Medicalisation of an attitude

[Saluki]

Just been chatting with hubby and it seems that all of the ODD symptoms listed by the OP would have resulted in a parental slap round the lug for both of us.
We both grew up to be responsible and well balanced adults.
Maybe instead of medicating naughty children a slap round the lug instead? (runs off to find tin hat)

 

[MarkF]

I have several family members who work in teaching, and speaking to them, they have come across something similar, CPD - Crap Parenting Disorder.

Grrrr! I have 3 kids, two are angels, happy, kind & considerate, they do well at school and have never been told off in their lives. I have another who is a git, always in trouble and drove his school teachers to despair, there is nothing that the school, nor I, nor his mother have ever been able to do to improve his behaviour, he is a very naughty boy and we can't wait for him to leave home.

 

[swee'pea99]

"...but this was the 1930s, and ADHD hadn't been invented yet...it wasn't an available condition..." Ken Robinson, on positive and negative approaches to 'abnormal behaviour' in children - try about one minute, starting from 15.00..(then you'll want to go back and liisten to the whole thing, because it's brilliant).

 

[Night Train]

My girlfriend's mother taught in an inner city school in the 50's / 60's and recalls teaching the 'dull and backward' class! Not all changes of name and identifying of disorders is daft.

That's the thing.

My condition, fortunately, didn't 'cause upset to others' as such and so was 'hidden' for a long time.
The kids I worked with back then didn't have any more then a simple 'slow at learning' label. Now there are are so many 'labels' and many are a good thing. But some seem to be so finely defined that it becomes ever more difficult to determine just how separate one condition is from another. Are they really different enough to warrant a new label or are they just in the spectrum of an already established condition.

My recent teaching occasionally threw up student lists with huge lists of conditions that I was supposed to be able to take into account when lesson planning. I didn't find it easy to work with at all and there was little support to help me improve on that.

As you say, not all of it is daft, but some might be if it is just to help drug companies make money rather then to help individuals get the support needed.

 

[Night Train]

My girlfriend's mother taught in an inner city school in the 50's / 60's and recalls teaching the 'dull and backward' class! Not all changes of name and identifying of disorders is daft.

That's the thing.

My condition, fortunately, didn't 'cause upset to others' as such and so was 'hidden' for a long time.
The kids I worked with back then didn't have any more then a simple 'slow at learning' label. Now there are are so many 'labels' and many are a good thing. But some seem to be so finely defined that it becomes ever more difficult to determine just how separate one condition is from another. Are they really different enough to warrant a new label or are they just in the spectrum of an already established condition.

My recent teaching occasionally threw up student lists with huge lists of conditions that I was supposed to be able to take into account when lesson planning. I didn't find it easy to work with at all and there was little support to help me improve on that.

As you say, not all of it is daft, but some might be if it is just to help drug companies make money rather then to help individuals get the support needed.

 

[yello]

I like the thread title.

 

[Flying_Monkey]

I remember being told by a friend that the teachers (the teachers, mind) at her school in the 1970s used to refer to the special needs classroom as "the monger hut". I am not sure that everything has got worse. Mind you, I also think ADD, ADHD and ODD are pretty poorly defined and the medicalization of kids who basically don't get on with school, authority or whatever is more about social control than genuine concern for the welfare of children.

 

[Melonfish]

got to remember that today it isn't the fault of the parents or the fault of the child. its always a disorder or some kind and you'll always find some idiot willing to classify it as such...
simply put there just isn't any responsibility and ownership from parents.

 

[cd365]

I have known quite a few children who were diagnosed as ADHD when in reality they were just kids growing up, pushing boundaries, i.e. being naughty. If ADHD had been around when I was a youngster I have no doubt that I would have been diagnosed with it and put on some sort of drug to compensate.

 

[Markymark]

There was a young lad when I used to do keyboard lessons (some 25 years ago) and the kid literally couldn't sit down/concenrate for more than a few seconds. He would just have to stand up and walk around and sit down again. I think even he found it frustrating. Without doubt in my mind, he had some sort of condition similar to ADHD and not just being a 'naughty kid'.

The trouble is these days, genuine conditions exist and with the power of the internet, everybody has it. The amount of people I know who have self-diagnosed cancer (they googled the symtoms) to discover they have nothing of the sort.

My wife struggles with dyslexia. I spoke to someone a few years ago who read up on the symtoms, faked it and got a free computrer from her university. This is ultimately fraud and taking away resources fomr people like my wife who genuinly needs it.

I am no pyshcologist but it is also possible there is a spectrum (like autism) and those that genuinly have this condition can suffer from society not believng them. The trouble with mental health issues is that discovering the true poeple from those who just need some boundaries is difficult.

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

New medical condition observed. KHD:- http://www.cyclechat.net/threads/katies-can-of-worms.134625/

 

[ColinJ]

I found Why French Kids Don't Have ADHD quite interesting! (Actually, the title of the article is misleading because it appears that they do, but only to about half the extent that kids in the USA do.)

 

[vernon]

I disagree with you to a certain extent. I think (and the experience of the teachers in my family and friends would appear to bear out) it has more to do with sharp elbowed middle class parents who don't want to admit that:

1. little Tarquin or Jemima aren't as bright as they've been boasting to their friends; or
2. that they've been too busy to spend time with their children and help with the basics of reading and writing.

The parents insist that there is something 'wrong' with their child, as this excuses their lack of basic parenting. They know enough about the system to be able to ensure their child gets a 'diagnosis' and statemented, and all the additional support.


Unfortuantely, this means that kids who don't have pushy parents but who do have real issues don't get the support that they need, as everyone's focus is on the children of the parents who shout the loudest.

I've learned today that it's not only the middle classes that elbow their way to a diagnosis for their children but also those from the lowest income brackets 'in the know' who discover that a positive diagnosis comes with an attendance allowance or disability living allowance attached which supplements their state benefits.

 

[vernon]

[QUOTE 2535117, member: 45"]And what of those who do have the described problem? Should they not get the recognition because of the scroungers?[/quote]

They should be made to sit on the naughty step until they mend their ways.

 

[craigwend]

it's been around a good amount of time...

I remember the first time I heard it - I thoughts it was made up.

I asked the worker what it meant

' he defies everything his mother says & opposes everything his mother asks',

quite accurate it turned out & the child did quite well when 'another primary caregiver' was in place....

yes it is a real condition; though like all 'conduct disorders' they are only to describe children's conditions...
http://www.gosh.nhs.uk/medical-cond...duct-disorders/conduct-disorders-information/