正文
The modern psychology/psychiatry has advanced tremendously in recent years, especially in the early diagnosis, early intervention field. Many children with diseases such as Auticism are getting treatment that help them with basic motor skills, interaction with others, and language development. I have a friend who's an autistic children's therapist. I found her work especially gratifying.
Every coin has two sides. I have been very concerned with what I think as over dignosis on minor diseases such as ADHD in children. It seems to me the doctors are very quick putting kids on drugs such as Ritlin. I see this practice a symtom of our ever impatient socienty looking for a quick cure for anything out of the norm. According to the American Acadamy of Child and Adolenscent Psychiatry, (http://www.aacap.org/cs/root/facts_for_families/children_who_cant_pay_attention/adhd)
"(ADHD) affects between 3 to 5 percent of all children, perhaps as many as two million American youngsters. Two to three times more boys than girls are affected, though the disorder is being identified increasingly in girls. On the average, at least one or two teens in every classroom in the United States need help for the disorder."
Now here is my question, why does it happen more to boys than girls? We all know that boys are born differently. They are more active, energetic, and have shorter attention spans. Could it be that the classrooms are less tolerant to the boyish behaviors that leads to these ADHD diagnosis? If you look at the symptom list of ADHD,
trouble paying attention
inattention to details and makes careless mistakes
easily distracted
loses school supplies, forgets to turn in homework
trouble finishing class work and homework
trouble listening
trouble following multiple adult commands
blurts out answers
impatience
fidgets or squirms
leaves seat and runs about or climbs excessively
seems "on the go"
talks too much and has difficulty playing quietly
interrupts or intrudes on others
does it show you fairly typical youngsters (especially boys), or someone with psychological issues? I think in many cases kids need patient nurturing and education, not drugs. And if they can't change the way they behave, maybe as a society they can be tolerated, as long as they're not harming anyone else.
I'm no fan of Tom Cruise. I think his attack on Brooke Shields was foolish and sexist. However I do agree with him on the children issue. We are indeed overusing Ritalin. I don't doubt there are cases where medication are necessary. But I don't think 5% of our children need them. I love my flawed children. I don't need to fix them to become desinger kids.
不好意思，本來想敲中文，後來發現實在太困難了。
Every coin has two sides. I have been very concerned with what I think as over dignosis on minor diseases such as ADHD in children. It seems to me the doctors are very quick putting kids on drugs such as Ritlin. I see this practice a symtom of our ever impatient socienty looking for a quick cure for anything out of the norm. According to the American Acadamy of Child and Adolenscent Psychiatry, (http://www.aacap.org/cs/root/facts_for_families/children_who_cant_pay_attention/adhd)
"(ADHD) affects between 3 to 5 percent of all children, perhaps as many as two million American youngsters. Two to three times more boys than girls are affected, though the disorder is being identified increasingly in girls. On the average, at least one or two teens in every classroom in the United States need help for the disorder."
Now here is my question, why does it happen more to boys than girls? We all know that boys are born differently. They are more active, energetic, and have shorter attention spans. Could it be that the classrooms are less tolerant to the boyish behaviors that leads to these ADHD diagnosis? If you look at the symptom list of ADHD,
trouble paying attention
inattention to details and makes careless mistakes
easily distracted
loses school supplies, forgets to turn in homework
trouble finishing class work and homework
trouble listening
trouble following multiple adult commands
blurts out answers
impatience
fidgets or squirms
leaves seat and runs about or climbs excessively
seems "on the go"
talks too much and has difficulty playing quietly
interrupts or intrudes on others
does it show you fairly typical youngsters (especially boys), or someone with psychological issues? I think in many cases kids need patient nurturing and education, not drugs. And if they can't change the way they behave, maybe as a society they can be tolerated, as long as they're not harming anyone else.
I'm no fan of Tom Cruise. I think his attack on Brooke Shields was foolish and sexist. However I do agree with him on the children issue. We are indeed overusing Ritalin. I don't doubt there are cases where medication are necessary. But I don't think 5% of our children need them. I love my flawed children. I don't need to fix them to become desinger kids.
不好意思，本來想敲中文，後來發現實在太困難了。
1. Beside psychology/psychiatry, School Clinic Docs may help on diagnosis and medication. Majority of ADHD like kids will be rolled out since they have only some behavior but not enough to match all medical criteria.
2. Don’t worry if your kids have not many D/F or frequently phone call from school officials (don’t count teachers’ call).
3. Formal diagnosis will enable public resources to give you a hand.
4. Many Schools have ISP programs or study skill classes available for ADHD kids.
5. If doesn’t work, seek medication option. Consider a balance between side effect and symptom control.
6. Sometime, medication helps but not always. A medication trial is necessary. Side effect is not that terrible comparing to parents’ worry.
7. A live example: [Ritalin + ISP + Study Skills Class] helps a boy to increase his GPA from 1.2 to 3.7 in four years. Both parents are medical professionals.
8. Forget all listed above if you think they are not helpful.
對多動症的了解，尚處於初級階段，就我所理解的關於多動症用藥，有兩點必須陳述，第一，用藥改善有效期為兩年，再以後的效果不一定有物理療法更見效；第二，藥物的副作用，曾經看到有報道，長期用藥導致病人自殺傾向，較高癌症發病率。
不過，用藥與否，應該是孩子的父母和醫生共同的決定，作為Tom Cruise這樣的大腕，不應該輕易去Judge別人，因為畢竟孩子不是他的，他沒有處於完全相同的境況下，這樣下結論，無疑對病兒的父母心理造成陰影。