At one Christmas event I watched this mother with three children, all well behaved except for one little boy around 6. She did a fairly decent job trying to control him, yet she made idle threats like "If you don't behave I'll put you in the car" knowing the car was too far away for her to even bother. Don't ever make a threat you can't actually follow through with. She kept her cool, didn't lose her temper, didn't treat him badly, except that everything he was doing was bothering her because he wouldn't be still or quiet. I felt sorry for him because he didn't look like he understood what was expected of him, why, or even how to do what she wanted. I was pretty sure that he was having a major come down from all the treats and junk he'd eaten. Unlike his siblings the additives affected him in a different way.
There was an article about how in France ADHD doesn't exist (or if it does it is such low amounts it's not worth worrying about). The reason for this, the article stated, is that French people don't feed their children the CRAP we feed our children. The French still opt for home cooked meals and it's compulsory for all the family to eat what is given, or go without. What a novel idea! Not only that because ADHD is a behavioral issue and the French deal with bad behavior differently, ie. they don't run to the nearest doctor claiming they can't handle their child, that there is something wrong with their child because they cannot get that child to behave, less children are diagnosed with ADHD.
We looked after one foster child for a number of years and never had any problems with them. They were delightful, respectful and quick to learn and mesh within the family environment. On occasion we gave them treats though mostly they ate regular home cooked meals and we went to parks and beaches and other fun places. One day the child was dropped off to us with instructions to feed him these little pills every so often throughout the day. They were to treat his ADHD. The mother told us her story of going from doctor to doctor telling them there was something wrong with her son, non would agree with her, until this one doctor finally prescribed the pills.
I was heartbroken for this little boy. He didn't have ADHD! He had a mother who didn't know how to discipline. Her way was to lose her temper and lash out at him physically and verbally. Considering he was well behaved for us, this meant his mum couldn't insight decent behavior from him so she put him on pills. I rang the foster agency and there was nothing they could do to get this boy off those pills. I was devastated. He came to us like a little zombie, still delightful and respectful, yet quiet and withdrawn and teary.
I realised the system is letting children down. The mother needed parenting advice along with respite while the child needed someone who could tell the mum there's nothing wrong with her child. It breaks my heart thinking of all the families out there struggling with child/parent issues and there being nothing to offer them, nothing to be done for them. No help given.
If you're one of those parents who think you have a child with ADHD I put it to you that majority of you would have it wrong! I put it to you that most of you are feeding your children really bad foods that have really bad effects on the human brain. I put it to you that most of you are not very good at disciplining your children and getting them to do what they're told. I put it to you that most of you are lazy parents wanting an easy way out to deal with a child you can't control by putting them on zombie pills.
Look up websites like Fedup and the Chemical Maze app and learn what preservative and additives do to your child's behavior. Try cutting out all those bad foods and see what happens. Learn new disciplinary techniques and don't be a lazy parent who isn't consistent because parenting is all too hard for you.
You have to ask yourself WHY are majority of ADHD cases reported in the US, with Australia following closely behind and not other places in the world? What are we (you) doing differently to make this happen?
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