From: Ronn!Blankenship <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
The important things are the degree to which you have them and the degree to
which they interfere with your life.
And it depends on what you call "interfering."
Interfering of ADD into a life includes situations such as addictive personalities, substance abuse, alcoholism, codependency, failure to keep long-term relationships, spousal abuse, negative behavior such as lying, temper tantrums and agression, stealing, impossibility to focus on a task that needs to be performed, financial woes, inability to perform under stress on the job or in school, etc.
ADD goes far beyond being bored in a classroom. It's a collection of symptoms. That's why I posted the DSM chart on a previous message; to give the readers a better idea about how it is diagnosed.
If all the kids who are bored with a textbook or a teacher are ADD, then we should spend time and energy identifying those who are NOT ADD instead of trying to help those who are, because *those* would be the rarity.
The ramifications of ADD go deep into the family structure and also include serious behavior disorders. I believe the misdiagnosis of ADD is one of the main reasons for the situation we presently face with the condition: ADD's diagnosis has become so diluted, everyone thinks their kids qualify for ADD. On most cases, this is done in order to take advantage of the accomodations that have to be made in school and OTJ for ADD patients.
I've seen what ADD does to kids. I work with them daily. Sometimes they are so medicated, it's scary. But they need to function, and they need to educate themselves about their conditions.
More often than not, parents eventually give up on following-up with the treatment and the therapy, and think it's all in the mind of the children. "Oh, I didn't need any of this, and look!! I turned out just fine. It's just a phase!!". Well, they don't spend time in the classroom with the kids. They don't see their frustration and their anger at not being able to perform like their classmates.
Many times irresponsible parents just dump the kids in school in the mornings and pick them up in the evenings. "Let the school figure it out" is their philosophy. Which is illegal in most states, by the way. Neglect *is* a form of abuse. This is punishable by law. I know. I've seen the cops come in and remove the kids from school grounds, and take them to temporary shelter homes. This is in a private school with upper-class families.
It's all in education.
JJ
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