ADD/FDA

My blogging usually begins with a greater than usual reaction in me to something I’ve read in a newspaper or online. It immediately zips through my synapses, linking it with all manner of significant human or personal grievances.

And that’s what happened this morning. As I roamed through the newspaper, I got stuck on this article about the over prescribing and overuse of antipsychotic drugs in children and their serious consequences, including death. I think the lead sentence nailed it; these drugs are being used “far too cavalierly.” And apparently, Risperdal, is the drug of choice to quell symptoms of attention deficit disorder (ADD, ADHD), especially among elementary age boys—more on that in a minute.

The medical expert community is alarmed and says more must be done to alert physicians and parents as to the dangers in overuse of the drugs. The FDA says the use restrictions written on the labels should be made clearer. The drug companies say they can’t be made clearer than they are. Wait! What happened to the word “cavalier”? Yes, what about the psychiatrists and physicians who write the scripts to ease the parents and patients out of their offices? As the article indicates, this is not some minor glitch among medical professionals. This is life and death, and for far too many male children, social stigmatizing that can last for a lifetime. This gets me to another matter that needs clarifying.

Guess what folks! Young males and for that matter old males do not learn, do not communicate and do not “share” the same way young and old females do. Watch the boys in your care and in your classrooms. They squirm or “fidget” almost all day. And when they communicate with each other, they start by making silent physical contact. It’s bump-and-run everyday, all day. When they discover something they think is worthwhile to communicate, they will tell it and do it. They won’t share it and thoroughly contemplate it. Tell it, do it, done. That’s boys for ya. It doesn’t make them cute or beguiling. It just makes them who they are.

Maybe the old system of segregating boys and girls in the school building was not such a bad idea (although I wouldn’t have been able to fall in love at age 10 if my school had that rule). Boys are hyperactive by virtue of their gender. That’s not meant to be an excuse. It’s meant to indicate the actual world. Most boys would like to learn by walking around doing something, even if they’re writing an essay or learning geography. Sitting in rows or at tables or in movable desk-chairs contradicts the how of their learning. We who have taught would prefer that they sit down and be quiet. Yes. But that is no reason to create this false positive we flag around called ADD/ADHD.

People who push kids into further reliance on prescription drugs because those kids don’t fit snuggly into an arbitrary learning paradigm ought to be denied access to anyone’s children. Parents who give up on their kids ought to stop fretting and start observing and listening to their kids. We all should stop worrying about where these kids must be 10 years from now and worry more about where they are now.