable study.</p>
<p>
[quote]
It would be no different to me than admitting someone addicted to alcohol or who smokes pot every day to cope with life
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Wow. So much misinformation this and the other posted links, Tom. </p>
<p>First of all, there are LOTS of college students who have ADD, and the colleges know it. The vast majority of colleges are required by the ADA to have accomodation programs for students with ADD. Because of this, nearly every college has a substantial number of students who are identified as ADD to the college, and many of them are excellent students, NOT drug addicts, and highly desirable. So, although I would agree that one should always be cautious in revealing personal medical information, it is not because there are many admissions officers who are so uniformed as to equate medically supervised treatment for an illness with drug abuse.</p>
<p>Now as to references. This is the problem that one encounters when reading reports in the lay literature vs the medical literature. The lay literature contains lots of statements by people who 1. have an agenda other than reporting the facts and 2. have not been subjected to peer review. As an alternative, consider the following from the American Academy of Pediatrics, published in the leading PEER REVIEWED pediatric journal</p>
<p>AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS:
Clinical Practice Guideline: Treatment of the School-Aged Child With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
Subcommittee on Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Committee on Quality Improvement </p>
<p>Caution: this is long, detailed, and contains 62 references. It does not offer simplistic or inflammatory conclusions. It is based on established facts and careful research. If you have a child with ADD, you owe to your child to become well informed, and not to adopt an extreme position by selectively attending to "facts" that support some of the wilder claims, while ignoring the rest of the information.</p>
<p>IndianaKate, your post #12 truly hits home with me (and most likely the parents of most kids with ADD). These kids do have a unique take on the world that enables them to "think out of the box" in a way that the rest of us are too tunnel visioned to do. If you have not yet read Edward Hallowell's book, "Delivered from Distraction," RUN TO GET IT! I found out about it on this board and cannot tell you how refreshing and reaffirming it was to hear a positive perspective on ADD. This is a man who recognizes that those who "suffer" from the organizational chaos of ADD nevertheless can be brilliant, creative, driven, and successful.</p>
<p>one reason why ADHD may be increasing in popluation
I was born- 48 years ago- I was a premie- but there wasn't a lot that could have been done at that time. THey put me in an incubator- so my body temp was better regulated & kept all possible contaminants away from me until I was discharged a month later- including my parents.
* My* premie daughter sent me this link to a new study indicating that premies are significantly at higher risk of ADHD.
She was born 24 years ago- and the medical treatment for premies had significantly improved. She was born 10 weeks early, weighing less than 2 & 1/2 lbs, yet they were able to do successful surgery on her a day or so later. She stayed in the hospital for about 8 weeks, coming home before her due date.
YEs she was fairly healthy compared to some- but she was not the youngest or smallest in the unit. Medical care has improved since * she * was born, and even younger and smaller and sicker babies are going home and entering schools.
ADHD isn't just in their parents heads- it isn't a case of allergies or of too much televison.
Id love to know what the rate is for slightly early babies in US.
<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/5042308.stm%5B/url%5D">http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/5042308.stm</a>
[quote]
Charlotte Davies, spokesperson for baby charity Tommy's, said: "Although the correlation between babies who are born prematurely and the increased risk of developing learning difficulties and behavioural problems is well-documented, this study is of particular significance because it has massive implications for the UK.</p>
<p>"Currently, the rate of premature birth in the UK stands at the highest rate in Europe, with over 45,000 premature births every year, with a large proportion of these children born between 34 and 36 weeks.
<p>Also, many preemies now survive who previously would not have made it, so there are probably some neurological issues related to this.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is an omega-3 fatty acid that is essential for the proper functioning of our brains as adults, and for the development of our nervous system and visual abilities during the first six months of life. Lack of sufficient DHA may be associated with impaired mental and visual functioning as well as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children.
<p>I would have reservations about admitting someone already addicted to a powerful drug.</p>
<br>
<p>Are you in the employ of Scientologists, by any chance? This kind of rant is usually coming from their direction.</p>
<p>I look forward to seeing the same tirade from you when a thread comes up about using "powerful drugs" to treat a student's cancer, diabetes, or heart condition.</p>
<p>sjmom, I remember being in grade school several decades ago, and remember boys being pulled out of the classroom by their earlobes, and by the teacher pulling their hair. I remember them having to stand in the corner, both with and without "dunce caps" on. I have a feeling that many of these boys had undiagnosed ADD. Yes, this was in a public school system!</p>
<p>Northeastmom: Sounds just like my elementary school. Our 5th grade teacher even threw a hard piece of rubber across the room to hit the boys in the head. And my school was a well respected school in the suburbs. This particular teacher was strict and all the "troublemakers" were put into his class. I'm sure they all had/have ADD, probably with the H. Sad that so little was known about ADD back then, and rather than getting remediation, they were always being punished.</p>
<p>Oh, you just reminded me about something else. I remember some male teachers throwing erasers at the backs of some male students! Similar idea. I guess there were some frustrated teachers that were abusing some children that may have needed special teaching and/or medical attention. This occured during the middle school years. I wonder if teachers learned about throwing things as a teaching technique in those days (I am being sarcastic for those wondering)!</p>
<p>I also remember kids needing to take their desks out into the hallways to sit alone during the younger years, and middle school years. Can you imagine placing kids out of the classroom to work alone in a hallway? I am sure those children learned a lot (they probably just watched who was walking in the halls). </p>
<p>Still is. At my DD;s elementary school, kids are routinely kept in from recess for forgetting homework, or behavioral infractions. These are ALWAYS the kids who need the most running around time.</p>
<p>OT -- when my oldest son was in kindergarten at a traditional all-boys K-12 in Canada, they started the day with recess, and often ran laps around the track. I thought this was a great idea for getting rid of excess boy-energy first thing in the morning!</p>
<p>Can you imagine placing kids out of the classroom to work alone in a hallway?</p>
<br>
<p>Working in an empty space is a testing accommodation that a lot of ADHD kids request in my experience, so I actually don't think it's such a horrible idea. Of course, no argument from me that schools and parents are doing a better job today of treating ADHD effectively.</p>
<p>when I was first looked at public neighborhood schools for my oldest, I toured a school where a young girl, about 1st grade had her desk in the hallway. The door was closed- I asked her why she was there, she said that the teacher wanted her there. She didnt have any work, just sitting.
I went upstairs to look at the "gifted" classroom, spent about 40 min as that was all I could stand to sit through of their handwriting lesson, and went back downstairs where the same girl was still sitting ( I assume she was forgotten about)- I went in to the office to tell them that the girl was out there- they smiled and nodded, but I didn't get the impression that they thought it was unusual.
It made me very nervous as you could go in and out of the school without being seen by the office, and in fact a few months later a girl was raped in the bathroom by someone hiding in there.
Not that this has anything to do with ADD- but physical activity is so important-for everyone, especially kinesthetic learners.
I am horrified that some schools and districts don't have PE or recess or even playgrounds</p>
<p>Back to the original posting - I would reveal all. If the school is receptive, then that means that they will be there for your D when she enrolls and throughout. If they are not receptive to her, then they won't be later, either, and certainly would not be happy finding out later, if any difficulties arise. It is better to go where they want you, no matter what, than to hide something and continue living with the lie for 4 years.</p>