ADHDFamilies

On February 28th 2008 Judge H. Walter Croskey of the Second District Court of Appeals ruled that children from the ages of 6 to 18 may be taught only by credentialed teachers in public or private schools - or by parents at home if, and only if, those parents are accredited instructors.

Judge Croskey cited a California state law which goes back to the 1950’s in his decision.

The ruling has enraged many parents, home school advocacy groups and notable politicians, such as California State Superintendent of instruction Jack O’Connell and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, both of whom are calling for this ruling to be overturned.

Governor Schwarzenegger has gone as afar as to state that “Parents should not be penalized for acting in the best interests of their children’s education. This outrageous ruling must be overturned by the courts and if the courts don’t protect parents’ rights then, as elected officials, we will.”

All of this stems from a child abuse and neglect accusation in which one of 8 children of a Los Angeles Couple filed a complaint of neglect and abuse with the Los Angeles Department of Children and Family Services, who asked the court to order the children to attend a certified scholl so that they could be evaluated for signs of abuse. the first court denied the request, citing that the parents had a constitutional right to home school their children. Judge Croskey disagreed with this ruling as stated in California State Law.
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It looks like big brother is at it again. According to Amy Morton, who runs a blog called “Georgia Women Vote!”, the Georgia state senate has an important and slightly disturbing decision to make. In her post titled “I’m Not So Sure About This“, Amy details a new bill that, if ratified, will require pharmacies to disclose a list of all prescriptions of any Schedule II, III or IV drug to a state-wide permanent law enforcement database.

The bill, titled the Georgia Prescription Monitoring Program Act, at its core is:

…intended to improve the state´s ability to identify and stop diversion of prescription drugs in an efficient and cost-effective manner that will not impede the appropriate medical utilization of licit controlled substances or other licit drugs with potential for abuse while minimizing impact on pharmacy operations.

While this sounds quite benign in overview, I have concerns over both he amount of information collected and who might have access to this information. From what I can gather from the bill itself, the state of Georgia is trying diligently to make sure that only persons who are in real need of this information can get at it, but I’m not sure if that means that they will be logging each and every access to the information, which is a must in my opinion.

The state is also allowing access by anyone who happens to be on the list as well, which seems only fair enough. I know that If I had a question about what medications I had been prescribed were being collected, I would be outraged if I was denied the right to look that information up.

Overall the state of Georgia seems to be implementing every safeguard in its power, but somewhere in the back of my mind I’m still uncomfortable with the idea. If this information were to fall into the wrong hands or even entered into the database incorrectly, someone’s life could be devastated as a result. The following legal backlash could cost the state as well, in numbers that would shock and amaze, I’m certain of that.

In any case, it appears that the state is going through with this act. If so, you may expect to see similar acts passed in your state as well. The only thing I know for sure is that I hope Big Brother really does keep the best interests of his little brothers and sisters in mind this time.

It’s not often that I find a post on this subject that I approve of. Generally when asked about chores or household duties and kids with ADHD too many people feel that the child should be allowed a lot of slack in the process… If they have the child doing anything at all.

I call BULLSH*T! And so does the Mean Mom in her blog post titled “Chores for 13-year-old ADHD Son“.

The fact of the matter is, a 13-year-old child with ADHD should be able to handle almost any or all of the same chores a13-year-old child without ADHD can handle. Something a lot of people often seem to forget is that if you want your child to have any ind of success in his or her life, you need to provide structure. Structure lends a sense of calm, which helps ease distractions. Chores can provide this kind of structure. So can homework, school activities and social functions such as church or regular YMCA trips, among other things.

I think my mother knew this instinctively. My routine as a child on a school day was unforgiving. Up, fed, dressed and off to school. When I got home I was allowed 1 hour to “decompress” from the day doing anything I pleased, then it was homework, my bedroom got cleaned, dinner was served and we helped with the dishes and any household chores were done. After that our time was our own until lights out. This schedule was unwavering, and even though I fought against it for a very long time, I finally just accepted that this was the way things were and dropped into routine. I didn’t know it at the time, but it was comforting for me to know exactly what was going to happen next.

I have carried this need for structure into my adult life. Even to this day I cannot allow myself to deviate from routine or I simple “shiny out” and fail to accomplish the things that I know have to be done during the day. As an adult I thank my mother for the discipline she instilled in me as a child, and your children will one day as well.

Take it from me, they will.

The North Carolina company Play Attention claims that the have created a game that will help persons affected by ADHD have better attention spans. These “feedback driven educational systems” utilize a bicycle-like helmet that measures brainwave activities and allows the wearer to control video games with their thoughts.

the official description of the syste, from the developer’s website is:

Play Attention can be used in the comfort of your home. It is powerful learning system that uses a high-tech helmet to read brain signals indicative of focus or concentration. These brain signals control our computer games. Your mind becomes the mouse or joystick! These games not only teach you to improve focus, but also to ignore distractions, develop memory skills, finish tasks, and become organized. These skills can improve school work, improve self-esteem, and make life at home much happier.

While the company seems to lean towards the side of “Bad Parenting contributing greatly to the severity of ADHD symptoms”, this type of technology is very exciting, as it opens new doorways into the study and treatment of ADD, ADHD and other attention-disrupting diseases. I’m looking forward to researching this topic in greater detail. Their website is chock-full of information and goes far more in-depth than I have time for today, but I am about to pass the information along to a few other sites that will very likely want to cover this topic as well.