Stupid GP on Jeremy Vine show says ADHD is poor parenting

[Jimjams]

Aaaggggghh stupid woman! Apparently parents all want their kids on ritalin because they can't control them as they have no parenting skills. Also they want their kids to be "labelled" as that will make them feel better about being such crap parents. And children don't need labelling.

I was incensed. And my son doesn't even have ADHD/take ritalin

I have sent a stinking email to [email protected]

or at least that's how I remembered it- didn;t see the recent repeat though so could be wrong- it was a while ago.

Something I don't understand- biochemists help please?

ritalin is a stimulant - and works in cases of ADHD as they "need" stimulation to concentrate. So wouldn't it do the opposite in "normal" kids and make them more hyper?

Well, I certainly wouldn't describe myself as a biochemist, but I thought it was a stimulant for normal kids, yes. There have been cases of children who are prescribed ritalin selling it to their mates, haven't there? It doesn't really make sense, I agree. However... aloha is right about the program. In one scene when they are with the consultnat the parents were at great pains to point out that the girl's improved behaviour had been achieved without ritalin, and he said something back that (I thought) made it very clear that he had prescribed it for her. I was pretty sure he had given her a diagnosis of ADHD too.

I can quite see why you're pissed off about the GP, though.

I can't remember that bit at all. Maybe I missed some of the programme. Mind you sometimes I think am going mad- I've just found out I sent a party invitation to a boy but used the wrong name (could explain why he hasn't replied!)

So if you had a normal lively kid then the last thing you would want is them on ritalin?! Surely?

Can't remember th GP's name. She's the usual guest GP though and like Tinker says has a really annpyong actressy voice!

I think the GP reaaallly annoyed me when she said "children don't need labels" because actually if they have something wrong with them they do- if only to access the pathetic service provision.

No-one would say that a child dxed with diabetes was being "labelled" so why should autism/ADHD be any different. A lot of kids on the spectrum are very strange biochemically as well as behaviourally so it should be recognised more. Grrrrrrr For example those children with autistic enterocolitis are often told that it doesn't exist. And yet the all party parliamentary group on autism says that is does exist and needs to be recognised more- so that these children can get treatment for their painful bowel condition. Just becuase they can't say "my tummy hurts" why should they be ignored?

Glad she's not my GP- she sounds bloody useless.

Apparently Ritalin is a stimulant, and it is an amphetamine based drug (speed). For some strange reason it calms children but would react if taken by children 16+ as speed. This is what I was told and from what I have gleened from various websites. Last year it was a Class B drug, and not registered so is obviously powerful.

I remember stupidly making a joke about taking it myself to lose some weight and the consultant did not take kindly to it!

I resisted the use of Ritalin but spoke to parents who had used it to good effect. Basically if my ds doesn't take it, he can't attend mainstream school. End of.

Only just caught this thread. DH often hears talk shows on the radio with this sort of attitude & says they never take calls from people with the opposing viewpoint.

It took us ages to get our DS diagnosed with ADHD & involved a lot of tests and talking- you certainly can't just "demand" it.

Jampot, the incident you described sounds "normal" for a child with ADHD.

methylphenidate (Ritalin etc) is a stimulant drug to ALL people- the difference being that in a 'ADHD' individual- Child or Adults alike- it stimulates the part of the brain which focuses and maintains attention- theory being that the person is then able to 'blend in' with peers and in cases where the person is very impusive can help them make rational choices.

Like CHOCOL8- my son WOULD not be in mainstream school unsupported without it .

And if the media would just stop all this 'crap parenting' stuff then maybe i could sometimes step back and not feel compelled to try and calm down every incident he gets involved in- but because of this fear of appearing a crap parent i feel forced into 'going through the motions' of 'appearing to discipline' etc....but any parent of a ADHD child will KNOW that 'normal' approaches don't work- and anything less than 'what everyone sees as THE RIGHT WAY' is seen as 'Parents looking for excuses for their bad parenting'....i wonder if these idiots are related to the cretins who used to think that AUTISM was the result of 'Refridgerator mothers'

Grrrrrrrr- rant over. Sorry. VERY sore point.

mrsF - I so know what you mean about dishing out inappropriate discipline to appease the spectators. In the past I've even found myself saying "say x" to mys son- when I know he can't bloody speak! but just becuase its expected.

Anyway sometime in the last year I decided enoguh was enough and I don't do it anymore. Don't care whose watching I react in a way that is appropriate for him.

i'm getting better at it - when he was maybe 4 or 5 i'd even 'tell him off' for things that i didn't feel he deserved to be told off for- and I'd make excuses to people about how he behaved- now i have to work on this 'How i handle him in public' bit!!!!
This morning had a 'flashback' to toddler years as he refuses to blow his nose- so today i HAD to do it as he has a terrible cold at the moment....and what i hadn't bargained for was his full on 10yr old strength- he really is stronger than me now. scarey.
talking of which .....one of the 'sidelines' of his ADHD is his strength- and to this day i am convinced that my right arm (i have a weak wrist/RSI/carpal tunnel)is like it is due to the way as a baby he was so hard to hold- even when winding him- this then became 'force feeding' and later turned to 'force teethbrushing-noseblowing-nailcutting - putting in the carseat/pushchair etc- and the most frequent use for my arm has been pulling.
i joke about it- but my arm has felt like it was ripped out many times....and i often wonder how many othernearly pulled out the socket many other parents suffer this 'injury'

can you imagine going to see a specialist and describing how you got the injury....thinking about it there have been loads of posts on here about injuries....I am NOT alone /

Totally agree Mrsforgetful - my back was not in a great state prior to ds, but when he was a toddler it was terrible! He is 6.5 now and I would say is almost equal in strength to me: I had to restrain him on his bed the other day and he was pushing up so strongly (I was in a sitting position) that he virtually pushed me off the bed!

As for the 'force teethbrushing-noseblowing-nailcutting-putting in the carseat/pushchair etc -yes, totally! My osteo noticed the bite marks (from the restraining) on my arm and asked about them. He accepted without comment that this was the cause as he knows what my ds can be like.

However, hats off to you and Jimjams with regard to the public's outlook - I still find myself shouting or threatening, but really know that it's useless as he is just not hearing me. I really must get a handle on it - any suggestions?

I posted a message on here the other day about a child at school now suffering whiplash through being hit in the face by a child at school - the Head has given them both a think sheet to complete as their punishment but how would punishment be viewed by this child with ADHD assuming he can't help doing what he did?

Jimjams, I think the child in the programme wasn't just lively - she was desperately attention seeking because her mother in particular showed her no love
The consultant actually seemed quite cross that the girl had improved so much!
This doesn't excuse the radio GP though. And I can understand how unhelpful and hurtful comments like that are for parents struggling with children with real problems.
I have just interviewed Lucy Hawking who has a five year old austic son who is on a strict dietary regime a bit like your son's with very good results. I'm not a cynic about stuff like that as I hope you realise.

Didn't see the program, but would like to comment if I may. I think there is a BIG differnce between saying that good parenting will "cure" ADHD ( As I understand it , this is what the GP was implying) and that "poor" parenting will make the condition worse, ie inconsistent discipline, inflaming certain flashpoint situations etc, which seems reasonable. Dr Christopher Green who wrote Toddlwer Taming writes on this subject and one of his pointers which I think is very useful is to say that ADHD kids under-behave for the quality of parenting and under-learn for the quality of teaching they receive. He also identifys other conditions which sometimes present with adhd, one of which is (iirc) oppositional conduct disorder, which is deliberate and consistent defiance but is not necessarily the same as adhd. He also breaks adhd down into 2 components which are to do with learning/remembering, and motility, so it is a very invloved condition with lots of variation between cases. Likw alot of things, I think that understanding can be lost when the language and terms are not used with precision. I don't pretend to know a lot about it but have tried to read up about it a bit cos I am a supply teacher and meet lots and lots of chn (about one in every class) who have this dx, so am interested in how to best cope, for them and for me.

In my opinion, you are a very unusual person, LHP - a teacher who wants to find out information about SN! I can honestly say in my experience so far (we are talking 2 suspensions from nurseries and the threat of it from my ds' present mainstream school), I have not come across a teacher who wants to learn about these things. Therefore, thank you on behalf of the children you will teach in the future - there should be more like you. (rant over)

Incidentally, my ds was filmed for the pilot programme and we used the child behaviourist involved, but after 6 weeks I just couldn't do it any more! (Incidentally, the behaviourist said he didn't necessarily believe that ADHD existed). The ideas worked initially, but it needed to be adhered to strictly and with my ds going off to school and "falling out of the regime" during the day and then trying to get my childminder to enforce it it was very difficult. Without saying too much, my money was refunded, however I do believe that for some children - such as that little girl who was not in my view ADHD - it works and good luck to them.

Did you hear the programme LHP. Just becuase I didn't interpret the comments like that at all (maybe they could have be interpreted in different ways)- I thought she was saying that ADHD didn't exist, and children who had a dx of ADHD were simply poorly parented.

I don't think I explained myself very well. No, Jimjams, I didn't see the program but I was actually agreeing with you, the Gps conclusions were damaging to all families and teachers faced with the condition of adhd. What I was advocating was a greater precision in describing the condition and an end to the logic that implies poor parenting =adhd therefore good parenting = cure. Good parenting/teaching can only ever make it less unmanageable.

Oh I completely agreed wth what you said LHP- I was just wondering whether I had been unfair on the GP and misinterpreted her comments

I doubt that Jimjams. Did you get a reply to your email btw?

no- no reply...

go higher jimjams. We pay TV license for all BBC channels, and therefore they answer to us, indirectly their employers, you (and everybody that stands behind you, including myself) deserves an answer.

Am about to listen on replay, and shall also send a stinking email about it.