Monday, September 22, 2008
Up the Hill Again.
The most common mistake that most people make is the fact that a child with ADD or ADHD will out grow this disorder. Even educated people make this problem. Take college for example. Even though these children have been tested in order to be admitted into special education programs we require them to be retested in order to receive any accommodations in college. But you would think that this would be the last time that they would be tested but no every four years they are required to be retested. These are not small test they can last upwards of 3 plus hours. While I was attending Troy State they required one type of exam in order to give me the accommodations required by the government but while attending the University of Alabama I am required to retake a different test plus get a note from my doctor in order to receive my accommodations. This would be easy to do if I didn't have a new job were I can not take off any time and then having to go to my second job. This is one of the most difficult misconceptions that people with ADD encounter on a daily basis. But that was not the hardest hill that we must always climb. The largest hill is the one in which people believe that his disorder does not exist. This causes problems within families, peers, and on into romantic relationships. Growing up you are always compared to the children who do not have to leave the room for special classes. This brings up the subject among peers. Some of them are not correctly informed or their parents do not believe in the disorder simply stating "that is just a made up condition to increase profits for the drug companies". This creates a division among the individual with ADD and their peers. When a child is born into a family one parent may have a problem accepting the diagnosis or even the treatment. For example I have no problems with treating this disorder with medication if need be but my husband will not stand for it. If we ever have a child with this problem then there may be a major problem. However, the most difficult one to deal with while dealing with all of the situations is the one where you find yourself in love and the one that you want to spend the rest of your life with tells you that ADD does not exist and that is just an excuse for people who are lazy. This happened to me and it broke my heart to have to break up with the man I thought was the man of my dreams. Because how could I marry a person who can not accept me for who I am. From personal experiences I can tell you that a person leaving with ADD feels like they are always climbing up a never ending hill. This is one thing as future Social Workers that we all need to understand is that the children that we will be serving will not only have problems due to abuse or neglect but they may have ADD and no matter what your personal feelings are that you must understand that these children need their social worker to understand that their daily lives are made more difficult because of their disability. With the correct mentors and guidance to support you any child with ADD can conquer these hills successfully.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
It is interesting to me that someone with ADD or ADHD has to be continually tested for this disability. Is there some sort of proof out there that indicates you can eventually grow out of this disorder or all of a sudden just be cured. How frustrating this must be for you to have to not only deal with this disorder but to have to also deal with the stigma behind it. I have always thought of this disorder as one you learn to cope with, by use of medication and understanding of the disorder, not something that will go away. This is definitely one of those social injustices that should be addressed. You have really opened my eyes to what is going on with this issue and I commend you for hangin in there and accomplishing what many think would be impossible for someone with your disorder. Good for you! Amazing.
Good comment diane - as with most mental disabilities, a person usually must undergo testing any time a switch, or change in services occur, or for annual reviews. Veterans with disabilities must undergo routine testing to evaluate the percentage of disability the have - it's just one of those things in our country persons with invisible illnesses must endure and also the reason many adults have varying diagnosis over time. It does imply that a change would occur in the life course with mental illness, but we haven't seen that to be the case in a positive light. Often with mental illness, the condition worsens as a person ages and caregiving demands increase. We don't know much about ADD/ADHD in adulthood - it is characterized as a disorder in childhood. Perhaps the new edition of the DSM will clarify this for us.
diane, no there no documented proof that any person with this disorder will ever out grow it. Trust me I wish that this was true because I would not have stuggled with college as much as I do. From personal experiance no you never out grow it you just learn copeing skills and usually take medication if you can find a doctor who is willing to give it to you. I am glad to see that my blogs are giving people an inside look into this disorder. That was my intention for creating this blog. See yall in class.
I worked for many years transitioning children with disabilities from high school to college or to work. Children don't outgrow ADD but when they get out of school they typically get jobs that do not require them to sit in desk all day or read and comprehend lots of written material, so it seems like that have. Many ADD teenagers do not believe they can go to collge but, with the appropriate accommodations, modifications and compensatory strategies, they can be very successful. It is important to be tested by a licensed pyschologist to, not only document the disability, but have their recommendations for accommodations. Many school systems use pyschometrists to give the WISC and WAIS and they are not able to diagnose. A pyschologist is better able to diagnose then a pediatrician or family doctor (many pediatricains recommend a pyschological evaluation prior to prescribing medication). In addition, a psychologist can work with a child or young adult on compensatory strategies and other issues, as you mentioned in your blog, that a child with ADD experiences. Also, I found that many fathers do not want their children to take medication for ADD. A good resource for information regarding ADD sre books by Edward Hallowell. He wrote, Driven To Distraction, and other books on the topic. He also has some videos that are excellent. I have seen his presentation on ADD twice and feel he does a wonderful job of explaining the disorder in plain language (he has ADD).
I have to agree that it is unnecesarry to keep testing a person for ADD/ADHD. Especially when they are already in college. I mean, maybe retesting a child with ADD/ADHD wouldn't be totally unreasonable, because it is possible that they have been misdiagnosed- many children are misdiagnosed with ADD/ADHD these days. But, once you are an adult, one would think that by now it has been established that you suffer from the disorder and any further testing should be totally unnecesarry. As far as misconceptions go though, one of my aunts once told my mother and I that she didn't believe in mental illness. We were greatly appalled, especially since my mother suffers from a few of them. People's misperceptions and lack of understanding about mental and learning disorders is hurtful to everyone.
Post a Comment