Ridiculous

I think I understand where you are coming from. Years back, when no O. was aware of things like ADHD, AS, etc you had a society that had "those people" that were considered "off" or "slow" their whole lives. Many never reached their full potential. I'll bet a lot of us who are adults today, can relate, as I can, to a peer, coworker, etc who clearly exhibits Aspergers (we have an IT guy who completely fits that, but he knows his stuff, does a good job,etc) or the like and it must hav been through extreme perseverance that they have achieved what they have so I know we can all agree that dx is a GOOD thing when it benefits the individual.
BUT (and I may get flack for this--that's OK) I do think that parents are HYPER sensitive to any quirky behavior exhibited in their child and are very quick to jump on the ADHD/AS bandwagon.
IMO, all kids have "issues" some more severe than others and NO kid fits the "typical" label perfectly.
I'm always blown away by the moms of infants & toddlers that freak out because their child doesn't "show enough eye contact" or "lines his little cars up in a row" and are panicky about autism.
I feel that society, as a whole, has the mentality of wanting a magic pill...if this happens, give them this and ALL BETTER which we all know is not the case in reality. So, yes, I see what you are getting at.
I think it's part of a larger trend in this society to "put a label on it" be it typical or autistic, conservative or liberal, etc.....

I am also a medical professional and do agree with you. I think in many cases labeling kids sets them up to be different and not fully accepted by their peers. I am fairly certain that some of the kids in elementary school whom we all just accepted as 'following their own drummer' would arrive at school today with a tidy list of diagnoses and medication. And I suspect for some of them, this would have prevented them from pursuing a full college and/or arts education and reaching their potential.

On the other hand, it seems that a 'diagnosis' is in many cases necessary for kids to receive accommodations that they may need (in many cases additional one on one time or more advanced or different work that in the past a teacher would simply have provided because that was how they taught - teaching each child as each child required, not teaching to some 'universal test'). So I do see a point there.

I have adhd, I have a son with AS, and a dd with adhd and dyslexia issues. For us, diagnosis has been an ENORMOUSLY positive thing. Medication, not so much.

Learning about the specifics of our individual issues has helped us learn how to cope, how to adapt, and how to recognize when we need help. It's also taught us how to highlight our unique strengths.

Dd may need some medication, and we're looking into it. But I am mostly a very, very big fan of diagnosis!

I've been thinking the same way for a while. My oldest has autism, and he is in pain. We've been working to alleviate that pain, with some pretty dramatic results up to now. That has not taken away his quirks... he is just more free to indulge in them! Some of the people we're working with want to help him lose those quirks. But if he was not diagnosed with autism, they would be called gifts, and they would be finding ways to strengthen his abilities in those areas.

Messed up. All kinds of messed up.

I have read about teenagers and adults on the autistic spectrum who do not want to be "fixed." They like themselves the way they are. I'm sure we're talking about the people with "quirks" here, not those whose daily lives are severely debilitated. Steven Spielberg has Asbergers, I believe. I'm glad he wasn't therapied out of "Star Wars"!!!! After I started thinking about the autism spectrum in particular, I realized that I have known many people who, if you look hard enough, would probably be on it. Hell, I might be on the autism spectrum and be extremely highly functioning!! Anyway, I'm rambling now but the point is, I think increased awareness (of say, mental illness in children and teens) naturally leads to increased diagnosis. Like you, I just hope that we're not squashing all the creative free thinkers in the world because they'll be scared to be "different."

Well if the GOAL of dx, therapy, and meds is to help a child lead the best, fullest life possible I am all for it.

But the very definition of 'quality of life' various from family to family. We all have different goals for our children.

I am very pleased that 'help' is now out there for any family that chooses it, but I also admire families who choose to just let their kids be who their kids are.

Does that make any sense?

An excellent, thought provoking post.

:)

It really depends on teh "condition" I guess. I think if a behavior/issue/trait interferes with your ability to succeed in what you need to do - care for self, make friends, cope socially, or progress in school - that is when you need intervention. So, if you succeed in all these areas, but are a bit quirky, then no I don't see a reason to diagnose and medicate.

I also think that some medical professionals and parents jump to medicaiton before trying other theraputic techniques - cognitive skills training, a different classroom environment, etc. I think we DO try to force kids into traditional molds. Even healthy "normal" kids don't get the individual attention they need for their special needs in our school systems. Sometimes a LABEL is the only way some kids get attention from the public school world. That is a shame. However, I have no doubt that sometimes, a label is important and helpful to get everyone on the same page and talking the same language. Likewise, I am sure in many cases psychopharmaceuticals are really important and helpful to some cases.

It's unfortunate that you see academic "molds" as being "medicate or get out of the way" b/c that's quite far from the truth.

What I have experienced from a school standpoint is that many children are over-medicated by their parents long before they get to school. You wouldn't believe the number of kids entering Kindergarten "on something". I am also finding that parents are unwilling to accept "average" as being okay. Everyone wants their kid to be top-of-the-class and many parents are looking to get their children into special education services (including completely inappropriate diagnoses) to get testing accommodations on the SAT. I am perpetually amazed by the number of children who "develop" ADD in 8th grade b/c the SAT Board has said that they will not grant testing accommodations in 10th grade unless the child has had the accommodations for two consecutive school years.

"Struggle" is not the same thing as "failing". "Quirky" isn't the same thing as "dysfunctional". "Different learning style" is not the same thing as "Learning Disabled". For children who are failing, non-functioning and/or disabled... they benefit from the "diagnoses" and many times the medication. For kids who are struggling, quirky and different... they need to be accepted and understood.

A good system of communication between home and school that is based in honesty and reality can easily differentiate between the two. When someone "holds out" or is not completely honest (unfortunately it is usually the parent), the system breaks-down and kids are inappropriately addressed in either direction.

I'm with you. I posted something about this forever ago and WHOA did the claws come out!! If someone is different, whether they're bigger, smaller, smarter, slower, WHATEVER, no, in my opinion, it's so sad that people rush out to figure out 'what's wrong'... NOTHING'S wrong, they're just DIFFERENT. That's what makes the world go 'round, our differences. How boring would life be if everyone was the same? Play into your differences, be unique, stand proud of what stands you out from the rest.

Like you, I'm not downplaying real, genuine medical issues... but everything that is, does not need a medical diagnosis to go with it.

I wrote a "book" on your other question but agree with you mostly here.

We homeschool, quite successfully, for the very reasons you describe. It's not something I ever thought I would do (I have a graduate degree myself) but it has worked wonderfully for my sons.

I do think medication is appropriate in certain situations - just not to the degree that it is employed today. I also think we've barely scratched the surface in identifying the underlying causes of certain behaviors and difficulties (rather than simply masking the symptoms).

But, imho, a small segment of the population doesn't justify the R&D, and manufacturing, and marketing costs of mega pharma. Therefore we broaden the eligibility criteria.

That's my cynicism showing . . . sorry.

I 100% agree with you. I think we take diagnoses WAY too far. I think diagnoses are made way too often and in lots of cases, way too early. Putting a label on something stuffs it into the perameters of said label, which can actually make certain mental and behavioral conditions much, much worse. I blame parents, not the medical community.

I too want to say that some conditions are very real. I firmly believe that my older brother suffered with ADD through his life, and maybe other things, because he just never could learn. Schools passed him along until it was just too late. By the time he was in high school he was so far behind that he had to drop out. No one ever helped him. Now he is a struggling adult. If someone HAD labeled him, perhaps he could have gotten the help he obviously needed.

I struggle with clinical depression and take meds every day. That is a very real medical condition.

However, my daughters- I don't rush them in for diagnoses every time I see a behavior or a developmental delay. Kids are so different and do things at different times.