Customer Reviews

The Diseasing of America's Children: Exposing the ADHD Fiasco and Empowering Parents to Take Back Control

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This book was not written to make anyone feel comfortable and for that reason it's the most valuable book I've read on children. Never have I found so much powerful information in such a usable format. But if you're not ready to question the status quo, hear the truth about childrearing practices you hold dear and make dramatic changes in how you think about your family, then don't bother picking this up. Like all real treasure, it's not for wimps.

While this book's title tells you it's about ADHD, I'm recommending it for all parents, teachers, grandparents and social workers. Even if your child hasn't been diagnosed I would wager that you know one who has. Perhaps you've suspected that some child in your world is a little "too hyper" or heard that even adults can be ADHD and thought of someone close to you. The first half of this book takes the ADHD bull by the horns and doesn't let go until every aspect of the disorder is dissected. With a historical overview that puts everything into perspective and a no-holds-barred approach to research that points fingers, names names and calls a fraud a fraud, Ravenel and Rosemond systematically clear up misconceptions, highlight hidden truths and answer every question you could possibly have. The style of writing is conversational but passionate, stern but with great humor. I found myself alternatively laughing and crying my way through the chapters.

The second half of the book offers sure-fire methods for raising children with (or without) ADHD. In fact, the authors offer real life examples of children who never showed their symptoms again after the parents made recommended changes. My years "in the trenches" with hundreds of children and families have shown me that the methods suggested here will make life immeasurably more sane for all families, with or without any imbalances.

Of course there's no book I agree with 100% so I'd be remiss if I didn't mention a couple places where I take issue with the authors. There's a small section on potty training that I feel reflects their lack of direct experience with the subject. As someone who has gone through potty training with more children than I can remember, I would suggest the authors have placed the exact unrealistic expectations on mothers in this area that they criticize other professionals for doing in academic achievement. There are some places where the wisdom of the grandmothers does not translate and this is one of them. I've heard that in Rosemond's other books he gives advice more to my liking and I look forward to reviewing them in the future.

The other topics I had a hard time swallowing were the review of how reading was taught and the recommendations for regulating television viewing. While I agree these topics are problematic, I think the details may warrant discussion and personalization, since schools and families are so unique. But these complaints refer to a handful of pages in a 250 page book that I cannot recommend too highly.

I was so excited when this book arrived and read through it very quickly. I was desperately looking for information to help my 7-year old (diagnosed with Tourette's Syndrome, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and ADHD). The reason I sped through the book is because I was trying to get to the "good part". I wanted specific information on how I can help my son pay attention in class, keep his hands to himself and improve in reading and spelling without putting him on drugs. Unfortunately, 90% of the book is written to convince the reader that there is no such thing as ADHD or ADD, etc. I already agree that these "diseases" are over-diagnosed but as a parent and schoolteacher whether they have an actual disease or not doesn't take away the "symptoms". The 10% of the book that referred to success stories really didn't benefit my situation. My husband and I are both educators, we have raised our child with traditional discipline, we eat mostly organic vegetables (grass-fed, organic beef), very limited sugar/processed foods, little to no TV or video-games during the school year and he goes to a non-denominational, phonics-teaching private school. We are already trying all the things that should have produced the "honor-roll" poster child. But, after reading the book, I cannot say that I learned anything new to apply. It would be a good read for couples before they have children or if their children are still young.

I work in a community mental health center and I and my colleagues are shocked at the number of parents who have been told by their child's teachers that their child needs to be on medication. Unfortunately these well informed teachers and principals are basically ignorant about this overblown illness of ADHD and Bi-Polar disorder. The number of pre-school and elementary students who are on multiple mood altering medications is frightening. Those who advocate it so much are completely unaware of the long term consequences of these medications. They are also ignorant of the fact that the few studies which prove a benefit for these medications are far outnumbered by the studies which indicate no positive benefit and even negative benefit.

The second half of Rosemond's book offers a cure for ADHD, Bi-Polar Disorder, Childhood obesity, Childhood diabetes and declining school performance. (The author does not state this it is my conclusion). The quality of adult management (parents, teachers, counselors, Doctors, juvenile justice) of children over the past 30 years has deteriorated into absolute absurdity. Our society appears to have developed an aversion to the word NO. As a result we have reared the most spoiled children ever, even the so called poor children are spoiled. They have no responsibilities, they make no contribution to their families or their communities and consequences are meaningless to them.

Until as a society we are willing to return to the fundamentals of parenting and teaching, our children will continue to be the defenseless pharmaceutical guinea pigs of a society which has abdicated its responsibilities.

Everyone who works with children should read this book

When Rosemond summarized other researcher's data, he made some interesting points that I really wanted to hear more about. However, John Rosemond's bread and butter is to reminiscence about the halcyon days gone by. Through much of his narrative, I can actually hear the "Andy Griffith" theme being whistled while Andy and Opie walk to the fishing hole with poles in hand. Most of his first-hand data was based on anecdotes collected during conversations with participants at his presentations. Apparently according to Rosemond, the 1950s were a time of milk and honey. Everyone went to school, literacy rates were higher, and there were no behavior problems. For example, regarding his analysis of participants responses about behavior problems in the 1950s, his summarized "They consistently confirm that classroom discipline was not a major issue in the 1950s" (P. 43). Wow. When he does provide some insight into his research sample, the data becomes even shakier. For example after making one gross generalization about the supposed idyllic 1950s based on an informant named Ms Agnes, he added the caveat "Granted, she was substitute teaching, but she was subbing nearly everyday in one of the Catholic Schools in the area." (p. 44). A substitute from a private catholic school? Weak.

Unfortunately for Mr. Rosemond, the good old days weren't always so good. First, despite his dismissal that everyone he knew in his neighborhood attended school in the 1950s, the enrollment statistics of the times do not support his assertion that all students went to school. I agree that the 1950s were better than 1900 when one in ten of children aged 14 to 17 was enrolled in high schools with 8% of all students in that age graduating from high school. In 1940, enrollment was seven in ten, with 50% graduating; 1980, 9 of 10 with 71% graduating. What we teach is school is different today than it was in 1940. The scope of academic subjects has broadened beyond traditional academic areas to include vocational, college, commercial, honors, advance placement, etc (See Tack and Cuban "Tinkering with Utopia"). Also, he seems to only look at research through he eyes of a white, middle class man concerned about white middle class students. It's a hard row to hoe that the schools were so great in the 1950s when the Jim Crow laws were still in effect. The Jim Crow laws were not completely overruled until the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Many authors (e.g., Christine Sleeter, Ellen Brantlinger, Lous Heshusius, Thomas Skrtic, Susan Peters, and William Rhodes) have written voluminously that public schools favor the white middle class and that disability is related to marginalization of subaltern groups.

Rosemond does better when he summarized other people's research. Specifically, he builds the case that the pressure from standardized high stakes tests causes teachers to look for easy solutions. Teachers have pressure to increase student performance due to No Child Left Behind casuses teachers to look for quick fixes; "This greatly increases the likelihood, and understandably so, that teacher will look for the most expedient way of dealing with problem children - including children who present no outstanding discipline problems but are generally inattentive and off-task - one that involves the least amount of time and effort on their part and provides a `solution' as quickly as possible" (p. 70). Thereby, teachers push for the child to be diagnosed with a disorder. That, according to Rosemond, plays into the hands of the pharmaceutical companies. He then goes on summarize research published by physicians with ties to the pharmaceutical companies, mainly Marcia Angell and Greg Crister, to show that science has been compromised by profit. Pharmaceuticals are big money and the drug companies are willing to spend big money to make big money. According to Rosemond, "First, APA invents new diagnosis, thus creating a new client base; second, it uses non-science and other nonsense to "medicalize" the supposed disorder; third, it expands the boundaries of the diagnosis so as to capture more and more clients in the new diagnostic `net'" (p. 30), The companies spend a lot of money to fund ADHD support groups (CHADD), lobby in Washington, market directly to potential clients and bankroll NIH research. In return, they make lots and lots of money on drug sales.

Rosemond's line of argument is that resources are wasted on pharmaceutical methods to manipulate behavior, diverting attention and resources from ways to meet children's genuine educational needs. For Rosemond, parents and teachers need to revert to time-tested methods to help children with learning challenges. Generally, these methods emphasize traditional child-rearing techniques (manners, disciplinary consequences, respect for parents) while avoiding modern temptations (television, video games, anything that smacks of high self-esteem).

There are a few good books out there on ADHD and this is one of them. Particularly good is the final section that gives advice for parents on how to take control and lead their children from their antisocial and maladaptive behaviours that are typically and incorecctly explained as being medical illnesses under the medical model. This book does an excellent job of providing advice for returning responsibility for raising emotionally robust children back to parents and away from psychologists.

I've become convinced that abortion is no longer the most hotly debated issue in America today....it's ADD and ADHD. There's a great deal of passion on all sides of the issue. Unfortunately, the jungle that is ADHD realm is thick and disorienting.

Rosemond's effort on the topic is a good one, and one that is likely one of the more comprehesive works that takes the "other side" of the debate. It should not be surprising to anyone reading reviews of this book that you are going to encounter some that adore Rosemond's other work, think this book is spot on, and highly recommend it because it represents "the truth" in their eyes. Likewise, you shouldn't be surprised that there are those on the other side of the debate from Rosemond that will refer to his work as drivel, unscientific, wrong, crazy, wacko, etc. This would even include another author, whose work is just as one sided as she perceives Rosemond's work to be. What Rosemond will at least get you to do, if you can work your way through his book with an open mind, is to ask questions, especially in the face of a diagnosis.

So, in an effort to actually review the book itself, I offer this.....what are your motivations for reading a book about "ADHD" which questions the disorder and the medical treatment that is so often recommended? If your motivation is to read "the other side" because you know, going in, you're going to disagree, you're going to get precisely what you're looking for... a book that will provide you with multiple opportunities for cathartic outbursts of "...now that's just CRAZY."

If you are presently the parent of a child that has been diagnosed with ADHD and you are at the beginning of the journey down the path of treatment and therapy, you may find this book helpful in that it provides a lengthy and detailed perspective on ADHD that will be very, very different from what you may be hearing at the school, in the pediatrician's office, or at the psychiatrists office.

Understand that Rosemond is a "traditional parenting" expert ( and I think it fair to call him an expert ) and his effort here is an honest one. At a minimum, with an open mind, you should find the discussion of ADHD by Rosemand a very interesting and thought provoking one. For the other perspective, Russell A. Barkley's work is well worth your time, in the name of being thorough in your research efforts.

The thrust of Rosemond and Ravenal's work is to strongly question the science between linking ADD and ADHD to a genetic brain disorder. They question the ADHD literature's alleged overstatement of the effectiveness of the medication that is prescribed to children and the alleged understatement of the side effects of that medication. Accordingly, the symptoms of the disorder are behavioral issues, not biochemical issues. Ravenel, a doctor, has switched sides on this issue... and his perspective, in particular, is an interesting one.

What is often mistaken about the Rosemond/Ravenal work is that their 4 prong suggestion for behavioral therapy is interpreted by those in the Barkley camp as suggesting that Rosemond/Ravenal believe that ADHD is caused by excessive electronic media useage, diet, poor parenting etc. Actually, Rosemond and Ravenal don't believe that there is such a disorder as ADHD, but do believe that children do, in fact, exhibit the behaviors that those in the Barkely camp refer to as symptoms. I don't think Barkley fails to understand Rosemond's perspective. Rosemond's work is not necessarily as easy to dismiss as many would like to believe.

Whether you agree with all, part, or none of this book may depend upon your preconceived notions and the amount of reading you've done on "the other side." I'm carefully avoiding offering my own opinion of ADHD because it's not relevent to this review at all.

The book is a good one, and it's well worth your time and effort - along with a careful examination of other works (I suggest Barkley's but there are others) and then a careful comparison. What I have found is that sometimes, one side of this debate has a great deal of difficulty answering the challenges made by the other side of the debate. But you can't really evaluate either side effectively until you've read about them. So, here's what I think represents your best chance to engage in what should perhaps be referred to as the Anti ADHD side of the debate.

For those unfamiliar with Rosemond's work, he is very direct and sometimes even colorful in his choice of words. This is viewed by some as antagonistic (note the word Fiasco in the title of this book). I doubt that there's some conspiracy to offend here, but there is a push, in the title and in the opening pages of this book, to grab your attention. At times, the barbs can be distracting to the message of the book - one of the reasons it might have earned one less star than 5, from me) but the book is still very well written, and it is an easy read.

Finally, you should be aware that there is very, very little agreement between Rosemond and Barkley on just about anything related to ADHD. Accordingly, it can be a very difficult path to walk when you are faced with a diagnosis or even the suggestion of inquiry. I've yet to come across a difinitive work that sets forth both sides and attempt to walk methodically and accurately between them. Maybe that isn't possible.

Good book. Easy to read. Worth your time if you're making an honest inquiry.

Before reading this book I believed that ADHD was an actual medically proven disorder. I felt it was overdiagnosed, but that in a small handful of people it truly existed. This book was quite frightening in that it exposes the lack of solid medical evidence behind disorders that people are being diagnosed with everyday. To learn that ADHD, ODD, EOBD and others have no medical "proof" behind them is disturbing. Even more disturbing are the powerful and dangerous drugs that thousands of parents are readily giving to their children to cure disorders that are still considered theoretical or even non-existent by a surprising number of medical professionals. America's parents are turning more and more to organic child raising in an effort to give children the safest and cleanest start to life, but at the same time are subscribing to the belief that every misbehavior can and should be treated with psychotropic drugs whithout considering the side effects and long term effects of such drugs. Considering todays' climate of victimhood it is amazing that anyone came out with a book this controversial. However, it is not just a sensational read that is long on shock and short on fact. It is extremely well researched with plenty of scientific evidence backing the author's opinions. As a mother of one child with plans to have more, the odds are good that at some point some helpful but mistaken teacher/counselor/friend will confuse childish exuberance or misbehavior with a "chemical imbalance in the brain caused by defective genes" (read the book for the fallacy behind that phrase) and recommend medical treatment. Having read this book I will know how to respond, which would include refusing to put my children on drugs to alter the chemicals in their brains. (Can anyone think of a more dangerous type of drug than one that alters a brain? And we're expected to give these to children as young as 2 whose brains are still forming.) I would recommend this book to anyone, with children or without. Even if you don't have children this book will still apply to you. Adults are being diagnosed with these disorders which will affect you in the workplace, and laws are trying to be passed regarding these disorders which will affect everyone's lives. This is a hot issue which everyone should be informed about and it is refreshing to hear the other side of the debate. Many people who have 100% bought into ADHD, etc., will be outraged by this book, but that's good. Maybe they will start to think about this issue, and that is exactly what the author's intended.

In response to Aurelius101, there is no cure for juvenile, or type 1, diabetes, and for both you and the authors of this book to suggest there is happens to be both irresponsible and ignorant in the extreme. In fact, it puts everything else they say in the category of "unbelievable," as far as I am concerned. I am open-minded enough to at least entertain ideas with which I disagree; however, when one suggests something so outrageously, patently false, everything else one says is suspect.

Type one, or juvenile, diabetes is not caused by lifestyle factors. There is no known cause. The pancreas simply stops producing insulin. The sufferer must then go on insulin injections or a pump for the remainder of their life. There is NO KNOWN CURE. And if the authors of this book pulled a cure for juvenile diabetes out of their backside, they wouldn't be peddling a book about how fake ADHD is on Amazon, they'd be millionaires retiring in Belize right about now, while children everywhere were throwing away their syringes and pumps.

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I've read a lot of books on the subject, and this is surely one of the best. The authors not only attack and effectively demolish the fraudulent pseudoscience behind ADHD and its treatment with medication, but they also offer very good, wise, funny and helpful advice to parents facing the difficult task of raising children. To any parent worried about their child's behavior, I'll say this: if you read only one book, read this one.

I have a five year old who is going to start kindergarten next year. Already, I have family members trying to tell me he's hyper or ADD. I couldn't wait to get my hands on this book and, in fact, pre-ordered it.

I read it over a weekend. I found it to be very encouraging. It should be good armor against the barrage of pro-medication propoganda I am likely to encounter in the coming years as my son heads off to school.