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| ADHD News and Information Home > ADHD Articles 1998>May | ||
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HAPPY ANNIVERSARY !!! This issue marks the first Year of our newsletter!! I think this is FANTASTIC! Living with ADD/ADHD goes beyond what any book Or seminar can teach us. I believe that we take what The professionals tell us about Attention Deficit Disorder and then adapt it, and modify it to fit OUR personal needs as we apply it to our lives. I also believe that no book or video could possibly prepare us for some of the obstacles that many of us are faced with. I can't remember ever reading a book that told me that when it came time to get my son an education, that I would be dealing with professionals who knew and cared so little about the needs of children who have ADD, and nobody told me that at the age of 5, my son would be arrested. Never in my life could I have ever imagined that It would be so hard to get my son what I felt every Child was entitled to, a proper education and medical help. Sharing our Experiences help others by giving them new ideas On how to help those they love, and every success Story encourages someone else to take control and to advocate For their child.
I'd like to share a success story that I received recently that Not only shows what a little knowledge of your rights can do, But also, how invaluable all of you are to this website. Your Willingness to share through email, chat rooms and message Boards have made a difference in the lives of many readers. Dear Brandi, I would just like to thank all of you for your support. I received a lot of support through Email as well as this board. I took a copy of law 504 to the meeting ( which I copied off this site) and wow!! what a different attitude I got from the school. They were willing to do anything to comply with whatever I wanted. So, I demanded special Ed for Mark, and We held him back in the same grade for next year. We also let them know that we knew they weren't following accommodations already in place and to our surprise the principle told us he was having great difficulty getting the teachers to follow it and also told us of an incident where a teacher was sued for 15,000 dollars for refusing to follow the accom..!! Wow!! what a difference being informed makes. I just hope they follow through this time. Mark also was disqualified in sports because of his inability to make the grades, they principle assured us yesterday that Mark will be playing Football (his favorite sport) next year with guidelines that Mark can follow and only if the accommodations are followed. So if he doesn't make it due to accommodations being followed, he can still play. We also made Mark's schedule for next year and placed him in special ed. which they fully cooperated with, without further testing!!!! finally...but I know that this might not be the end of the fight and I'm am taking all you advise and writing down everything , documenting and keeping copies of all conversations and transactions made between the school and us , just in case we have to take this further...Thanks again to all of you for your support *hugs*,,,, I'll keep you all updated!!!!! Valerie Valerie Reese sreese@tc3net.com
Please know that every time you share a story, Respond to an email, or message on a message Board or forum, that you are helping somebody. Thank you for making the internet, as well as my Web page, such a successful one for all those Who travel through cyberspace. Brandi
Summer is right around the corner and already the Requests for summertime activities and travel Ideas are coming in. Also, any ideas for Summer camps that work with ADHD, ODD And Bi-polar children would be greatly Appreciated. If you have any suggestions Or ideas, please send them too me so that I can Share them in the next newsletter. You can reach Me at <a href="http://www.adhdnews.com/contact_us.htm">Contact Us</a>.
New listserv information for TEENS! My thanks to Carol for sharing this information!
ADDTeens is now up and running!!!! If you know of teens who would enjoy a listserv conversation with other ADDTeens, please let them know. Here are the instructions: Send a message to listproc@lists.missouri.edu with nothing in the subject line, in the body of the message put subscribe ADDTeens-l 'your address' 'your name' you will need to substitute your email address and your name where it says your address and your name. You will receive instructions when you first subscribe, save these it will answer all your questions. ADD/ADHD and Insurance Companies My wife and I find your newsletter helpful with the day-to-day dealings with our ADHD 7 yr old son. We are seeing a Pediatric psychiatrist, out of network, in order to have our son's medications monitored and for indiv. and family counseling. The insurance company, since this is an out of network case, is requiring a deductible of $500 then a 70-30 split. The problem arose when after we sent in the claim forms, his charge of $140 a visit, we were informed that the "allowable" charge for this service is ONLY $60!! I will enclose the response that I sent to the insurance company. I filed a grievance to have the allowable raised from $60. We were denied!! Small wonder. We are going to appeal this ruling, but we appeal it to the insurance company, I mean is it possible they will say that they are wrong! Thank you for letting me vent a little bit, maybe you can give me some ideas on what to fight these people with, it would be much appreciated! Jeff Shanker jshanker@concentric.net - home In this month's column I'd like to address two controversial issues about ADHD that I've seen circulating on the Internet.
Before beginning I'd like to invite you to request a free trial to the electronic newsletter I publish called ADHD RESEARCH UPDATE. The newsletter is designed to help parents stay informed about new research on ADHD and ADD. To receive several samples just mail to addhelp@mindspring.com and type "sample issues" in the subject line. **IS RITALIN LINKED TO SUBSTANCE ABUSE?** Recently, there have been reports in the media and on the Internet about a new study that reportedly shows that children who receive Ritalin are more likely to become cocaine abusers as adults. Understandably, this has been quite worrisome to many parents.
To my knowledge the study has not yet been published, so it is not possible to comment directly on what was found. It is important to note, however, that what is being reported is quite inconsistent with previously published research on this issue.
I am not aware of ANY published research which shows that treatment with Ritalin promotes substance abuse. As best I can surmise, there continues to be some uncertainty about whether ADHD alone, in the absence of any co-occurring condition such as conduct disorder, major depression, or bipolar disorder, actually increases the risk of later substance abuse. Some studies seem to indicate that it may, while the results of other studies suggest that increased rates of substance abuse among individuals with ADHD are better attributed to the other difficulties that often go along with ADHD, rather than to ADHD itself.
It is well known that children who develop conduct disorder are at substantially greater risk to become substance abusers, and, children with ADHD are at significant risk to develop this behavioral disorder. One of the most critical things parents can do to promote their child's long term success is to help prevent the development of secondary problems such as conduct disorder. Making sure that a child's primary ADHD symptoms are being managed well can be critically important in accomplishing this, and medication can play an important role in the management of these symptoms for many children.
When the study noted above is published, I will certainly get back to you with what is actually reported. In the interim, if your child is doing well on medication, the rumors that have been circulating would not seem like a good reason to stop. As always, consultation with your child's physician on such important matters is strongly recommended. Another topic I've seen making the rounds lately concerns the use of fatty acids as a treatment for ADHD. This is apparently being promoted by a company on the Internet and several studies are cited that are suggested to provide support for this treatment.
I recently took a look at two of these supportive studies. One study was titled "Essential Fatty Acid Metabolism in boys with ADHD", and it appeared in the Oct. 95 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. This seemed like a well done study, and the authors reported that boys with ADHD had lower levels of fatty acids in their blood than other boys. In a second study on this issue, it was reported that boys with lower levels of fatty acids were rated as having more behavior problems and learning problems.
What these results suggest is that low levels of certain types of fatty acids may be correlated with ADHD as well as other behavior and/or learning problems. There is a HUGE leap, however, to go from this statement to asserting that increasing the amount of fatty acids will help with ADHD.
To make this statement requires a whole different type of study in which children with ADHD who are deficient in fatty acids are provided with the necessary supplements, and then show corresponding behavioral improvements. This would need to be done under well controlled conditions where parents, teachers, and children did not know when the supplements were actually being received. This would be required to make sure that any apparent benefits were not simply "placebo effects".
To my knowledge such a demonstration has not yet been done. Until that time, it is really a leap to suggest that fatty acid supplements can be an effective treatment. I understand that these supplements are fairly expensive and I certainly think that caution is warranted.
That's all for this month. Please be in touch if you'd like to review samples of ADHD RESEARCH UPDATE. David Rabiner, PhD FEATURING WORLD RENOWNED SPEAKERS
Dr. WILLIAM CROOK M.D. Author of THE YEAST CONNECTION and 13 other books and numerous scientific articles. A Fellow of the American College of Allergy and Immunology, and many other medical organizations.
Dr. MARSHAL MANDELL M.D. Author of the best selling book 5-DAY ALLERGY RELIEF SYSTEM. He is a Fellow of the American College of Allergists, the International Academy for Preventative Medicine, the Society for Clinical Ecology, and the Academy of Orthomolecular Psychiatry. Dr. Mandell received the Gorman Gold Medal for his original research into arthritis and allergies of the nervous system.
Dr. THOM HARTMAN P.h.D Author of best sellers HEALING ADD, ADD A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE, ADD SUCCESS STORIES & BEYOND ADD. Dr. Hartman is the originator of the Hunter/Farmer hypothesis used to describe ADD.
Dr. REG McDANIAL M.D. Medical Director of the Fisher Institute of Texas and Co Recipient of the American Naturopathic Medical Associations 1996 Top Biochemistry Discovery Award. He is a Medical Researcher with hundreds of published papers in medical journals
Dr. TERRY DORIAN Ph.D. Author of HEALTH BEGINS IN HIM , she is a health researcher, and is considered and expert in the use of whole food for the prevention and cure of degenerative diseases. She was recently featured on the 700 club
JANE HERSEY THE FEINGOLD ASSOCIATION Author of WHY DOES MY CHILD MISBEHAVE ,Director of the Feingold Association. She is an expert in the field of nutrition and how dyes and chemicals in our food effect our bodies and our health.
Dr. HOWARD PEIPER Author of ADD THE NATURAL APPROACH , AND ADD THE DIET BOOK. . Dr. Peiper is a naturopath with an expertise of helping ADD patients.
DONALD TURK L.C.S.W. Mr. Turk is a Therapist and Psychiatric Social Worker with Pinnacle Point Hospital of Little Rock, formerly with National Park Medical Center In Hot Springs Ark. and is a State certified Social Worker Trainer. WHERE - Sponsored by Michele Barker Director of THE A.D.D. SUCCESS GROUP
I have several ADDults that would like a newsletter that specifically addresses the issues Of adults with add/adhd. I would be more than happy to do whatever I can to get a newsletter like this going. My biggest problem has always been getting information
That pertains to addult add/adhd. If the addults would like to contribute information For a newsletter, I'd be glad to put it together, advertise it and distribute it. If you would Like to participate with this newsletter, please write me <a href="http://www.adhdnews.com/contact_us.htm">Contact Us</a>.
Once again I have managed to lose some email…ACK!! I received a piece of email that corrupted my program and I had to go in through dos to delete the message and it totally Wiped out my INBOX of mail. If you sent me email in the past 2 weeks or so and I have Not responded or posted your request, please re-send it and I'll get on it right away.
I want to thank my sponsors for making my site and this newsletter possible. ADDVANCE MAGAZINE, a Magazine for Women and Girls with ADD/ADHD has A great website at http://www.addvance.com. Not only will you find info about their bi-monthly magazine but you'll also find some great resources on add/adhd.
ADD Warehouse has a huge resource of add/adhd related books, toys Behavior modification programs etc. Be sure to check them out at http://www.addwarehouse.com/indexbv.htm
If you would like to be removed from this email list, please send a remove message To remove@ns.net.
I have been down sick with another asthma attack for the last 2 weeks and I am A little bit behind on the website and in getting this newsletter out. I hope to get Caught up this week. Thank you for your patience and understanding. Brandi |
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