In the last decade, the phenomenon of Ritalin children has become more pronounced. At this time, almost ten percent of the children who study at school are diagnosed as suffering from attention and concentration disturbances; most of them use Ritalin to moderate the disturbances of hyperactivity and impulsiveness which accompany them.
How are attention and concentration disturbances diagnosed?
Diagnosis:
To be diagnosed with ADHD, your child must meet the criteria designated in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV [revised edition]). This manual is published by the American Psychiatric Association. For a diagnosis of ADHD, a child must have six or more signs and symptoms from one of the two categories below (or six or more signs and symptoms from each of the two categories):
First condition:
Inattention:
1. Often fails to give close attention to details or makes careless mistakes in schoolwork or other activities.
2. Often has difficulty sustaining attention in tasks or play activities.
3.Often does not seem to be paying attention when spoken to directly.
4.Often does not follow through on instructions and fails to finish schoolwork or chores (not due to oppositional behavior or failure to understand instructions).
5. Often has difficulty in organizing tasks and activities.
6. Often, he avoids, dislikes, or is reluctant to engage in tasks that require sustained mental effort (such as schoolwork or homework).
7. Often loses things necessary for tasks or activities (for example, toys, school assignments, pencils, books).
8.Frequently easily distracted.
9. Many times is forgetful in daily activities.
Second condition:
Hyperactivity and impulsivity:
Hyperactivity
1. Often fidgets with hands or feet or squirms in seat.
2. Often leaves seat in classroom or in other situations in whereupon remaining seated is expected.
3. Often runs or climbs excessively in situations where it is inappropriate.
4. has difficulty playing or engaging in leisure activities quietly.
5. Is often “on the go” or often acts as if “driven by a motor”.
6. Often talks excessively.
Impulsivity
1. Often blurts out answers before questions have been completed.
2. Often has difficulty waiting turn.
3. Interrupts or intrudes on others (for example, butts into conversations or games).
In addition to having at least six symptoms from one of the two categories, a child with ADHD:
• Has inattentive or hyperactive-impulsive signs and symptoms that caused impairment and were present before age 7.
• Exhibits behavior that isn't normal for children of the same age who don’t have ADHD.
• Has symptoms for at least six months.
• Has symptoms that impair school, home life or relationships in more than one setting (such as at home and at school).
• The symptoms are not shown during a development of an extensive development disturbance (PDD), schizophrenia or other psychotic disturbance and cannot be explained better by other mental disturbances such as: mood swings, anxiety attacks, ant-social disturbances or any other personality disturbances.
If the criteria for diagnosing ADHD are met, a person can be declared as suffering from ADHD and that his disturbances are categorized as:
1. Mainly a disturbance of lack of attention - if the first condition, which deals with lack of attention is met, but the second one dealing with hyperactivity and impulsiveness is not. In this case it is common also to say that the person has a lack of attention disturbance or attention deficit disorder (ADD).
2. Mainly hyperactivity and impulsiveness disturbance - if the second condition, which deals with hyperactivity and impulsiveness is met, but the first one dealing with lack of attention is not.
3. A combination of disturbances: lack of attention together with hyperactivity and impulsiveness disturbances - if the first condition, which deals with lack of attention and also the second one, which deals with hyperactivity and impulsiveness are both met.
The lack of teachers and classrooms leads the Ministry of Education to seat almost 40 children in one classroom. It is impossible to adequately cope with so many pupils and to offer undivided attention to every pupil, a phenomenon which leads many of the pupils to be restless, in itself a result of not understanding the material making the path to disturbing the class learning processes shortened indeed. The Ministry of Education cannot cope with so many pupils, so it almost immediately refers them to neurological diagnoses and to Ritalin, which brings industrial quiet in the classroom, so everybody is satisfied. However, is that really the case?
As the mother of a child who was already diagnosed as suffering from ADHD in the fourth grade, I understand from the original source how difficult the child’s life is. His self-image is low, everybody is angry at him - teachers, friends, classmates and even us, the parents, since we did not understand his behavior, a fact that can lead to much anger and negative ambience at home.
I have read countless reports and articles about people who object to the use of Ritalin and even people who reject it absolutely. I usually call them “bleeding hearts”. In my humble opinion, none of them has experienced ADHD themselves or raised a child with such a disturbance. They also did not feel the desperate need to help such a child, who descends into an abyss – and who is so close to falling off into a dark place, from which it is so difficult and sometimes even impossible to emerge.
Despite all the dire warnings about using Ritalin, it actually saved my son at the time, both mentally and socially, and enabled him to close gaps, to build his mental strength and succeed f socially.
As I noted, over the years, Ritalin helped my child, and we jointly decided to stop it after four years. At that time, I was exposed to the new and amazing domain called Personology, which means reading the basic meanings of facial characteristics. Understanding the facial characteristics enabled us to maximize our understanding of our child’s ways of behavior and his decision-making and social capabilities accurately and clearly. We also received recommendations based upon his facial characteristics and tools that enabled us to direct the child in different ways and alter his behavioral pattern.
Some of the facial characteristics enabled us to understand why so many children are diagnosed as suffering from ADHD, and that sometimes there’s a need to promote behavioral change, based upon understanding our ways of behavior as well as understanding how we undergo maturational processes which profoundly mold our behavior. Lo and behold it was in junior high school, which is a particularly stressing period of growing up, when our child succeeded and exhibited exemplary behavior achieving excellent grades. It is important to emphasize that this is a progressive change that requires the parents’ support and accompaniment, yet eventually the results justify any investment.
In conclusion:
I do not reject Ritalin, on the contrary, I believe that this is a drug that helps everyone who really needs it, but I want to add, in the same vein, that every child who disturbs the classroom is sent for a diagnosis and is given Ritalin. I recommend that we stop for a moment and check the amazing alternative, which, although it takes a relatively long time, justifies the effort: Personology(
Face reading). It is well worth familiarizing ourselves with it and trying it.
