Comments on: When Did ADHD Start? http://www.addadhdblog.com/when-did-adhd-start/ A blog about Attention Deficit Disorder, and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Tue, 07 Feb 2012 02:12:02 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: annie http://www.addadhdblog.com/when-did-adhd-start/comment-page-1/#comment-685256 annie Thu, 27 Oct 2011 15:54:15 +0000 http://www.addadhdblog.com/?p=511#comment-685256 even if ADD and ADHD are real disorders, so what? Are we just going to tell our kids, it ok to not do well in school because you have ADD? You can just live on the government for the rest of your life? Making such a big fuss about this issue is just letting kids who are not interested in school make excuses. Hellen Keller was blind and deaf. Her teacher taught her that just because she is disabled in some sense does not exempt her from learning, and look at how far she went. People like you guys who tell kids poor you, you have to suffer from ADD and attend class, is not helping them. I'm not saying they don't deserve extra time and extra help from both parents and teachers, but don't let them think they can get away from learning because they have ADD. I've seen friends make that same ADD excuse from junior high all the way through high school, and they failed because of it, even though they are perfectly intelligent people capable of passing. Many students even joke about testing for ADD so they can skimp out on assignments. Even if I had ADD i would not want to know because I would not want to be tempted to use it as a crutch. even if ADD and ADHD are real disorders, so what? Are we just going to tell our kids, it ok to not do well in school because you have ADD? You can just live on the government for the rest of your life? Making such a big fuss about this issue is just letting kids who are not interested in school make excuses. Hellen Keller was blind and deaf. Her teacher taught her that just because she is disabled in some sense does not exempt her from learning, and look at how far she went. People like you guys who tell kids poor you, you have to suffer from ADD and attend class, is not helping them. I’m not saying they don’t deserve extra time and extra help from both parents and teachers, but don’t let them think they can get away from learning because they have ADD. I’ve seen friends make that same ADD excuse from junior high all the way through high school, and they failed because of it, even though they are perfectly intelligent people capable of passing. Many students even joke about testing for ADD so they can skimp out on assignments. Even if I had ADD i would not want to know because I would not want to be tempted to use it as a crutch.

]]> By: Gina Pera http://www.addadhdblog.com/when-did-adhd-start/comment-page-1/#comment-105049 Gina Pera Wed, 24 Jun 2009 22:33:32 +0000 http://www.addadhdblog.com/?p=511#comment-105049 Thanks Dr. Kenny for clearing up this bit of misinformation. I missed that article, which apparently was published about the time I was attending and speaking at the CADDAC conference in Toronto. Seems the hundreds of adults who showed up to learn more about ADHD, after suffering for years due to rampant ignorance from physicians and therapists alike, might have taken umbrage at the piece. Indeed, as you point out, ADHD doesn't always offer any advantages on the sports field (or sometimes any place else); in fact, it can dampen any natural sports ability due to distractability, impulsivity, poor planning ability (such as preparing for a game), etc. Several major-league baseball players have come forth in the media to explain how their ADHD often interfered with their ball-playing and how treatment has allowed their abilities to shine. Increasingly, we have historical evidence that ADHD has been described in the medical literature for more than 100 years -- even dating to 1798, according to recently re-discovered medical textbooks from a Scottish physician. I write about it at my blog: http://tinyurl.com/la3w9r Unfortunately, some in the liberal arts academia crowd who apparently never took a shine to science classes are seeking to make a name for themselves by writing diatribes about brain disorders being "social constructs." They conveniently leave out the fact that at no time in our history have we humans been at the mercy of so many distractions; it takes an extremely strong prefrontal cortex to resist derailment, in my opinion. I find their efforts shameful, as these authors are willfully pandering to a science-phobic public for their own self-aggrandizement. No, I can't be charitable to these authors one iota, because their message denies the very real suffering encountered by people with these "social constructs." Moreover, I would question how many suffer from their own undiagnosed conditions, such as oppositional defiance. As you rightly point out, they create more stigma than illumination. We need to be moving forward, not backward to the 1950s or farther. Gina Pera, author Is It You, Me, or Adult A.D.D.? Stopping the Roller Coaster When Someone You Love Has Attention Deficit Disorder http://www.ADHDRollerCoaster.org Thanks Dr. Kenny for clearing up this bit of misinformation.

I missed that article, which apparently was published about the time I was attending and speaking at the CADDAC conference in Toronto.

Seems the hundreds of adults who showed up to learn more about ADHD, after suffering for years due to rampant ignorance from physicians and therapists alike, might have taken umbrage at the piece.

Indeed, as you point out, ADHD doesn’t always offer any advantages on the sports field (or sometimes any place else); in fact, it can dampen any natural sports ability due to distractability, impulsivity, poor planning ability (such as preparing for a game), etc. Several major-league baseball players have come forth in the media to explain how their ADHD often interfered with their ball-playing and how treatment has allowed their abilities to shine.

Increasingly, we have historical evidence that ADHD has been described in the medical literature for more than 100 years — even dating to 1798, according to recently re-discovered medical textbooks from a Scottish physician. I write about it at my blog: http://tinyurl.com/la3w9r

Unfortunately, some in the liberal arts academia crowd who apparently never took a shine to science classes are seeking to make a name for themselves by writing diatribes about brain disorders being “social constructs.” They conveniently leave out the fact that at no time in our history have we humans been at the mercy of so many distractions; it takes an extremely strong prefrontal cortex to resist derailment, in my opinion.

I find their efforts shameful, as these authors are willfully pandering to a science-phobic public for their own self-aggrandizement. No, I can’t be charitable to these authors one iota, because their message denies the very real suffering encountered by people with these “social constructs.” Moreover, I would question how many suffer from their own undiagnosed conditions, such as oppositional defiance.

As you rightly point out, they create more stigma than illumination. We need to be moving forward, not backward to the 1950s or farther.

Gina Pera, author
Is It You, Me, or Adult A.D.D.?
Stopping the Roller Coaster When Someone You Love Has Attention Deficit Disorder
http://www.ADHDRollerCoaster.org

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