Bedford and ADHD

[EXOLDBEDRES]

Okay, I know I am going to get some real crap from this but I can't help it! BW sometimes DC is a little caustic in his remarks (insert sarcasm) but I do agree that some of the dear little children (or perhaps their parents) just need a good kick in the butt! NO not child abuse but good old fashion discipline! There is nothing in the law books that say your child has to run all over you or the teacher or anyone else! And that is what children are being  able to do in this day and age!  REAL child abuse is not the open handed spank on the butt REAL child abuse is torture and starvation and other gross things perverts do to children. Discipline is not child abuse. But letting a kid have his way no matter what can be. We all have to listen to someone be it a parent a teacher a bus driver a boss even the police or a judge! Lets start teaching our children to listen now not after they go to jail!   Learning to sit still and listen and not talk or jabber all the time is important!   ADHD is real but not every kid who is disruptive has ADHD, and some who are grow up to be genius'!

[KeepItPositive]

Okay, I know I am going to get some real crap from this but I can't help it! BW sometimes DC is a little caustic in his remarks (insert sarcasm) but I do agree that some of the dear little children (or perhaps their parents) just need a good kick in the butt! NO not child abuse but good old fashion discipline! There is nothing in the law books that say your child has to run all over you or the teacher or anyone else! And that is what children are being  able to do in this day and age!  REAL child abuse is not the open handed spank on the butt REAL child abuse is torture and starvation and other gross things perverts do to children. Discipline is not child abuse. But letting a kid have his way no matter what can be. We all have to listen to someone be it a parent a teacher a bus driver a boss even the police or a judge! Lets start teaching our children to listen now not after they go to jail!   Learning to sit still and listen and not talk or jabber all the time is important!   ADHD is real but not every kid who is disruptive has ADHD, and some who are grow up to be genius'!

Why should you get any "crap" over this.  Some very good points.  We need to get back to some "old school" discipline at home and at school.  A lot less "crap" happened back then.

[steelerfan73]

 Agreed KIP. There is ADHD in Bedford but not every kid who is active or distractable needs testing. Teachers need to be knowledgeable about ADD,ADHD, autism and behavior isssues. Parents need to have structure in their homes that includes a regular bedtime, a regular time for homework and meals and discipline that the child understands. All of this provides comfort for kids growing up and makes them feel safe and loved. Parents and teachers have to work a s team or nothing gets accomplished.

 Yes there are kids who truly have ADHD and ADD and these kids benefit from behavior mod, structure and sometimes medications. The numbers in the district should not be unusually high. Sometimes the root of the problems should be identified before testing is started e.g. divorce. Kids cannot commnicate effectively so sometimes their behavior is misinterpreted as a learning problem.

 

[bedford wife]

I have raised 4 kids and never had to hit them.  They say please, thank you, yes ma'am or yes sir. Thy have, from a young age been able to sit through a Torah service (3 plus hours) or a long military ceremony without being a distraction My parents raised 10 without raising a hand to any of us.  How you might ask...easy...we got off our butts and parented.  I don't expect the "villiage" to raise my child, teach my child, mentor my child or discipline my chld.  I do that on a daily basis. I don't yell from across the room when they are out of line I get up and deal with it.  I don't think hyperactivity is bad.  It becomes a problem when it interferes with a child's ability to attend to the task at hand.  I agree with the structure and schedule comment.  I think many issues, not all, boil down to bad or just plain lazy parenting.  Children aren't an accessory...they are a full time, 24 hour job.  Given the appropriate attention and teaching all children can rise to age appropriate expectations and I have found they thrive on achieving this.  Good studies have shown that hitting teaches violence.  It may work for other families and if that is within your morales and beliefs then rock on.  I think that hitting is lazy.  "You messed up, now I strike you".  Really, most of the time it's because the adult is angry rather than a thought out action to help the child.   As far as our high numbers.  Maybe it's because the population here is a bit more educated than in other areas and we practice more intervention.  Maybe it's the water.  Maybe there is an organic issue with the education system that is propelling parents to have their child labeled to gain extra services.  I haven't been here long enough to make that judgement call but I would like to find out the organic reason behind the numbers.

[mom2three]

I used to be a parent that thought people who put their kids on ADHD medications were just taking the easy way out - until our son was diagnosed with severe ADHD, Aspergers and Sensory Integration Disorder.  Even after diagnosis, I refused to put him on the medication for a long period of time.  After a recommendation from our pediatric psychologist (who can not prescribe the meds for us), we did a trial with the meds to see if anyone noticed a difference in him.  The way the medicines work (after trial and error with several meds) is that different meds are targeted for specific issues.  If you do not have the issues that the meds are made for, it actually causes increased activity levels (the opposite of what you want it to do).  Research has brought these meds a long way since the days of ritalin being the only option and the results of groggy and lathargic kids.  Our school has been amazing helping us through our issues with our son - NEVER pushing us to put him on meds but trying to help and to be an advocate for our child.  I think the issue goes much deeper than people slapping easy diagnosis on kids - call me a conspiracy theorist, but I feel a lot of our health issues have so much to do with the chemicals and toxins we allow in our bodies.  I don't want to open a can of worms, but I will say that after radically changing our eating habits in the last 6 months (going organic and hormone free), I have seen improvements in several of my other kids.  Hope that gives a little insight into a family struggling through this issue.

[KeepItReal]

ADD/ADHD is a real disability. It is up to the parent to medicate, get treatment or have their child fall behind. It needs to be detected early in K-2 or the child will miss learning to read, write and do math which impacts every subject in the future. If not, the child is then impacted by learning disabilities in the afore mentioned areas.

Why does BPS have a high number of ADD kids on an IEP? Simple, they are failing classes because of the big push to not medicate in which the schools convince the parents that an IEP is needed requiring resource room classses in which a child can continue to exhibit the same behavior.

And finally, giving a child and IEP gives the district money!!!!!Hello, each special education child creates more revenue.....do the math.