adhd your comments please

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hi all
i am a noob here and i am looking for your comments about adhd.
i am at college and last week a few students and the teacher were discusing adhd
the conversation whent some thing like this,
well i dont think theres anything wrong with them they are just naughty,
i blame the parents for not teaching then right from wrong,
theyve not been brought up properly and taught right from wrong,
should of been punished more its all just an exscuse.

well it whent some thing like that needless to say it wound me up a bit and i never realy got the
chance to explain things properly, infact all when silent when i started to rant an rave.
no doubt they have no idea why it wound me up so much so i thought i would post the link
for this thread to my lecturer/students, who are mainly over 40 with kids.
hope fully they will read your views and at least gain a bit of knowledge and respect.
thanks neil..........................

You're right; those teachers really weren't thinking very hard about ADHD, and probably weren't very well-informed. ADHD is a real problem, and it often means that a child is simply unable to concentrate or inhibit his actions well enough to comply--so more discipline just means frustration, fear, and anger, not compliance. It's like trying to train your Chihuahua to pull a dogsled--he may be trying his best to comply, but he's just not strong enough to do it.

Many parents of ADHD kids initially respond with harsher discipline, and--guess what--it doesn't work. The child can't think far enough ahead to take the consequences into account; he's just too hyper to bear sitting still for long; and however hard he tries--which may not be very hard at all because ADHD undermines willpower, too--he can't please his parents. Even when he succeeds, it backfires. Do something right once, and people assume you will always be able to do it right. Then they get even madder when you fail the next time.

The point of ADHD treatment: Teach the child the skills he needs to actually do what he is supposed to do, to pitch in at home, show his actual skill at school, and even concentrate more easily when he plays games or interacts with other kids. Sometimes you use stimulants or other medication to help him direct his attention well enough to learn those skills; sometimes you even have to keep using them so he can apply them after he's learned them. But if you're going to treat ADHD, meds aren't enough.

I have a problem with ADHD myself, or at least symptoms of ADHD. I can't direct my attention where I want it to go; I over-focus, under-focus, and zone out. I can literally get high on physical activity. Over the years I've learned to work with it, using the creativity and sometimes the hyperfocus to get things done. Unfortunately a lot of stuff I've learned are things like "wait until the last minute, when the pressure to get something done overwhelms the inertia that's keeping you from getting started". None of that is very adaptive. On the other hand, meds don't work for me, or don't work very well. I think if I'd been started on a decent curriculum of "how to make yourself do what you find boring" early on, instead of just yelled at, punished, and told I was lazy and immature, then I might have better tools to work with today than the cobbled-together set of somewhat maladaptive strategies I have now.

I'm meeting with a psychology grad student at school right now; I get to be her guinea pig and she gets to try to teach me how to study properly. We'll see how that works out--it's been pretty good so far. I used a planner for a whole week once!

ADHD is very real. I wish my problems were just a result of me having been a bad kid, because now that I am grown I would be fine. But that's simply not the case, my ADHD affects me in my daily life even worse than my AS does.

All what Callista said. I could totally repeat all that, but I have nothing to add but want to point out her answer's really good.

ADD is really very difficult.
I grew up with AS and ADD (not hyperactive) symptoms...I had THE highest test scores in my whole school (at one point)while being this clumsy, uncoordinated, disorganized space cadet who could not do homework.

I will admit though that I grew up in a household that was not very condusive to my learning certain particular skills as I have parents who had similar struggles of their own...

I bet for many it is a vicious cycle

AS/ADD parents trying to raise AS/ADD kids...probably worse when there is no acknowledgment that that is the problem....

My response to the teacher/student would be:

--ADHD is real, but it appears to be widely overdiagnosed which harms the perception of those who really have it and clouds the perception of those who don't know much about it. The teacher and students may be reacting to the prescription drug companies gone wild -- go to a doctor and say you have always had a problem concentrating and you can get a diagnosis and prescription for ADHD medication -- but the actions of the drug companies shouldn't illegitimize the underlying problem.

--I agree that ADHD treatment should be more about teaching coping skills to the parents and children than prescribing medication. Medication alone helps and may be necessary, but parents who rely SOLELY on medication (I know many of them) and make excuses for their children's behavior aren't doing their children many favors. From the outside, however, you can't really draw conclusions on the parenting efforts based on an observation of the child's behavior.

My childhood was very much like this in the household in which I grew up.

It's very obvious that they don't understand ADHD, I myself don't have it but I'd be angry if they said that about Asperger's Syndrome.

I have serious attention problems and am occasionally disruptive in social situations. I rant and talk too much or don't talk at all. Can't find the right balance for a conversational exchange. When I get interested in something, I can't tear myself away from it. Friends always telling me to just drop it. But I go on and on about things that are interesting. I get bored in social situations and can't wait to make an exit.

The only time I could get along normally with people was when I did drugs. Since quitting drugs, I've not been able to deal with social situations very well.

I'm fairly sure I have either ADD or ADHD but haven't been diagnosed for these.

Last edited by alba on 24 Mar 2009, 5:05 pm, edited 2 times in total.

I heard AD/HD was over diagnosed in the 1990's because teachers expected kids to be little adults than kids. It's like expecting a two year old to know how to fold their own clothes or get their own food without having anyone serve it them or expecting them to talk like ten year olds. I mean how can teachers expect a five year old to sit still for long periods of the time or listen for long periods of the time. I even have an aspie friend and he had like ten kids in his class with ADD. Even he agrees it was overdiagnosed. I have read about many kids outgrowing it but I think maybe it's because they never had it in the first place? What they did as kids was typical kid behavior they were doing and teachers wanted them to be little adults by having a long attention span and not get bored in their seats without doing nothing for long periods of the time and being able to listen for long periods of the time and not move around in their seats at all. No wonder people would think ADHD is fake.


So what did the overdiagnoses do? I think it gave ADHD a bad name and the fact parents were using that word as an excuse for their kid's behaviors. So kids who truely do have it, probably get crap now thinking they are doing it on purpose, they are a brat, etc. Also the fact when kids get drugged for their ADHD, it makes them like zombies or impairs their social skills and makes them have less emotions. That's what some were saying on another forum about themselves who took meds for it.

I have ADHD and it made my school life very difficult.

- I cannot organise my thoughts at all, it's very difficult for me to keep just one thought after another thought. Usually my thoughts are just flying around and linking into other thoughts (sort of like a chaotic mind map) and this makes it very difficult to concentrate in any situation.

- I am distracted by any noise or movement. I can't purposely give my full attention to just one thing. (I have HFA as well so I can when it's to do with my special interest but I don't choose to hyper focus, it just happens) I am paying attention to EVERYTHING in the room or even outside the room if it's noise.

- I cannot sit still to save my life. I need to fiddle with something, shake my leg or stand uo and walk around. (not to be confused with stimming where I rock, pace, flap etc.)

- I find it very difficult to control my impulses like shouting out in a classroom, throwing something, jumping off stuff. I think everyone gets a thought like "hmm this would be a good idea" then they think about it and don't actually do it. I find it difficult to stop and think. I just do all the time.

- I don't like being highly energetic and impulsive, it's not so bad when you're a kid because kids are expected to be a bit like that. But now as I'm growing up I find it difficult to "fit in" with jobs and any important meetings or interviews.

- Blurting things out is another thing. I often say exactly what's on my mind and it's very difficult to control.


I can't really think right now I have too much other stuff on my mind but I'll add stuff later if I remember.

Oh, and my parents taught me the difference between right and wrong. It is a myth that ADHD kids don't know right from wrong they just don't always think of the consequences.

I used to be punished so much at school and at home for things I just couldn't control. I was always given negative feedback wherever I went. This lead to major depression.

I also have this problem. Another reason why writing reports was very hard for me but all kids get help with their reports by their parents. It's being in high school that made it hard for me because kids can now do them on their own while I struggled.



I used to have this problem, it was a pain.



I also had this problem. I would start to move around in my seat and mess with things in my hand but then again I see other kids do it too so what's the difference?



I don't really have this problem but it's very hard for me to not shout out things when I am in a group discussion about something. I can't seem to stop interrupting either. When I talk, someone else talks.



I had this problem as a kid and it got me into lot of trouble or sent out of the classroom for a break. I mean it was worse than other kids because it was impairing me in school and at home effecting my functioning life. I felt the victim because I didn't think I did nothing wrong because I didn't see myself do it. So occupational therapy helped.




I had this as a kid. My mother used to tell me think before I say things, think how it would make me feel if someone else said it to me. I got better at it but it's still hard to tell how someone would feel if they don't think like me or feel the same way about stuff.




I hear you. I've been punished too or felt I was punished for things I didn't even do. I wouldn't believe the teachers and my mother that I do things I wasn't aware of so I thought they were all picking on me so it made me depressed and angry all the time and I kept shouting I wanted to be normal and treated normal. I felt discriminated.


All these traits you mentioned are also part of AS so that's why kids with it would be misdiagnosed as having ADHD.

And in complete denial.

I think that ADHD must exist it describes to a tee someone close I know very well.

Can't pay attention...gets bored easily...interrupts conversations...goes off at tangents...lacks self control.

Some people find this very irritating.
I don't mind though: I've grown so used to it, it's his personality.
Take that away and you wouldn't have him.

He's also very systematic, but sporadic.
He used to be very active.

At school he barely scraped through and got beaten up frequently.
In hindsight, I think he's been very lucky considering.

He went through many of the same struggles that other male posters have been through on here.
This can't just be a coincidence.

A facscination with spinning objects...
Hoarding...
A new "project" every day...

It wouldn't honestly surprise me if there was some overlap between AS, OCD, ADHD and social anxiety. Do extreme behaviours beget more extreme behaviours?

hi there
well thanks for a well informed response i was surprised there was no one ranting. its a shame that people who dont have these traits
cant expierence what it feels like but to most even reading about them is beyond there comprehension.

That is such an ignorant thing to say that AD/HD isn't real. I've met young kids who have extremely good parents and a brilliant upbringing who still suffer from AD/HD so it's definately real. Me and my younger brother both suffered during our school years. I have got a little better over the past few years, but I still can't concentrate too good. Even on this website, I am always racing through each post trying to get to the next one as quick as I can!

Almost. I honestly think that a number of children who do not have any form of disease can benefit from some of the more advanced ADHD medications. For example, children who were treated with methylphenidate (Ritalin) are found, later in life, to be resistant to cocaine addiction.

Not quite. For example, variants of ADHD linked to the seven-repeat allele for the DRD4 receptor are found to have very real, observable deficits early on in their lives, yet they are found to mature out of this completely. Even so, brain scans done on them as children show that there are parts of their brains that do not develop until later on in their lives. Even so, they come out just fine in the end, especially if intervention is taken to prevent them from destroying their academic future during that lag period.

Unfortunately, many of the teachers in our underfunded school system are ill-equipped to handle a variety of the situations that arise from perfectly normal children. More importantly, it is not their fault. The blame rests squarely on the penny-pinching, nickel-nursing taxpayer's shoulders. Besides needing reform from the bottom-up, the system is critically underfunded.

Outside of Russian-speaking communities, no child is a "brat."