Life coach wonders if ADHD is contagious
Ronit Baras is a life coach and author of the book “Be Special, be Yourself for Teenagers“. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Education, and she gives every indication of believing that most kids with ADHD not only do not have a disorder at all, but that their disruptive behavior can be treated simply by letting these children “move around more”.
I not only completely disagree with Miss Baras on the previous point, but I take contention with several other statements she makes in her blog entry titled “ADHD Must Be Contagious“. Allow me to point out my specific objections.
…the definition of ADHD is so broad that almost every person in the world can be described as having attention deficit disorder at a curtain stage in life.
The same can be said of depression or anxiety, yet there does not seem to be a major run on drug companies for anti-anxiety medications. (At least not currently, they were prescribed widely in the early to middle 20th century, mostly to housewives.)
ADHD is a business. There is a lot of money in ADHD for the pharmaceutical companies, so they have a great interest in promoting it.
This is a valid point, but the fact remains that pharmaceutical companies are not responsible for prescribing these medications. That is the doctor’s bailiwick and if a problem exists, it lies with physicians and psychiatrists, not manufacturers.
… If a kid can concentrate one hour while doing something they love, but only 30 seconds doing something they hate, they do not have a concentration problem.
This is complete chaff. My stepson has severe ADHD and his brothers have mild to sever cases. Each of them can concentration any topic that stimulates mental activity for indefinite amounts of time. Regardless of whether that topic is a video game or math homework. Boredom and confusion are the enemy of concentration in an ADHD child, not lack of intelligence or willingness to learn, apply ones self or excel.
Miss Baras also points fingers at parents, stating that they would rather have a scapegoat “disorder” to label their children with than to actually accept responsibility for behavioral issues. While this may be true in some cases, i cannot believe that most parents don’t still manage to feel guilt and responsibility regardless. I know I did. I was the one that passed ADHD along to my kids, and that it is now my responsibility to teach them the skills necessary to cope with it.
I will refrain from stating any more of my own opinions on this particular article. I’ll leave it to you, the reader to make up your mind on the subject.
Portions of this article cited from:
Baras, B. (2008, 02, 08). ADHD Must Be Contagious. Retrieved February 11, 2008, from Be Special, Be Yourself Web site: http://www.ronitbaras.com/index.php/focus-on-the-family/parenting-family/adhd-must-be-contagious/
7 Comments, Comment or Ping
Melissa
“but that their disruptive behavior can be treated simply by letting these children “move around more”.
My son pretty much moves nonstop, even while asleep - I don’t see how I can encourage him to move more. What a silly statement.
“If a kid can concentrate one hour while doing something they love, but only 30 seconds doing something they hate, they do not have a concentration problem.”
Obviously the author hasn’t heard of the phrase “hyperfocus” - you know, it is one of the hallmarks of ADHD.
Thank you for picking apart the article. :)
Feb 11th, 2008
Ronit Baras
I’m sure there are kids with ADHD, I have met them myself, though, most coming for an assesment are not really with ADHD. I met a girl this weekend, she couldn’t sit for a second, but what do you know, we sat together with a puzzle ( it was hard for her, really hard) but she sat there for a whole hour. Sometimes, we just need to find that thing that stimulates them the right way. if the attention span is “selective” it is not ADHD.
I agree, that the pharmaceutical companies are not giving the medication to the kids, but, if you are a doctor, the pharmaceutical companies have a system to get a new medication into your office. They did experiments that they must send the doctor info/samples/ email/ brochure every 3 weeks ( on the dot) to make sure the doctor will remember that medication. so in a sense they are responsible. I don’t blame them for doing it, they probably think they are doing the right thing ( for themselves) but I’m not sure it is good for us, parents and I’m not talking about ADHD medication, I mean any medication.
by the way, they do have many Anti -anxiety medication in a form of Anti- depressant and kids in the last 10 years are getting more and more medication, especaily in the early years.
Most of the “ADHD” kids are kids that experience the world through movment. If they learn math through jumping, they learn it better and faster. if you ask them to sit down and… this is the mistake, thay can’t! they move around, they play with their hands, they bounce in their chair and click on their pens, nothing is wrong with them, their main problem is that from an early stage, it is so hard for parents and teachers ( I know, I’m a parent and teacher) that they give them the feeling there is somthing wrong with them. we form our identity based on what people arond us tell us about ourselves. They really don’t have a chance against this. They will grow to be kids that something is wrong with them.
I do not recomment guilt as a solution ( I’m a life coach - guilt is poision) I recomend believing there is a solution, I don’t call it cure, it is not a sickness, it is a different way to expereice the world that is not easy for the majority. The solution we need is to allow those kids to be themselves without making it so hard for others around them.
There is a way to find the balance.
Good luck in finding the solution.
“Seek and ye shell find”
Happy day
Ronit Baras
http://www. ronitbaras.com
Feb 11th, 2008
koshka
I cannot help but find it ironic that you have a degree in journalism and have attached your name to such an atrociously written post. Just because you are posting something on-line does not mean you should allow your writing to deteriorate. Honestly, I would have given your words more consideration if I had not been so disappointed by the quality of communication coming from someone whom is (supposedly) well educated.
That being said, there are a few points of yours that I would like to discuss:
1) As far as I can tell, you have told us that if a child diagnosed with ADHD is able to sit still for an hour whilst working on an enjoyable activity, then he or she does not really have ADHD. Speaking as a young adult who has been diagnosed with ADHD and has worked with and observed people of all ages also diagnosed ADHD, I can tell you from personal experience, that those of us with ADHD can sit and work on something that doesn’t quite catch our interest through sheer force of will. You observed that “it was hard for [the child], really hard.” This is because it can be very difficult for those with ADHD to immerse themselves in uninteresting subjects.
You also claim that “if the attention span is ‘selective’ [the child does not have] ADHD.” You seem to forget that ADHD manifests itself differently in everyone affected by it. When I was evaluated for ADHD, I briefly spoke to my psychologist about some of these manifestations concerning focus. He told me that for some people, it is exhibited as an inability to control when and how much they hyperfocus or hypofocus. In case you forgot, hyperfocusing is essentially an intensive concentrative state on a certain subject or activity or, in your own words, “the attention span is ‘selective.’” This is a symptom of ADHD.
2) The amount of advertisements pharmaceutical companies send to doctors is mostly irrelevant. Each doctor decides which ads he or she will read and which ads he or she will ignore. Saying that doctors are so easily influenced by strategic marketing campaigns is equivalent to saying parents will supply their children with alcohol or tobacco because of the advertisements unleashed upon us by those respective companies..
3) With the way the education systems are set up in the world today, we must have some form of regulation upon the general classroom. Yes, it would be terribly lovely if every child had an independent education plan, but that neither economical nor possible, as there would have to be at least one teacher per student. With this point, we must understand that the group as a whole must benefit as much as possible. Allowing each child to learn his or her own special way would lead to the breakdown of classroom stability and, due to the lack of regulation, the degradation of communication between people who have studied the same subject. Thus, we must accept that the world is not perfect and that we must make sacrifices, so the whole benefits just as much as the individual does.
With this understanding, we must now move on and accept that there will always be an outside influence shaping one’s identity; that is part of being human and participating in society. It is generally accepted that if you fall far outside a norm, then there is more than likely something wrong with you. Without this, almost all psychologically based sciences would be gone.
4) When Jerry said, “[he could not] believe that most parents don’t still manage to feel guilt and responsibility regardless,” he was not implying that you “reccoment [sic] guilt as a solution.” Instead, he was trying to say that, while yes, there are some parents who are looking for an easy way out of accepting the consequences for their poor parenting techniques/abilities, the vast majority of parents (including those that have accepted their children’s behavior disorders) still feel responsible for their children.*
5) ADHD is as much of an illness as anxiety disorders, mood disorders and, hell, even eating disorders are. Claiming otherwise, especially when there is solid proof that ADHD is caused by abnormal brain activity, is undermining the scientific community. Like many mental health disorders, there is no true cure for ADHD there is only treatment.
6) I do enjoy how you moved from proclaiming every child is cherished due to the distinctive ways he or she experiences and interacts with the world to speaking of children with ADHD as a particular bane upon society: “The solution we need is to allow those kids to be themselves without making it so hard for others around them.” This fantastic, backhanded compliment of yours tells me that you are less concerned with helping those diagnosed with ADHD cope with society than you are with helping society put up with them.
Ms. Ronit Baras, from this response alone I have deduced that you are quite misinformed on the subject of ADHD. Your logic is dodgy and your apparent inability to communicate in a coherent manner is more than likely indicative of your general lack of knowledge concerning the subject.
*If I am wrong about this, could you please clarify what you had meant?
Feb 13th, 2008
koshka
Melissa,
I know you said that your son is the human equivalent of a perpetual motion machine, and, thus, you find the suggestion to “move around more” laughable, but I am curious as to whether or not he is involved in a sport. I only ask, because I know that there is a big difference between constructive movement and non-constructive movement (i.e. giving him a structured amount of time, like a practice, to focus his energy toward a goal, as opposed to “setting him loose” for the same amount of time). Personally, I swam competitively (year-round) for 12 years. Swimming engaged my body and my mind, it gave me a goal and a means to get there, and because the practices were mentally and physically demanding my (at the time undiagnosed) ADHD was kept at a manageable level.
Do you think something like that would be beneficial for him or have you already tried it?
Feb 13th, 2008
Lauren
In response to Ronit’s comment-
As a sufferer of ADHD myself, I cannot tell how often I hear remarks similar to yours, and it makes me furious. The biochemistry of ADHD is such that the frontal lobe requires constant stimulation from the outside, as it does not receive enough dopamine. In practice, this means that only a deeply satisfying activity can provide this stimulation. For those who do not suffer from the disorder, a lack of interest or short-term gratification do not serve as inhibitors; the long-term payoff is adequaTE (long term goals, avoidance of punishment, etc). For sufferers of ADHD, even the knowledge of negative consequence is not enough to ward off the necessity to have instant gratification, meaning an uninteresting activity, even if necessary, can not be fulfilled. A key term of ADHD is “self-deception” meaning that even the knowledge of significant consequence and future suffering can be eradicated by “deception” in place of an activity that provides that gratification, that missing dopamine. So please don’t go pretending that you understand this disease, don’t judge those of us who have to struggle everyday to function as you do, and be grateful you can sit and do whatever it is you need to do without 90% more effort than necessary. It’s incredibly ignorant.
Apr 7th, 2008
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