|
|
Home
and Family
Poor Little Boy
by A. Ross M.Ed.
Once again, Yanky came home from school crying. Nobody is
my friend, nobody wants to sit next to me, nobody likes me.
When I start playing with them, they move somewhere else.
Poor little boy. His mother, who would do anything in the
world for him, cannot buy him friends. She cannot force them
to like him.
Yanky is one of those 'busy' people. He flits between several
tasks, never quite completing them. He is restless at school
and teachers rejoice when he is sick for a day or two! At
home when there is trouble, you can be sure that Yanky is at
the bottom of it. In fact, he is likely to be blamed even in
the rare case when he is not at fault. He strokes the baby
lovingly, but unfortunately the stroking is done with his
fist and feels more like an attack. He interferes with his
older brother's building creation, quite innocently.
Regrettably, the intricate building collapses, although he
was 'only watching.'
Yanky is easily distractible. In fact, any professional
talking to him will notice that his eyes roam round the room
instead of making eye contact. Because his attention wanders,
he loses things or misplaces them. He doesn't complete his
homework, (when he remembers to bring it home). If he were
diagnosed, he would be labeled as having A.D.D (Attention
Deficit Disorder) or A.D.H.D with hyperactivity included.
Everyone who knows him, thinks that the parents are deluding
themselves when they say he is a normal boy. The parents
claim that he is highly intelligent, even going so far as to
say he is gifted. But then parents are biased. Actually in
this case, they may well be right in their assessment, but
what are they going to do about it? By the time he is
fifteen, they have had to remove him from several schools and
the same pattern has begun in yeshiva. In fact, the story of
his exploits has preceded him, and most institutions will not
even consider his application.
These parents, in common with many others who have children
like Yanky, refuse to admit that there is something wrong. He
crawled and walked long before other children his age. They
do not take him to be assessed at an early age, claiming that
he will grow out of it. Although he really is highly
intelligent, and very good at sports, he gets poor marks in
tests and the children do not want this disruptive boy on
their team. When well-meaning friends suggest medication,
parents raise their hands in horror. What? Drug a young child
because he is so active and because he needs less sleep than
other children? Besides, he will become addicted, his growth
will be stunted, he will lose his appetite, and apart from
anything else, he will be stigmatized for the rest of his
life.
By the time Yanky is a man, he will be one of these super
efficient people, able to do ten things at the same time, and
able to organize projects more efficiently than most other
people. The girls, far fewer than boys, who suffer from these
problems, will be wonderful housewives, (although not always
the tidiest!) Because they need less sleep than other people,
they can work more hours than their peers. However, eighty
percent of 'Yankys' do not realize their potential at all.
They have grown up with constant criticism, negative comments
about their behavior, and punishment.
The aforementioned fears of parents about taking a child to a
psychologist to be assessed, before he can be prescribed
Ritalin, are not entirely unfounded. Nevertheless, people
should know about the pros and cons of Ritalin, the
amphetamine wonder drug which has been on the market for
about fifty-five years. During this time, it has frequently
been over prescribed and even wrongly prescribed, as a
panacea for all behavioral problems and even for learning
difficulties. Anyone who saw the lack of success of the
wrongly prescribed drug, would hasten to publicize the fact
to another (as they thought) potential victim. As a convinced
antagonist of Ritalin since its inception, I have to admit
that I have not only advised people to try to obtain a
prescription from a qualified person, but also blessed this
wonder drug on several occasions. (See example below).
Although much has been written about A.D.D, it is worth
recording once again what research has discovered about
sufferers. Some doctors see ADHD as part of the normal
spectrum of development, but most now see it as a specific
syndrome. Most researchers feel that there are certain areas
of the brain which normally put brakes onto unwise behavior,
which do not function well in ADD. The messages are not
'filtered' correctly and a person with ADD acts before he
thinks of the consequences. Very young children do the same,
of course, but as they mature, experience has taught them
which behaviors are acceptable to their peers and to
adults.
Ritalin is not a tranquilizer. On the contrary, it is a
stimulant; it stimulates the neurotransmitters which are not
functioning well in this particular child, to move to the
correct brain cells. A child with C.P (cerebral palsy) who
cannot control his involuntary movements, has his limbs and
head strapped to the chair, so that he can concentrate on his
studies. In the same way, figuratively, the ADD child has his
brain channeled with Ritalin to prevent him from being
distracted by everything around him. He only needs it when he
is trying to concentrate; he does not need it when he is
playing football. Thus he will probably take 10 mg. before
morning school and another 10 mg. five hours later.
This explodes another myth about Ritalin: that it is
addictive. The effects have worn off after four hours. A
child with A.D.D who had been prescribed Ritalin came to me
at age seven, knowing about half the letters of the alef-
beis. After four weeks, he was almost reading. Then one
morning, he was bouncing off the walls. Anyone who has not
experienced this sort of behavior, would not believe it. The
mother had forgotten to give him his tablet! This drug can
definitely cause sleeplessness if given at night, because,
after all, it is a stimulant. It should only be taken when
the child needs to concentrate.
The myth that Ritalin changes a child's personality is easily
understood. How can a child who could barely sit still for
ten minutes, and could certainly never do his homework,
suddenly sit over the same homework for two hours, completing
each task meticulously. However, it hasn't changed his
personality, it has just brought out the best in him. After
fifty years of research on any possible physical or mental
harmful side effects, 'they' have determined that there is no
permanent, or even temporary damage. Hopeful parents who have
tried homeopathic medicine in its stead, have not been
successful.
Unfortunately, as mentioned before, many children are wrongly
diagnosed, and are given Ritalin in error. This is what has
given the drug such a bad reputation. On the other hand,
those children who need Ritalin, and who are deprived of it,
suffer unnecessarily. It is tantamount to depriving a child
of eyeglasses when he needs them.
There are many new drugs on the market for older children in
their teens, which have not been as well researched as
Ritalin and are not suitable for teenage children. However,
if the child still needs something to help him concentrate,
parents should do their utmost to help him. There is no
stigma involved in helping a person succeed in life.
|
