It sounds both scary and heart breaking.

I keep wodnering why these problems are SO rampant now, when they weren't when I was a child. I think one kid in my class had a near impossible time sitting still, being quiet and doing his work. It was clear it was a struggle for him. There were a couple kids who seemed low energy, but it was easy to see they were neglected, and probably malnourished.

I live in an area where I'm told we have the highest increasing rate of autism. When I was a kid, I don't recall word of anyone having a child that needed to be institutionalized, or that wasn't "right".

So I'm concerned that our environment has changed so much, that genes are being turned on, that weren't before. I live in an area of the province that is surrounded by farmland, where everyone sprays their lawn with chemical fertilizers and pesticides, where everybody is eating meats, eggs and milk containing levels of hormones and antibiotics that was virtually unheard of before, children consume things with artificial dyes and genetically modified foods like wheat (thanks Namaste) and peanut butter. I know there's a controversy regarding vaccines, and I don't have a position on those except that it's just one more thing on an extremely long and growing list of chemicals our bodies take in that we didn't have to when I was a child.

if I consider just how bombarded we are by chemicals (even when it's someone like me who hates to take pills, and has a tremendous fear and respect for those chemicals meant to 'screw" with our brain chemistry) I don't know how we DON'T show some kind of organic difficulty with SOME organ in our body, yanno?

So I'm all for looking at environment before looking to pharmaceuticals.

(wow, sorry its such a long rant)

It seems to me that Society is creating this enviroment. My daughters mom has had her in counseling and on medication since she was old enough to walk. The funny thing is she only is getting worst. She is 15 now and her behavior breaks my heart. I dated a person for seven years and when I talk to her I'm often remind that when we were together my daughter never caused any problems when I would have her for extended amounts of time, and that we never gave her medication during her stays. reminds I'm also reminded that her daughter went on to college and is living a healthy life and has never needed medicine or counseling during time we were together.
Her daughter never disrespected me in seven years because her mother set guidlines and diciplines she stuck by. On the other hand my daughter has been managed by medication. It makes it really difficult for me to help my daughter, I am now left to consider gaining sole custody of her for her remaining three years in school to see if I can make a difference having her in my home.
I do however absolutely believe that medication and counseling is needed in some extreme cases, but only after multiple diagnosis has been taken first.

I do know the rise in Autistic children has been linked to the number of women having children later in life, many with the help of fertility drugs, hence my decision not to go there.

The odds of giving birth to an austistic child rise astronomically after the age of 35

My boys are 9 and soon to be 7 both have ADHD the youngest with anxiety and behavioural issues when at school. Most of the time when I say me kids have ADHD the other parent says "mine too"! I have spent time with their kids, they are pretty much normal children running around playing. If your child really does have it, you can see the difference. There is a lot more to it than just being active, it does bother me that many people just seem to want kids to sit and be quiet all the time. It also drives me crazy that the schools have less and less physical activity these days. When my son doesn't get his work done during class time they take away his recess! Worst thing you can do to a kid that needs to get out and run around.
I am also find that they tend to look at my kids with the view "Oh single parent home, yep of course there are problems".
I also think that there are things causing these problems directly related to the crap that we now call food. When I grew up we had our own garden, grew most of our vegetables and the meat we ate was natural, not from animals that are given hormones and who knows what else these days. We also put way more chemicals on our foods too, not to mention what is in the packaged foods- chemicals. It's not stuff we are meant to be eating. Look at countries that don't have these types of food and they don't have these mass numbers of children with these problems.

I never stopped to think of what Awesome just said. My daughter's mom was 35 when she had her. Maybe that could have something to do with this situation.

Nope no problems in how children were raised in the past....no drug addicts in their 30's or 40's, no one beating or mistreating their children, no men in jail. No kids just passed on in school, or graduating illiterate.

Nope the kids were all challanged, made to behave, and learned their lessons.



Or perhaps years ago, the country was 95% agriculture. The kids spent most of their time learning directly from their parents and working WITH their parents. Not being directed to do something that the parents aren't doing, but working with mom learning how to cook and take care of the house. Or working with dad, learning how to farm, and take care of the animals/ land.

Their contributions counted. It wasn't busy work. In fact families often had children to help take care of everything. You were darned tired at the end of the day. The energy of an ADHD kid was put to work. They learned on their feet, and by DOING (the fancy word is proprioception), not by sitting and listening (auditory).

Kids were mostly schooled to the 8th grade. If they went on, it was only because they wanted to. Otherwise they were off on their own and working. Self esteme is built by sucess, by doing encountering obsticles and succeding. Not praise, per se, but by results.

Even with the beginnings of the industrial revolution, their were many many jobs where all you needed was a high school education. We claim that kids need more education now. But the Amish school their kids only to the 8th grade. And many many of them have multi-million dollar businesses. But those kids are strongly bonded to their parents and failies because they spend 24/7 around them. All are free to leave the order and go out into the "English" world, AND to come back and eat dinner and visit. But few do.....because they are so attached.

And don't fool yourselves. The Amish kids almost all learn how to use computers, and all of that, and most will use them in their businesses...just not at home.

I LOVE this guy. I love his take on kids and their behavior. Heck, forget the kids, on People and their behavior.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfjS2QJLs0w&feature=related

Agreed Patti, but 40 years ago, when I was a kid, the children I went through school with, most of them weren't raised on farms.

I don't disagree with the concepts you're suggesting, I think there are likely many many factors which create ADD/HD, autism and bipolarism, and where I live, where we have the highest rates, it seems, the extensive levels of environmental toxins is the only thing I see as different from where other people live...like the next province over, or the state on the other side of the border for instance.

I've been rockin out to this tune driving the last couple days, but only realized what the lyrics are tonight:

"This is how an angel cries
Blame it on my own sick pride
Blame it on my ADD baby"



"Sail" by Awolnation

good if you like quirky, edgy and yelling :)



"This is how an angel cries
Blame it on my own sick pride
Blame it on my ADD baby"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gH2efAcmBQM&feature=fvwrel