ADHD.

[JsMum]

Today I watched BBC news today and it said that if you have ADHD it increases the likely to be involeved in crime by a wopping 50 percent.

 

Even mothers with Low IQs are even been blamed on children who commit crime which I find offensive and discriminative.

 

It is trying to highlight the increase in knife crime and anti socail behaviour and how there going to tackle it, such as giving no alternative parenting courses, eviction from housing.

 

Then later on tonight I watched the olympic hopefuls, a boy who is a possible Judo champ got into difficulty as his ADHD was too difficult to control, he had his medication stopped due to this been a controlled substance, but it was clear without it he couldnt focus or maintain attention, looked like he had a load of tallent too, but he ended up been banned for a month because of inapropriate behaviour, it didnt describe what that inapropriate behaviour was though.

 

It seem more and more that ADHD is a real contribution to the way some children behave, I feel that society really needs to start to understand ADHD as a real disability and learn more about it, as it has a massive effect on the child and those who share that life, in our area ADHD isnt even believed by many and many teachers thinks its just an excuse for naughty children, but what they dont realise is that the naughty behaviour they see is the mask that hides the real difficulties the child has, the clown to shadow the real inner feelings, smiling face, but thats not half the truth, I think if we want to tackle crime and other difficulties then we must start to include it as a real disability, giving the same rights to disability criterias.

 

Our areas doesnt include ADHD/EBD/ODD/Conduct Disorder as a disability to give services to, they actually state very clearly, oh we dont give services to those who have ADHD ect..... yet they have loads of difficulties and many like my son come along with other difficulties, its very rare now that you have a child with just ADHD, and now its coming more recognised that those with AS have ADHD as a comorbid, and vice verser, I do consider ADHD as a spectrum disorder but its not included as so here in England but it is in other countries.

 

My personal opinion is that more support and services need to be available than what is available right now, I bet if they did a similair satistic for crime as with Education I bet the highest exclusions would go to a child with ADHD or low attendance or home educated it would top all disabilites, proving that this has a much more consequence to a ADHD sufferer, I wonder what the satistics for ADHD in care, or prisons, young offenders, from the research Ive read again it would be at the top.

 

I really feel for my son, a severe ADHD effected child, his life is already halfed in satistics information but very little really done, many in denial or half know the real symptoms, many that are masked by other developmental disorders/difficulties.

 

I just feel lately that ADHD has much more implications than many other disabilites lately, yet its banned from local areas criterias, no help means things spiral, I suspect a lot of the difficulties with young children in criminal justice is because the right support hasnt been available early, its only when that young person has done something serious do they then address and accomadate the ADHD.

 

Its wrong, for some families its too late, the damage is done.

 

Just sharing my feelings as a mother who has a son with ADHD plus.

 

JsMum

Edited July 15, 2008 by JsMum

[Sooze2]

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[Stella63]

Hi Jsmum,

 

You have hit the nail right on the head!!

I am still struggling to get my head around the whole ADHD thing as AJ wasn't dx'd until he was 15 and by that time he has gone through virtually the whole of his education labeled the 'naughty boy' and lives up to the expectation of those around him. His teachers aren't interested in his dx as they have had enough of him and aren't willing to even try and learn how to adjust their teaching and attitudes (apart from maybe one or two).

 

He is now under the youth justice service for an offence he commited and it is only now that we are getting any kind of support and understanding for him and for us. As part of the 'package' we now have a parent support worker who knows absolutely everything about ADHD and has been a godsend. She not only gives me strategies but is offering to go into school and give advice to staff.

 

Incidentally I was invited to an ADHD workshop last week which was given by a lady who has ADHD and has worked with many children, teenagers and offenders. She was so inspiring and I learnt so much about AJ and also others that I work with. She offers workshops in Surrey but because she is the only one doing this her waiting list is incredibly long. She is writing a paper at the moment trying to prove that if intervention is given when children are young, the money saved later would run into millions (ie to help keep teens out of trouble and out of the criminal system).

 

I was amazed to be sitting with 20 or so parents, all with teens who have got into trouble and all had the same problems we have had since AJ was little. I have always known that there was more to it than just bad behaviour and listening to them confirmed this big time. For the first time I felt that I was not alone with all the problems we have had to deal with (and still are) but this lady said exactly what you are saying - people need to know what ADHD is all about otherwisw nothing changes.

 

Stella x

[Shnoing]

Just to add my 2 pence ...

 

Our 21-yrs-old daughter has a dx of AD(H)D since the age of 10. We've had no problems with her regarding crime, but she's at her 9th school by now and - as you can see by her age - it has taken some additional time to get to the last grade. She's had her prescription of ritalin, but refused to take it once she was 13.

 

I've got the impression that by having AD(H)D she's more inclined to be the victim of a crime rather than the offender. But that's on an individual basis.