Originally published June 15 2005
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) child disorders are a myth
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
This article at rense.com describes possible flaws in research about child "disorders," identifying many internal and external factors than could create the same symptoms of an ADD/ADHD child.
Over the past ten years, attention deficit disorder (ADD) or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has emerged from the relative obscurity of cognitive psychologists, research laboratories to become the "disease du jour" of America's schoolchildren.
Accompanying this popularity has been a virtually complete acceptance of the validity of this "disorder" by scientists, physicians, psychologists, educators, parents, and others.
Upon closer critical scrutiny, however, there is much to be troubled about concerning ADD/ADHD as a real medical diagnosis.
A child may be hyperactive while seated at a desk doing a boring worksheet, but not necessarily while singing in a school musical.
The tests that have been used to determine if someone has ADD/ADHD are either artificially objective and remote from the lives of real children (in one test, a child is asked to press a button every time he sees a 1 followed by a 9 on a computer screen), or hopelessly subjective (many rating scales ask parents and teachers to score a child's behavior on a scale from 1 to 5: these scores depend upon the subjective attitudes more than the actual behaviors of the children involved).
Behavior modification programs used for kids labeled ADD/ADHD work, but they don't help kids become better learners.
In fact, they may interfere with the development of a child's intrinsic love of learning (kids behave simply to get more rewards), they may frustrate some kids (when they don't get expected rewards), and they can also impair creativity and stifle cooperation.
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