by Melissa Charles

Created on: July 18, 2008

Are children being over diagnosed with having ADD/ADHD? Absolutely! The question is, why? The answers fit into a couple of different categories:

Parental Issues
Like it or not, disagree vehemently, but there are parents who aren't parenting effectively. This isn't to say that ALL children who have a diagnosis of ADD/ADHD fall under this heading, but there most certainly are some that do.

Children need structure. They need rules, discipline, routine. Children without these things cannot cope or behave in an expected manner, because they're frightened. They don't know what is happening next in their world, they have no boundaries, and act out. Some parents are simply so convinced that the problem can't be them, or the way they parent, they insist that their child must have something organically amiss, and push for a diagnosis. These same parents (again, not all parents by any means) take a diagnosis as a nod to them being right, and then excuse any behaviour by announcing, "Oh, he has ADD/ADHD" as if the child no longer has any behavioural expectations, since they now have a label.

School Issues
School. The single number one reason that any child is slapped with some sort of label. Johnny can't sit in his seat, is fidgeting, talking, playing, he's disruptive, he must be ADD! Did anyone ever stop to consider that Johnny is simply behaving as a normal child? Indeed, a normal MALE child? Studies have shown that boys are more apt to be diagnosed with ADD/ADHD than girls, and yet other studies show that boys are wired to be more active, more fidgety, more in needs of hands on physical activity than the average girl. The problem isn't with the child, its with the expectations of society, and the demands placed on children entering the school system. Young children are not meant to sit still for hours a day. That's simply not how their made, its not natural for them. Their young bodies require activity and motion. Its not a sign of a child who can't manage, its a sign of schools that can't manage typical child behaviour.

I've witnessed and heard of many struggles where a teacher announces to a parent that their child has ADD/ADHD, and demands the child be labelled and medicated. How a teacher became a medical expert, capable of diagnosing a child is beyond my comprehension. There have been cases where a teacher made a child and parent's life difficult with constant pushing for the child to be medicated, with the parent fighting the attempt to label the child, insisting that the child was simply a normal, active boy, that simply needed to adjust to the school setting. That particular situation ended with the child being removed from the school and being home schooled.

How many children are being misdiagnosed because of the demands from the school? Why are schools and teachers getting so much say into a child's medical care?

Nutrition
Instead of diagnosing a child with ADD/ADHD, its time that parents take a look at what their child is eating. Food dyes are a huge culprit when it comes to hyper behaviour. How much processed food is the child eating? How many preservatives and chemicals are in the child's daily food? What may be diagnosed as ADD/ADHD may actually be a food sensitivity or allergy.

Being diagnosed with ADD/ADHD should be a last step, not the first, or goal. There are so many other factors to consider before labelling a child, so many other avenues that should be considered and exhausted. We've become a quick fix society, and this is just one of the symptoms, labelling children with behavioural issues, rather than looking for other answers. Our children deserve better.

Learn more about this author, Melissa Charles.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.