re: Parents furious after Louisiana teacher misdiagnosed entire class with ADHD

She just wanted them all on Ritalin to make them quiet and calm while she nurses her box wine hangovers every morning.

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The diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is complex,” said LSU Health Shreveport’s Program Director of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Dr. Pamela McPherson. “And it should not be made solely based on a rating scale. “
. Uh, it really isn’t. It’s a survey filled out by parents, a pediatrician, and teachers. I’ve done a bunch of them as a teacher and went through the process with my son.

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Then you didn't get a proper diagnosis lol.

In order to get a proper diagnosis, you need to get evaluated by a doctor or psychiatrist, and that consists of a lengthy and in depth evaluation.

Source: I was evaluated for ADHD when I was 14.

On top of that, it's not as simple as "give kid X 25 mg of focalin every day and he will be better." It took me about 2 years to finally find the right combo of medicine, mg, extended release v. instant release, etc. in order to have it treated properly. Then when I got to college I learned how to operate without taking it and haven't taken it since I was a sophomore in college, roughly 8 years ago.

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Doc gave me Vyvanse and had I stayed on it I would have murdered someone. The shift in my mood was insane.

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Had a similar thing happen to me with that stuff back in college, when I polished off the ADD excuse as why I was just doing "ok" and went thru the process with the school dr. I started on it the week of a major test week, and got so stressed I almost jumped out of the window. Never would have been like that without that stuff. Went to the Dr the next morning first thing and he had to write a note to my teachers asking theme to postpone my exams until it was out of my system. Which 1 was really not happy about at all, but did it anyway. Though my make up test was definitely no where near the one given prior.

I've tried some of those you mentioned, but haven't found a good one yet. Not sure how you handle the below combo, but would be good to know. My problem is that everything I take tends to have a major drop once I stop or it fades at night, and I get really irritable. Why I've stopped looking for something that works. I've tried dopamine supplements, the "top" ones when i internets "best nootropic suplements" and a bunch of stuff I use for a few days once I notice the hard drop off. At I this point I just want something that helps with the procrastination part of it. Everything else is either controlled or explainable.

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L-Theanine and Ginseng

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My 20 y/o has ADHD and is on the spectrum. He got diagnosed around 11 or 12. His new pediatrician wanted him evaluated by a psychologist and after pretty extensive evaluations it came back he had both. He was not hyper at all, no behavioral problems. We were shocked but there were signs we didn't see or maybe chose to ignore.

I can say we've all seen the SouthPark meme about those ADHD kids and teacher coming in there curing them by a slap. Irl, about half the kids with ADHD don't even have behavioral problems as far as being bad kids. Mine has a photographic memory and is unbelievably brilliant in math and space. He can't dribble a basketball, play baseball, clean up his room correctly no matter how hard you teach him. He can clean his room I guess, but it's painful watching him do it. Never had many friends, and didn't know how to play with his brother or sister. He's an adult now and works, friendly, etc. There is a stigma regarding ADHD and spectrum due to even what I'm sure is being typed in this thread, trust me, outside of here I don't tell anyone that my son has it. We aren't proud of it, although we are proud of him.

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Why are teachers diagnosing ADHD?

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They know everything, that’s why they are teachers and stay in a classroom their whole lives.

I get that a lot of parents today don’t parent in a way that causes kids to be respectful and hard-working. I also get that our modern lifestyle has too many decisions, too much information, and not enough exercise or meaningful activity. But - sending all the kids home with a paper in hopes of getting the kids back as medicated little zombies is not the answer. I think that what is diagnosed as “ADHD” is not a disease as much as a combination of personality traits, habits, training, and in some cases, actual learning disabilities. The pills make it easier to sit still and learn, but they don’t fix the problems.

Honestly I think it’s a money grab. There’s more kids than ever, increasing each year, that are on IEPs, which in turn gets more funding.

If a kid spends all day w teachers, how is it my fault? It’s not, public schools are too worried about other things than basic curriculum. Then I pick my kids up and only hear about drama. It’s ridiculous.

Would love for Scruffy to come in here and clear some of this up. Some posters seem to think a teacher is actually prescribing the medications, none of this can be done w/o a pediatrician's approval. I'd be interested to hear his thoughts on the ADHD process with children.

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Honestly I think it’s a money grab

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Likely, and not just for school district and Big Pharma, but a lot of the parents happily go along because any disability diagnosis gets the child signed up on the SSI check train until they’re 21 or maybe even for life, provided they fall below the poverty line (or whatever number is set by government) and looking at demographics for this school, it’s likely many of the students would meet that criteria.

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