Do you agree with my child’s teacher that ADHD is not a real diagnosis?

No, I do think it is real. It is over-diagnosed in some places.

Some parents do NOT discipline their children, and it carries over into the classroom.

Sadly, though, if kids cannot behave in the regular classroom, they need to be somewhere that meets their needs and does not disrupt other students.

ADHD is a real diagnosis, I have seen it in classrooms. It should be diagnosed by a team – parents, family, fam. doctor, teachers, and others who interact with the child, taking information from all.

I think it is sad if the teacher does not want the child in the room just because of the ADHD diagnosis. There is no reason that the child should not be able to be in a regular classroom with the proper modifications. And in some cases, the proper teacher.

I agree that kids today are over diagnosed with ADD and ADHD. I think a lot of parents and teachers are looking for quick fixes to non-medical problems and doctors are just waiting with their presciption pads out. A lot of behaviors that some people attribute to ADD or ADHD can be fixed with proper parenting from mom and dad or better classroom management and developmentally appropriate and interesting lessons from the teacher. Therefore, they are not truely ADD or ADHD behaviors–just kid behaviors in need of proper guidance.

But, if a child does actually have it, then yes, they have special needs. ADD and ADHD are listed in the DSM-IV (diagnostic and statistic manual of mental disorders, 4th edition) and are therefore recognizable diagnosis. These children have special needs that must be met by public education. They should definitely be included in the classroom. As a matter of fact, any modifications that need to be made for students with ADHD are good teaching practices in general that make sense to do anyway. All students can benefit from them.

It seems as if this teacher has poor classroom management skills and doesn’t know what to do. She may be burnt out from having a student in her class that has been difficult to handle and she doesn’t have the know-how or the strategies to correctly deal with the situation. And the fact that she would tell you that piece of information also shows that she is unprofessional.

ADHD is a real diagnosis, although it is over diagnosed and misdiagnosed. The true ADHD student could benefit greatly from special education services, but can also be hurt by not being in the regular education setting. There has to be a balance. Some children can listen and learn from the teacher, but need to be removed to another setting when its time to be quiet and work. A child will never learn to socialize if he/she is not with his peers when possible. Your own child needs an intervention plan drawn up by the regular teacher, special education teacher, principal, councilor, and other education professionals. Demand to see the documentation that they have tried intervention measures (its the law that they do so) and proof that he cannot be served in regular education and needs special education. Your child’s records cannot legally be kept from you. Demand documentation, and demand intervention measures and modifications that can keep your child in the regular class as much as possible.

I think some children who are ADHD have a hard time, but think about his–when I went to school, there wasn’t a ton of kids who were ADHD and ADD. I’m only 30, I went to school in the 80’s early 90’s–I do think they give that dx to too many children and medicate too many kids. Is your child in any sports—this can help. I think your child should be in a regular classroom. That teacher doesn’t want to have to maybe deal with a child thats hyper—thats her problem not yours. Fight it dont let them seperate your child.

I am a little confused on your question! Do you want to know if ADHD is real or do you want to know if these children should be allowed with others in classes rooms?

ADHD is real. I also think children with this illness needs to be around other children of their age. The problem is they don’t have teachers who understand the illness or have the patients to allow these children in the classrooms.

Lately every child in America has ADHD, it’s bogus. Maybe there is such an illness. I find that most parents are using as an excuse for poor parenting. The child doesn’t WANT to do something,(like his homework) so instead of spanking him and making him do what’s necessary for his own development, parents blame it on ADHD and let the child do what ever he wants,and they medicate the child . Alot of parents say “my child can’t concentrate”, that’s because the parent doesn’t take the time to sit the child down and “make” him concentrate. Teacher’s are fed up with all the BS. It’s tough enough trying to teach a class of heathens, now every parent in the world says” but my little Johnny is SPECIAL” when in all actuality their Little Johnny needs his azz whooped, he needs to be made to pay attention. Imagine what this world is going to be like when these kids grow up! I don’t wanna go to work, blah, blah,blah. Everyone wants to dump THEIR responsibility off on the teacher, who is being assaulted with knifes and guns by these juvenile delinquents. The principal of the school has to be the biggest coward of them all, they just simply won’t back the teachers.

I recommend that you home school your child, then we’ll see if he/she really has a mental impairment.

Back in the old days a parent would have been embarrassed to admit that their child was retarded, not now days. They all want “special treatment” for their little child.

I am not trying to be cruel, I know I sound harsh, but someone somewhere needs to let people know that this is just not right. You love your child, so you would think that you would want him to grow up and be able to think and act on his own. It starts here and now. It’s your responsibility as a parent to make sure that your child gets the best education he can get so that he dosen’t grow up and be a drain on society.

No, I don’t agree that ADHD is not a real diagnosis (I have it!) I do think that she is right about not including us in regular classrooms. Not be cause we disrupt non-ADHD kids, but because we learn differently. We learn in what I call flashpoints. We learn in segments rather than learning in whole linear progressions. Regular classroom teaching is just too boring to us and unproductive. It’s not that we can’t learn; they can’t teach us properly.

We have the ability to grasp concepts and analyze them in a more circular way than non-ADHD people. While we have jumped from Step A to Step D without having to consciously tackle Steps B and C, non-ADHDers have to go from A to B to C to D. That’s just to slow for us and boring.

Almost all ADHDers have above average intelligence, usually in the gifted to genius range. There is another theory about ADD that is called Hunter/Farmer. The theory is that people with ADHD decended from the people who were the hunters of a community. They needed to be able to shift focus quickly, hyperfocus when necessary, and then bring the catch back home and be ready to go again. (Sound familiar to the “Hyperactivity” of most of us?) People without ADHD, who have what the author calls Task Switching Deficit Disorder (TSDD), decended from the Farmers of a community who had to be very methodical about planting, keeping check of the time and season, harvesting, thinking ahead and planning.

So whether the teacher thinks ADHD or TSDD is a real diagnosis or not doesn’t matter. What does matter is that she needs to teach children of all learning types. If she feels inadequate to the task, then the child needs a more sympathetic and better trained teacher.

By the way, I’m a member of Mensa, a high IQ society. I graduate from my college Summa *** Laude at the age of 45. My IQ is 147, and I’m a proud member of the Hunters or ADHDers. I don’t consider it a disease; I consider it a gift. I couldn’t imagine sitting day in and day out doing the same thing over and over again. My brain needs more stimulation than that! Tell your child about the advantages of ADHD. There are quite a few!

Good luck

Asha

Your teacher is outdated. she doesn’t want to make the modifications that will help a child with ADHD. it really isn’t all that hard. I myself had ADD with out the hyperactivity and 15 years ago I had the best teacher off all. she knew what to do with me and help me succeed. ADHD is a real diagnosis. I don’t believe that as many children that are given medication really need it but ADHD is real.

ADD and ADHD are indeed real. i believe in full inclusion (all students should be educated in a general education classroom with 2 teachers: one gen. ed. and one special ed.)

AND this teacher has major inconsistencies… if it’s not real, then the student is “normal,” so why would you remove the student from the classroom? that makes no sense.

as with most disabilities, ADD and ADHD are individual cases and have different severities. either way, all people with such a disability can learn to live with it in the real world and in a gen ed classroom.