Catholic author, John Rosemund, was once a willing and active participant in what he now calls the ADHD Establishment. He readily and frequently dispensed the diagnosis of ADHD and its standard medications at the behest of parents and teachers, but now considers himself "reformed and repentant" regarding his former opinions.
In his book, The Diseasing of America's Children, Rosemund attempts to enlighten and empower parents by taking on the Establishment, exposing what he believes are myths which have led to excessive diagnosis and overmedication. He argues that no definitive biological basis has been discovered that would qualify ADHD [or its sister diagnoses of ODD (oppositional defiant disorder), EOBD (early onset biploar disorder), or PDD (pervasive developmental disorder)], as disease, yet they are given the status of disease. All diagnoses are purely symptomatic and the list of "symptoms" easily applies to a large segment of the population, particularly most boys under age 10 and nearly every toddler regardless of gender! Yet, this list remains the primary justification for medicating an extreme number of increasingly younger children.
Rosemund's arguments are detailed and convincing, citing numerous studies but, not surprisingly, I was on his side before I read it, so I wasn't exactly a hard-sell! In my admittedly limited experience as mother and teacher, I have seen wonders worked in "diagnosed" children by the simple application of clearly enforced boundaries, gracious discipline and high expectations. In the author's wider realm of experience, the removal of ADHD-inducing behaviors (regular TV and video game-playing) has also had profound effects on many children, in reducing or eliminating "symptoms."
He advocates significant environmental and philosophical shifts in parenting and education that will "cure" the "disease" in a vast majority of cases, and he provides substantial anecdotal evidence to corroborate his claims.
Mr. Rosemund addresses the issues intelligently, but not without considerable, and potentially misplaced, dogmatism, so if you choose to read the book, be prepared! He treats his recommendations for parents as absolute values when they might simply represent some of several effective, reasonable solutions. His traditional, no-nonsense approach to parenting might produce a desired behavioral result, but may not be the most Biblical approach and should therefore be modified accordingly.
Having said that, I still think this book should be required reading for every teacher and for parents of any child who has been diagnosed with ADHD, ODD, EOBD or PDD, as an alternative approach to medications whose long-term effects have yet to be determined.
Check it out.
5 comments:
Mixed reaction on my part--I have read other John Rosemond books that I thought were great. His faith shone through those books, even if he was an establishment psychologist. I generally had the opinions that he now comes to, but later in life went the other way. Tried the meds, found them helpful, but maybe not "necessary." Yet, I still believe there is some neurological component to the condition.
That being said, it sounds like a great book to balance out everything else that is out there.
Rosemund maintains that there MAY be a biological basis, but contends that it has not yet been found, so all "treatmeents" are experimental. He also believes that there are REAL and legitimate neurological disorders...but that it's simply not as rampant as we are being led to believe. The stats he gives comparing American children to the rest of the world are startling. This seems to be an American phenomenon (that is, the spike in these "disorders").
What other books of his have you read? I read Family of Value, but that's it.
Side note on labeling things "disease": the Sec of Transportation at the "Distracted Driving Summit" said America is facing an "epidemic" of the "disease" of cell phone use while driving. Bad habits are a disease now? Who knew?
Using the disease model for every problem we have goes against the way I think, so it took a good while for me to consider a medical approach to care for our eldest. That being said, we haven't continued it for a variety of reasons.
I read bits and pieces of several books on ADHD from the library, and they all seemed to be saying the same thing, and the behavior descriptions in most of them were far worse anything I had personally experienced.
I borrowed a book from another mom called, Healing ADD, the Breakthrough Program that Allows Your to See and Heal 6 Types of ADD, by Daniel Amen. Amen sees ADD as truly biologically based, and he is famous for his brain imaging science. However, he doesn't believe that all ADD needs to be treated with medicine. He talks a lot about discipline and boundaries, diet, exercise, and supplements.
I have to say that our experience is that physical exercise makes a huge difference. If you can find a way to really improve sleep, that helps a lot, too.
Jennifer, that's exactly the sort of recommendations that Rosemund makes. His top three life-changes involve diet, boundaries and limiting media.
I'd be interested to talk sometime about what all you've tried and experienced with #1 son.
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