October 28, 2002

Dr. Levine
The Clinical Center for the Study of
Development and Learning CB#7255
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC  27599-7255

Dear Dr. Levine:

Our organization is concerned about the information that is being provided to parents regarding the issue of ADHD/ADD. Today parents are often given a variety of inaccurate materials that lack scientific veracity. On the flip side of the coin, parents many times are not provided with crucial information involving the side effects of the psychotropic drugs used to "treat" this disorder. Without proper informed consent, parents and their children are many times falling prey to an unregulated mental health industry.

Our goal, as an organization, is to hold the mental health industry accountable for providing informed consent to every parent. We will continue to lobby for more stringent regulations to be placed upon them. We are outraged that the mental health field has infiltrated our school systems and force-feeds psychology and labels, at the price of sound, proven educational tools. These tools are all too often hidden from parents or swapped with today's latest all too convenient "disorders/labels".

Your new book, All Kinds of Minds seems to have touched so many desperate parents looking for solutions to a deteriorating educational system. These same parents, and ultimately their children, are many times left by the wayside. We can only hope that you will show your support for our cause and look into this matter more in depth.

We ask that you take the time to read the many websites questioning the labeling and drugging of our children. We will list them for you at the bottom of this letter. We ask that you take the time to read over The Drug Enforcement Agency Report on Methylphenidate. Parents are never provided with the valuable information that is enclosed in this report. Another valuable piece of information that fails to reach the public is The Berkeley Study, completed in the late 1990's, which raised the contention that Ritalin and other stimulants used to "treat" this disorder actually contribute to later drug abuse. Furthermore, parents are not told that their children on these Schedule II psycho-stimulants, after the age of 12 years, have automatic military ineligibility.

In summation, parents should not have to weed through the miss-information to get to the facts. Ultimately, it is we that have the job of providing the care and protection of our children. We cannot fulfill this obligation and make sound, educated decisions without being provided with all the facts.

We hope to hear from you soon in regards to this matter and can only hope that you will take this issue seriously enough to bring it more into the public’s eye.

Thank you,

Sheila Matthews

Vice President
"Parents for Label & Drug Free Education"
New Canaan, CT