Ablchild ADHD

“One of AbleChild’s goals is to ‘educate the educators’ to the real facts behind labeling and drugging children. Most educators have been exposed to only one-side of this issue, many being taught that labeling and “medicating” children is a solid answer for behavioral or attentional problems. Many of these people within the education system have been told that these “medications” are mild substances, completely unaware of the very real risks and dangers that these drugs can have on a child. This is part of the problem. As an organization we are there to open their eyes to the reality of the situation.” -Ms. Patricia Weathers

“All physicians have this duty of diagnosis, of determining whether there is a disease or not. They then have a duty of informed consent, which is to tell parents and patients all the facts about their condition and about the drugs that might be used in their treatment (whether it is a disease or not, which one, it’s course/prognosis, untreated, treated). I submit that, in saying ADHD is a disease, they totally abrogate informed consent with that one statement alone…”

Author of The ADHD FRAUD: "How Psychiatry makes "patients" of normal children"

"The reason why you have been unable to obtain any articles or studies presenting clear and confirming evidence of a physical or chemical abnormality associated with ADHD is that there is none".

Freedom and the power to choose should not be the privilege of wealth. They are the birthright of every American.

“The toxicities of psychiatric medications are significant, and they have only been investigated to a small extent. Many, if not all, psychotropic drugs are profound neuroendocrine disruptors – exerting negative effects upon cognition, growth, metabolism, and reproduction. If another country had inflicted upon America the damage which has been caused by psychiatry and the pharmaceutical industry together, the Congress might have justifiably declared war long ago.”

"This prospective longitudinal study of ADHD and age-mate control subjects...has provided evidence that childhood use of CNS treatment is significantly and pervasively implicated in the uptake of regular smoking, in daily smoking in adulthood, in cocaine

Nadine Lambert. Research Presented at the NIH Consensus Development Conference 1998 Stimulant Treatment as a Risk Factor for Nicotine Use and Substance Abuse Dr. Lambert is a professor and the Chairperson of The University of California at Berkeley Psychology Division

“I have made little attempt to tell both sides of the ADHD story. Rather, I tried to make my bias clear from the start. It is a bias based not only on theory, but also on nearly thirty years of experience with children and families of every imaginable type. Thus, I will say it one final time: To conclude that distressed children simply have faulty brain chemistry and to categorize millions of them as though they are in some way defective is to take the easy way out. It provides the basis for a thinly veiled Orwellian social policy that threatens the futures----and the very souls----of our nation’s children. Surely there is a better way.”

One School’s Remarkable No-Ritalin Approach to Helping Children Learn and Succeed Published by Beacon Press

“Many parents do not realize that terms such as ‘We believe’, ‘We feel’, ‘We think’ are not based on scientific fact. These terms are used widely and represent the very real fact that the medical establishment does not “really know”. They throw out their theory, their soft science view and in turn misrepresent, distort and confuse the general public regarding the issue all the while pocketing huge amounts of profit at the expense of our children and families worldwide.” - Patricia Weathers, President and Founder: AbleChild.org/Parents for Label and Drug Free Education

“Let me clear this up right now. ADHD is not like diabetes and [the stimulant used for it] is not like insulin. Diabetes is a real medical condition that can be objectively diagnosed. ADHD is an invented label with no objective, valid means of identification. Insulin is a natural hormone produced by the body and it is essential for life. [This stimulant] is a chemically derived amphetamine-like drug that is not necessary for life. Diabetes is an insulin deficiency. Attention and behavioral problems are not a [stimulant] deficiency.”

Dr. Mary Ann Block

“The documentation in this report directly refutes the assertions that methylphenidate is a benign, mild stimulant that is not associated with abuse or serious side effects. The majority of the literature prepared for public consumption and available to parents does not address methylphenidate’s abuse liability or actual abuse. The abuse reports demonstrate that even adolescents who are abusing methylphenidate do not view this activity as dangerous. Whereas the majority of children experience only minor side-effects under medically supervised controlled conditions, as reported broadly in short-term efficacy studies, the smaller number of case reports documenting more severe abuse and scientific studies of abuse potential is down-played, if referenced at all. As a consequence, parents of children and adult patients are not being provided with the opportunity for informed consent or a true risk/benefit consideration in determining if they want their children or themselves taking methylphenidate.”

U.S. Department of Justice & Drug Enforcement Administration Methylphenidate (A Background Paper) October 1995.

“….We do not have an independent, valid test for ADHD, and there are no data to indicate that ADHD is due to a brain malfunction.” 1998 National Institutes of Health

"Informed consent can be effectively exercised only if the patient possesses enough information to enable an intelligent choice." (AMA, 1999)

"The diagnosis of ADHD is highly subjective- there's no definitive test you can give someone that says they've got it or they don't," said Greg Foust, a research manager in Kodak's System Concepts Center.

"Considering the joylessness of many schools with their authoritarian structures, it is fair to speculate that hyperactivity may be a 'normal' response - indeed, even a healthy reaction - to an intolerable situation".

Insight asked Ross to describe the scientific information disseminated by CHADD to support its contention that ADHD is a brain disease.
"The surgeon general of the United States [David Satcher]," Ross explains, "called ADHD a brain disorder with a neurological origin in his 1999 Report on Mental Health. It's not a CHADD position; it's the surgeon general's position." While the former surgeon general did suggest that ADHD is a brain disorder with a neurological origin, no conclusive scientific evidence was presented in the report to support the theory.

Finally, Insight asked Ross why it is that only the "science" that supports the validity of ADHD is disseminated by CHADD. "It really is a matter of belief," Ross says. "Do you want to believe the surgeon general of the United States ? He said ADHD is a valid disorder and has serious symptoms and we don't know 100 percent of the cause of it yet.

Despite the fact that documents provided on CHADD's Website declare that ADHD not only is a "neurobiological" disorder but also a "neurological" disorder, the bottom line apparently has little to do with science. As Ross states, it "is a matter of belief."

Kelly Patricia O’Meara’s Interview with E. Clarke Ross (Head of CHADD: Children and Adults with Attention Deficit Disorder)