ADD/ADHD Treatment: The Truth About Parenting, Teaching, and Medication by Jon Bennett

More and more children are being diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder/Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, and you can find a huge amount of information about this in books and over the web. Where treatment is concerned, most of this information points in the same direction: the ADD/ADHD child needs medication; parenting and teaching styles have no effect.

Parents should know that the assumptions behind this kind of treatment, ‘facts’ repeated again and again by the establishment which supports the cause of ADD/ADHD, are simply not true and can be dangerous.

Myth 1: Parenting styles are irrelevant

Our parenting choices - spending less time with our children, choosing to make them live with only one parent, letting them watch TV or spend hours on the computer, among others – have consequences. Many parents also don’t realize that if they want their children to listen to them, they need to practice tact and courtesy and some careful listening back as well. Others are impatient with children’s natural immaturity and slowness.

The fact is that when children are small, parents almost have total power over them. It’s scary and very disturbing when someone responsible, educated, and in authority, says, as doctors treating the disorder often do, that children influence parents as much as parents influence children.

Myth 2: Teaching styles are irrelevant

All children benefit from smaller class, interesting lessons, hands-on work, and an education tailored to their particular level. Some children just need more of this than others. When a child is not able to cope with our one-size-fits-all style of education, it does not help anyone to say that he has a disorder.

Also, we hear that ADD/ADHD children cannot be taught to sit still in class or to look before they cross the road and that they need to be medicated to learn this. The fact is that even autistic children, with the proper teaching, learn to sit still and cross the road safely by themselves.

Myth 3: The medicines are harmless

The doctor may tell you about physical side effects like sleeplessness and loss of appetite, and help you manage them. He may tell you that side-effects like suicidal thoughts or abnormal behavior, which you might have heard about, are very rare. But you need to know that this becomes much more likely when a child is prescribed medication for dealing with attention deficit and behavior issues caused by depression, abuse, or trauma. This is because the medicines work by reducing playfulness and creativity, and by increasing compliance and submissiveness.

Why do we choose to believe in these things when we should know better? Because accepting these myths lets us adults off the hook, and allows us to continue as always without the radical readjustment of our lives, values, and culture our troubled children really need.

Visit www.3stepsadd.com today to learn more about proven, scientific, and natural methods to succeed in spite of your ADD/ADHD - without using drugs. Get more information regarding ADD/ADHD.