The Writings of
R . B r i a n
C l a r d y
Conservative Politics and Common
Sense... Imagine the Possibilities!
Educating Special Education, Part FourIn December, 2003, the somewhat reputable USA Today ran a story on the front page of its Life section which began with the sentence, “If you want to know what’s wrong and what’s right with Kenneth Nessing, just look at his resume.” They then listed his accomplishments: an associate’s degree in 1986, a bachelor’s degree in 2002, a law-school applicant in 2003. They listed his employment: musician, radio reporter, public relations, human resources. The problem Nessing had, which affected his ability to stay in school or hold a job? He had the adult version of Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).A BrianClardy.Com continuing series discussing the education of special needs children. In today’s political climate, it is unfortunate but true that special needs children are used as political pawns on both the right and the left to accomplish whatever budgetary needs they may have. What is necessary, but infrequently occurs, is common sense applied to this particular dilemma even while frequent studies are performed and innumerable millions of dollars wasted in pointless research that accomplishes little except to confirm the common sense methodology which should be used to confront and deal with these problems.
USA Today even included a little text box that offered to help a reader self-diagnose themselves and see if they were suffering from the disease. The questions? “How often do you have trouble wrapping up the final details of a project, once the challenging parts have been done?” “How often do you have difficulty getting things in order when you have to do a task that requires organization?” “How often do you have problems remembering appointments or obligations?” “When you have a task that requires a lot of thought, how often do you avoid or delay getting started?” “How often do you fidget or squirm with your hands or feet when you have to sit down for a long time?” “How often do you feel overly active and compelled to do things, like you were driven by a motor?” The questionnaire advises that if “you checked ‘sometimes,’ ‘often’ or ‘very often’ four or more times, you might want to talk to a psychologist or physician about being evaluated for ADHD.” If I was a psychologist, I would have taken a big ad out on the facing page to help these people – heck, to even help myself, since I answered “sometimes” to all of them, as I’m sure any honest adult would too.
Now, true, this is supposed to deal with the education of children diagnosed with ADHD, but the symptoms and tests for ADHD are as vague for children as they are for adults. How is it that we are in a society that deems this sort of behavior as permissible and beyond the personal responsibility for the child or adult? Whatever happened to teaching personal responsibility? Russell Barkley, a professor of psychiatry at the Medical University of South Carolina insists that people like me are “‘naïve.’ The difference between the majority of adults and those with ADHD is one of degree, Barkley says. ‘These symptoms occur among these people far more frequently than they do among the rest of us.’” It is naïve to think that these adults, like the children similarly diagnosed with ADHD, are simply not taught proper behavioral strategies.
I’m sure that Barkley would call this naïve, but a counterpart of his, similarly quoted in the USA Today article, suggests that being taught the proper behavior has an effect. “Perhaps half of children with ADHD will continue to have symptoms as adults, researchers say. However, adults usually outgrow the hyperactivity that’s often part of ADHD, especially in boys. ‘No adult, no matter how hyperactive, climbs on top of their desk,’ says Lenard Adler, director of the Psychiatry and Neurology Adult ADHD Program at the New York University School of Medicine.” This is the first place where the logic of the mental disease breaks down: if you can outgrow it, how bona fide a mental disease is it? You don’t outgrow other mental diseases like autism or dyslexia, although you can be taught methods and procedures that help to correct for these deficiencies. So why is it that ADHD is given such a free pass when it comes to these sorts of diagnoses?
Of course, ADHD statistics help to keep this awful chain going forward. According to the article, “ADHD tends to run in families, and parents ‘will be sitting through the evaluation of their child, and they’ll realize, “Gee, those are the same symptoms I had as a child,”’ Adler says, adding that not all parents realize they still have them.” The fact is, if a child is not taught proper behavior and discipline measures by their own parents, the likelihood of them having unruly children is also, logically, higher.
Of course, USA Today, like much of the media, is complicit in a society which doesn’t like to accept responsibility for their own actions. ADD/ADHD creates a convenient excuse for the parent to not have to discipline their child, and for the adult to get a lesser standard applied to them because they’re “different.”
The diagnosis of ADHD has increased as our society’s willingness to accept personal responsibility has decreased. This increase in ADHD isn’t some random coincidence; it is an excuse.
This commentary discusses the article “Not Just Kids Are Getting Diagnosed as New Treatment Emerges” and the corresponding text box that accompanied this article on the first page of the Life section in the December 9, 2003, USA Today.
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