ADHD refers to a family of related chronic neurobiological disorders that interfere with an individual's capacity to regulate activity level (hyperactivity), inhibit behavior (impulsivity), and attend to tasks (inattention) in developmentally appropriate ways. The core symptoms of ADHD include:

a. An inability to sustain attention and concentration
b. Developmentally inappropriate levels of activity
c. Distractibility, and impulsivity.

Children with ADHD have functional impairment across multiple settings including home, school, and peer relationships. ADHD has also been shown to have long-term adverse effects on academic performance, vocational success, and social-emotional development.

Children with ADHD experience an inability to sit still and pay attention in class and the negative consequences of such behavior. They experience peer rejection and engage in a broad array of disruptive behaviors. Their academic and social difficulties have far-reaching and long-term consequences. These children have higher injury rates. As they grow older, children with untreated ADHD, in combination with conduct disorders, experience drug abuse, antisocial behavior, and injuries of all sorts. For many individuals, the impact of ADHD continues into adulthood.

Afro Interpretation

The above description of this newly discovered scientific disease among youth is society's way of ignoring the fact that parents today cannot control their children and that they have poor parenting skills overall. Children who sit before a television set for hours at a time in addition to the mind-altering video games while their parent(s) work hours at a time, have changed the thinking and reasoning patterns of our children. Instead of going after the culture-killing companies that profit most from television and games, parents would rather drug the kids.

Symptoms of ADHD

· Inattention
People who are inattentive have a hard time keeping their mind on one thing and may get bored with a task after only a few minutes. Focusing conscious, deliberate attention to organizing and completing routine tasks may be difficult.
· Hyperactivity
People who are hyperactive always seem to be in motion. They can't sit still; they may dash around or talk incessantly. Sitting still through a lesson can be an impossible task. They may roam around the room, squirm in their seats, wiggle their feet, touch everything, or noisily tap a pencil. They may also feel intensely restless.
· Impulsivity
People who are overly impulsive, seem unable to curb their immediate reactions or think before they act. As a result, they may blurt out answers to questions or inappropriate comments, or run into the street without looking. Their impulsivity may make it hard for them to wait for things they want or to take their turn in games. They may grab a toy from another child or hit when they are upset.

How many children are diagnosed with ADHD?
ADHD is the most commonly diagnosed disorder of childhood, estimated to affect 3 to 5 percent of school-age children, and occurring three times more often in boys than in girls. On average, about one child in every classroom in the United States needs help for this disorder.

How are schools involved in diagnosing, assessing, and treating ADHD?
Physicians and parents should be aware that schools are federally mandated to perform an appropriate evaluation if a child is suspected of having a disability that impairs academic functioning. This policy was recently strengthened by regulations implementing the 1997 reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA), which guarantees appropriate services and a public education to children with disabilities from ages 3 to 21.

For the first time, IDEA specifically lists ADHD as a qualifying condition for special education services. If the assessment performed by the school is inadequate or inappropriate, parents may request that an independent evaluation be conducted at the school's expense.

Furthermore, some children with ADHD qualify for special education services within the public schools, under the category of "Other Health Impaired." In these cases, the special education teacher, school psychologist, school administrators, classroom teachers, along with parents, must assess the child's strengths and weaknesses and design an Individualized Education Program. These special education services for children with ADHD are available though IDEA.

Afro Interpretation
Be careful Black people, this is just another avenue for the system to label your Black child as mentally incapable. They have support from the school board and the United States government to label your children this way. If ever this is tried on you and your children, never agree to the diagnosis and know that it could actually be an attempt to label your child. These labels do not go away easily. They stay with your child for life, making it harder for them to get jobs and recognition from accredited colleges if this is on their record as a special Ed student diagnosis with ADHD.

Is ADHD on the increase? If so, why?
No one knows for sure whether the prevalence of ADHD per se has risen, but it is very clear that the number of children identified with the disorder who obtain treatment has risen over the past decade. Some of this increased identification and increased treatment seeking is due in part to greater media interest, heightened consumer awareness, and the availability of effective treatments. A similar pattern is now being observed in other countries. Whether the frequency of the disorder itself has risen remains unknown, and needs to be studied.

Afro Interpretation
Of course it has risen. Do not allow media propaganda to influence your thinking. It has become a crisis because more white children are being diagnosis with this scientifically engineered disease. The breakdown of the family and the lack of discipline of children together with the spying eye of social services have caused a crisis when there actually never was one.

Can a preschool child be diagnosed with ADHD?
The diagnosis of ADHD in the preschool child is possible, but can be difficult and should be made cautiously by experts well trained in childhood neurobehavioral disorders. Developmental problems, especially language delays, and adjustment problems can sometimes imitate ADHD. Treatment should focus on placement in a structured preschool with parent training and support. Stimulants can reduce oppositional behavior and improve mother-child interactions, but they are usually reserved for severe cases or when a child is unresponsive to environmental or behavioral interventions.

Afro Interpretation
Never, ever allow doctors to label your child this early with something they cannot definitely prove beyond a reasonable doubt. This type of early diagnosis is mere speculation and should not be inflicted on a newborn or infant child.

What is the impact of ADHD on children and their families?
Life can be hard for children with ADHD. They're the ones who are so often in trouble at school, can't finish a game, and have trouble making friends. They may spend agonizing hours each night struggling to keep their mind on their homework, and then forget to bring it to school. It is not easy coping with these frustrations day after day for children or their families. Family conflict can increase. In addition, problems with peers and friendships are often present in children with ADHD.

In adolescence, these children are at increased risk for motor vehicle accidents, tobacco use, early pregnancy, and lower educational attainment. When a child receives a diagnosis of ADHD, parents need to think carefully about treatment choices. And when they pursue treatment for their children, families face high out-of-pocket expenses because treatment for ADHD and other mental illnesses is often not covered by insurance policies.

School programs to help children with problems often connected to ADHD (social skills and behavior training) are not available in many schools. In addition, not all children with ADHD qualify for special education services. All of this leads to children who do not receive proper and adequate treatment. To overcome these barriers, parents may want to look for school-based programs that have a team approach involving parents, teachers, school psychologists, other mental health specialists, and physicians.

Afro Interpretation
Children with the above problems could simply be suffering from a lack of attention and/or parental neglect, not necessarily ADHD. If a child is having a problem in school or making friends, maybe the work is too easy or the other children are too bad. Every other reason should be studied before a child is diagnosed with this lifetime label.

What medications are currently being used to treat ADHD?
Psychostimulant medications, including methylphenidate (Ritalin) and amphetamines (Dexedrine, Dextrostat, and Adderall), are by far the most widely researched and commonly prescribed treatments for ADHD. Numerous short-term studies have established the safety and efficacy of stimulants and psychosocial treatments for alleviating the symptoms of ADHD.

NIMH research has indicated that the two most effective treatment modalities for elementary school children with ADHD are a closely monitored medication treatment and a treatment that combines medication with intensive behavioral interventions. In the NIMH Multimodal Treatment Study for Children with ADHD (MTA), which included nearly 600 elementary school children across multiple sites, nine out of ten children improved substantially on one of these treatments.

Additionally, antidepressant medications may also be used as a second line of treatments for children who show poor response to stimulants, who have unacceptable side effects, or who have comorbid conditions (such as tics, anxiety, or mood disorders). Tricyclic antidepressants have shown clinical efficacy in 60-70% of children with ADHD.

While the medications were extremely beneficial to most children, MTA findings indicated that medications alone might not necessarily be the best strategy for many children. For example, children who had accompanying problems (e.g., anxiety, stressful home circumstances, social skills deficits, etc.), over and above the ADHD symptoms, appeared to obtain maximal benefit from the combined treatment.

Afro Interpretation
First, tell kids to "say no to drugs" and then shove drugs down their throats.

How often are stimulant prescriptions used?
Data from 1995 show that physicians treating children and adolescents wrote six million prescriptions for stimulant medications-methylphenidate (Ritalin) and dextroamphetamine (Dexedrine). Of all the drugs used to treat psychiatric disorders in children, stimulant medications are the most thoroughly studied.

Afro Interpretation
This is a very bad sign. This says that more parents are not doing their jobs. However, the media would have you believe that this is a good thing since more people are relying on these drugs. This is reverse psychology and should be seen as just that, and then ignored.

Isn't stimulant use on the increase?
Stimulant use in the United States has increased substantially over the last 25 years. A recent study saw a 2.5-fold increase in methylphenidate between 1990 and 1995. This increase appears to be largely related to an increased duration of treatment, and more girls, adolescents, adults, and inattentive individuals (in addition to those individuals with both hyperactivity and inattentiveness/attention deficit) receiving treatment.

Are there differences in stimulant use across racial and ethnic groups?
There are significant differences in access to mental health services between children of different racial groups; and, consequently, there are differences in medication use. In particular, African American children are much less likely than Caucasian children to receive psychotropic medications, including stimulants, for treatment of mental disorders.

Afro Interpretation
This is because Black parents do not see every little disturbance as a psychiatric disorder. Only white people believe that if one is behaving contrary to what mainstream society expect, they are in need of a stimulant. Black people just go with the flow and if someone has a problem it is dealt with and there is no need to pay for counseling.

Will children taking these medications for ADHD become drug addicts?
Actually, it appears to be just the opposite. Although an increased risk of drug abuse and cigarette smoking is associated with childhood ADHD, this risk appears mostly due to the ADHD condition itself, rather than its treatment. In a study jointly funded by the NIMH and the National Institute on Drug Abuse, boys with ADHD who were treated with stimulants were significantly less likely to abuse drugs and alcohol when they got older.

Caution is warranted, nonetheless, as the overall evidence suggests that persons with ADHD (particularly untreated ADHD) are indeed at greater risk for later alcohol or substance abuse.

Because some studies have come to conflicting conclusions, more research is needed to understand these phenomena. Regardless, in view of the substantial, well-established findings of the harmful effects of inadequate or no treatment for a child with ADHD, parents should not be dissuaded from seeking effective treatments because of misconstrued or exaggerated claims about substance abuse risks.

Afro Conclusion
As long as Black parents raise their children according to mainstream rules, they are going to fall into the same conditions that whites fall into. Their children are at greater risk of using drugs (of any kind). Though the urban cities are not as elaborate as some suburban areas, at least Blacks are not susceptible to these high-powered evil spiritual forces that plague white society. Be thankful of where God has put you and live life with love toward your children and with love comes discipline, which is the key to maintaining a sound mind.

Source from: http://psychology.about.com/library/weekly/aa100102z.htm

Read feedback from Suzanne Gorenfeld on the ADHD crises and how it is used for the benefit of school budgets.