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Tag: Psychiatric Drugs

Ablechild

The Wildest Colts Make the Best Horses

Written by AbleChild on . Posted in Essential Books.

The Wildest Colts Make the Best Horses, is, as the title implies, a work that encourages the spirits of our young people and shines a more positive light on them.  The book also has two subtitles.  The first subtitle, The Truth About Ritalin, ADHD, and other “Disruptive Behavior Disorders” signals that the book really brings a lot of attention to the phenomenon of unrealistically high numbers of children being labeled with these kind of diagnoses, and prescribed potentially dangerous psychiatric medication.  The second subtitle is What to Do When Your Child is Labeled By the Schools.  The book offers a great deal of support for any adult that is caring for and looking to help a child in this type of situation.

This book is divided into three major sections:

Part 1: Recognition and Remembrance

  • Since society distorts the reality regarding the experience of children and schools, we need to recognize this and create a realistic picture of the situation to respond effectively.
  • Addresses the “Biopsychiatry” approach, which has led to the overmedicating of children with psychiatric drugs like Ritalin in the United States.
  • This section works to focus on ideas of who the child truly is and see the schools for what they really are.
  • Remembrance refers to training ourselves to be able to remember who our child truly is, which can be easy to forget in times of heightened stress and when the child is having a hard time emotionally or behaviorally.

Part 2: Information and Action

  • This section focuses on solutions – what action parents can take to help their child.
  • In our flawed society where no one tells us how to be parents, this book guides us on how to respond to these sensitive situations.

Part 3:  On Counseling Children

  • This section is the heart of the book.
  • Does a great job of outlining and unpacking all of the conditioned thinking that has led our society astray.
  • Our society lacks support for both parents and children, and helping your children the way that is outlined in this book is very challenging in our culture today.
  • This section thoroughly examines important topics like fear, shame, crying and anger.
  • The author shares his own personal experiences as a parent.

About the Author

John Breeding, Ph.D., is a psychologist with over 25 years of experience who counsels adults children and families out of his private practice in Austin, Texas, and also around the world.  He is the director of the non-profit organization Wildest Colts Resources, which focuses on helping adults working with young people having a hard time to offer non-drug treatment alternatives.  He is also the director of Texans for Safe Education, a citizens group dedicated to fighting the growing role of psychiatry and psychiatric drugs in schools today.

Dr. Breeding is also experienced in other aspects of psychiatric oppression, including electroshock and psychiatric drugging of elders in nursing homes.  He received his doctorate from the University of Texas.  He has published several other books: Eyes Wide Open: Parenting and Life Mainfestos for the 21st Century, True Nature and Great Misunderstandings (On How We Care for Our Children According to Our Understanding, and Necessity of Madness and Unproductivity: Psychiatric Oppression or Human Transformation.

Reviews

Moira Dolan, M.D. The West News, Fall 1996:

“Are you the parent of a ‘wild colt’? Is your darling child identified as a ‘problem’ in school, or been the target of kindly professionals suggesting Ritalin? If so, you will discover your child in John Breeding’s new book….”

Chris Mercogliano, author of Making it Up as We Go Along, the Story of the Albany Free School and Co-Director of the Free School:

“Authors die for the perfect titles for their work. Well, John Breeding has come up with a doozy here. I wholeheartedly agree with Breeding and share his horror at what we are doing to our society’s wild colts. Breeding elects to focus mainly on today’s most popular designer label for children who don’t fit the mold, “Attention Deficit Disorder.” He emphatically repudiates any and every psychopharmaceutical approach to the behavioral management of children… Breeding knows what he’s talking about. So, parents out there, if the “psychiatric police” show up at your door, there is another way.”

Ablechild

True Nature and Great Misunderstandings (On How We Care for our Children According to Our Understanding)

Written by AbleChild on . Posted in Essential Books.

In this groundbreaking work from 2002, author John Breeding gives extra attention to the view, or understanding, from which we are viewing our children.  For example, if we think they are rowdy and violent, then we will have an understanding that we have to tame them.  Or if we don’t recognize their unlimited capacity for curiosity and intelligence, we will see them as uncooperative and misbehaving and feel the need to punish or reward them accordingly.  In this book, Breeding gently shines the light on the misunderstanding we have that our children’s wonderful gifts are in fact biologically-based problems labeled as “mental illness,” then the turnout is a society with millions of children on dangerous and unnecessary psychotropic drugs.

But instead of leading us to extreme shock and anger, Breeding does an excellent job of allowing us to properly absorb the information, clearly see the correct perspective and take the necessary actions to correct these misunderstandings.  Breeding explains in detail how we can stop suppressing our children’s gifts and passions and instead nurture their emotional and intellectual growth and development.  He eases fears many parents have about certain behaviors they may have been conditioned to see as signs of “mental illness.”  True Nature and Great Misunderstandings is not only an excellent book that will help parents care for their children, it can also help parents and other adults heal from their own childhood hurts.

About the Author

John Breeding, Ph.D., is a psychologist with over 25 years of experience who counsels adults children and families out of his private practice in Austin, Texas, and also around the world.  He is the director of the non-profit organization Wildest Colts Resources, which focuses on helping adults working with young people having a hard time to offer non-drug treatment alternatives.  He is also the director of Texans for Safe Education, a citizens group dedicated to fighting the growing role of psychiatry and psychiatric drugs in schools today.

Dr. Breeding is also experienced in other aspects of psychiatric oppression, including electroshock and psychiatric drugging of elders in nursing homes.  He received his doctorate from the University of Texas.  He has published several other books: Eyes Wide Open: Parenting and Life Mainfestos for the 21st Century, The Wildest Colts Make the Best Horses, and Necessity of Madness and Unproductivity: Psychiatric Oppression or Human Transformation.

Reviews

Psychologist/teacher Roger Mitchell, Ph.D.:

“Somehow, someway, John Breeding has found a way to measure his steps, his dreams, his pain, and his passion-to transform them into a dynamic interplay with the times and the American culture in a way that is thought provoking and heart rendering. I am always inspired when I read his ‘marking of the twain,’ sounding the depth of our American way of life.”

Author Jan Hunt (The Natural Child: Parenting from the Heart):

“In his strong voice, John Breeding makes it clear that our children deserve to be accepted and valued for their unique and wonderful qualities, not evaluated, pigeon-holed, labeled, or drugged. It is my hope that this refreshing, thought-provoking, and very important book will be read and taken to heart by all those fortunate enough to have children, work with children, or advocate on their behalf.”

Ablechild

No More Ritalin: Treating ADHD Without Drugs

Written by AbleChild on . Posted in Essential Books.

With several million children still being prescribed ADHD drugs such as Ritalin every year, Dr. Mary Ann Block makes the case for why Ritalin (generic name methylphenidate) could be a huge risk to your child’s health.  Block takes an avant-garde approach in No More Ritalin: Treating ADHD Without Drugs, not only questioning the very existence of the ADHD diagnosis, but she outlines safe and more effective drug-free alternative means of treatment.  Block is of the school of thought that you can’t treat the problem until you identify the underlying causes of ADHD, such as hypoglycemia, allergies, environmental factors and hyperthyroidism.  Often, symptoms stemming from issues such as these are misdiagnosed as ADHD.  The book also lists commonly prescribed medications, explains what they are and the potential side effects they can have on children.

Block discusses in the book her belief that children diagnoses with ADHD are usually right-brain dominant in their information processing and learning styles, as well as being more creative than those with left-brain dominant styles.  She explains the need for right-brain dominated children to be offered better accommodations with their learning styles in the school system.  Block presents her arguments with thorough research and actual case histories from her clinic.

About the Author

Dr. Mary Ann Block is a top-selling author on family health, and director of the Block Center.  Her medical approach is to look for and treat, whenever possible, the underlying causes of the problem, instead of using drugs to cover the symptoms.  Her other books include No More ADHD, Just Because You’re Depressed, Doesn’t Mean You Have Depression, Depression is a Symptom Not a Disease, So Find the Cause — Fix the Problem, Today I Will Not Die, and The ABC’s of Raising Great Kids.

Dr. Block chairs The Health and Empowerment Committee for the National Foundation of Women Legislators.  She is a State of Texas Family Practice Preceptor and served on the faculty as assistant professor at the University of North Texas Health Science Center/Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine in Fort Worth, Texas.  Dr. Block is a regular contributor on TBN and FamilyNet’s Your Health with Dr. Richard Becker, as well as being quoted in magazines, newspapers, radio and TV shows across the country.

ADHD

No More ADHD, 10 Steps to Help Improve Your Child’s Attention and Behavior WITHOUT Drugs

Written by AbleChild on . Posted in Essential Books.

From the same top-selling author of Just Because You’re Depressed, Doesn’t Mean You Have Depression, Depression is a Symptom Not a Disease, So Find the Cause — Fix the Problem is a book that thoroughly investigates the truth about the ADHD diagnosis, and helps parents identify their child’s true health and learning problems and find non-pharmaceutical ways to improve these issues.  Block reveals what’s behind the origin of the medical profession’s label of ADHD, question’s the disorder’s medical legitimacy, and shows how children’s attention and behavior symptoms can be the result of real and explainable health and learning problems.

Dr. Block is an outspoken critic of children being diagnosed with ADHD and the dangers of the psychiatric drugs being prescribed to treat children.  She advises parents to make sure their children are thoroughly examined by a medical professional to find underlying medical problems that could be misdiagnosed as a mental disorder.

Dr. Block is a mother who knows from personal experience how the medical system can fail a child. Her daughter became seriously ill following an incorrect diagnosis from doctors and inappropriate use of pharmaceutical drugs.  This compelled her to attend medical school at the age of 39 to save her daughter.  Dr. Block’s perspective as both a parent and a physician should set many parents at ease and give them confidence in her advice in this book.

About the Author

Dr. Mary Ann Block is a licensed osteopathic physician and top-selling author on family health, and director of the Block Center.  Her other books include No More Ritalin, No More Amoxicillin, Today I Will Not Die, and The ABC’s of Raising Great Kids.

Dr. Block chairs The Health and Empowerment Committee for the National Foundation of Women Legislators.  She is a State of Texas Family Practice Preceptor and served on the faculty as assistant professor at the University of North Texas Health Science Center/Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine in Fort Worth, Texas.  Dr. Block is a regular contributor on TBN and FamilyNet’s Your Health with Dr. Richard Becker, as well as being quoted in magazines, newspapers, radio and TV shows across the country.

forced psychiatric drugging

And They Call It Help: The Psychiatric Policing of America’s Children

Written by AbleChild on . Posted in Essential Books.

In this shocking and revealing expose, author Louise Armstrong expresses her frustration with how “problem” children and teenagers have become hostages of of psychiatric hospitals.  She gives us a snapshot of how these children are drugged, isolated and held prisoner supposedly for their own good.  Armstrong also examines the motivations behind these hospitals for this abuse of children and teenagers, with greed being at the top of the list.

Going back to the 1980s, Armstrong follows the rapid expansion of juvenile hospitalization and makes a connection to profits that comes from the state and insurance companies.  She points out how the mental health industry has continued to make more and more behaviors, feelings and thoughts that are part of the natural human makeup into psychiatric issues that require treatment.  This, according to Armstrong, leads to institutionalization and drugging of children that are perfectly normal, but are going through a troubling time or living in a stressful environment.   In the book, Armstrong includes conversations with some of these hospitalized children who describe their experiences in these institutions.

About the Author

Louise Armstrong is a writer, feminist and activist, who has published numerous children’s and adults’ books.  The topics she covers in her books range from child abuse, to incest, family violence and sexual abuse.  Her other books include Kiss Daddy Goodnight, A Child’s Guide to Freud, and Sexual Liberals and the Attack on Feminism.  She also is a former staff member of the Institute of Children’s Literature, led a committee on family violence for the National Women’s Health Network, and has been a contributor to magazines such as Woman’s Day.

The Arrest of Sandy Hook Killer’s Psychiatrist Raises a Host of Issues

Written by Able Child on . Posted in Sandy Hook, Violence.

Dr. Paul Fox, the primary psychiatrist for Sandy Hook shooter, Adam Lanza, has been charged with three felony counts of sexual assault on a then 19 year-old patient that reportedly occurred back in 2010-2011. Getting to Fox’s arrest has been a complicated journey, raising a host of issues that, frankly, need to be addressed.

First the original investigation, regarding accusations of sexual assault, was conducted four years ago in March of 2012 by the State of Connecticut Department of Public Health. During that investigation several important issues came to light, one of which involved Fox’s psychiatric drug prescribing practices.

According to the investigative file, over the course of one year, Fox prescribed what the victim called a “dynamic cocktail of psychiatric drugs.” The “constantly changing mix” of psychiatric drugs included: Ativan (anxiety), Saphris (bi-polar disorder), Abilify (schizophrenia), Nuvigil (sleep apnea, narcolepsy), Prozac (Major-depression, OCD), Zyprexa (Schizophrenia, bi-polar disorder), Xanax, and Vistaril (anxiety, tension). Vistaril also is used as a sedative and for general anesthesia.

After reviewing the above cocktail of psychiatric drugs, one can only wonder how anyone could even remotely believe the victim participated in “consensual” sex with Fox, especially in light of the victim’s comment that she was “usually drugged up out of (her) mind…” That is an understatement, and begs the question: if Fox is drugging his patient’s with cocktails of drugs, was Adam Lanza a victim of Fox’s prolific drugging?  How many different psychiatric diagnoses did Fox subjectively bestow on Adam Lanza and what kind of psychiatric “dynamic cocktail” was Lanza prescribed while a “patient” under Fox’s “care.”

Tough to know. The State refuses to release Lanza’s mental health records or autopsy/toxicology results and Fox claims to have little memory of Lanza. Fox also claims to have destroyed his medical records prior to his 2012 departure to New Zealand.   Apparently law enforcement never thought it important, at least, to review Fox’s billing records, which Fox claims still existed in December of 2012. So how about now? Has Fox retained the billing records of his patients and will law enforcement finally look at them?

This is an important question. When Fox surrendered his medical license in July 2012 he also agreed (as a condition of surrender) to adhere to the records retention laws of Connecticut (19a-14-44). Fox was required to retain all medical and billing records for patients up to seven years after the last date of “treatment.” If one accepts that Fox last saw Lanza in 2007, then Fox admits he destroyed Lanza’s “treatment” records two years too early. And, of course, one can only assume that the records of the alleged victim(s) of Fox’s reported sexual assault also have been destroyed.

Furthermore, one has to wonder what responsibility the Department of Health has when it comes to alleged sexual predators masquerading as doctors and working as counselors in the state’s universities. According to the investigation, the State Department of Health concluded that “review of the documentation identified exchanges between the patient and the respondent that exceed the boundaries of a professional doctor, patient relationship.”

But has the public health and welfare been served by allowing the doctor to simply surrender his license? Should the State be required to, at a minimum, report serious sexual assault allegations to local law enforcement?

And one simply cannot ignore what appears to be another questionable patient “treatment” problem which has arisen in New Zealand, where Fox fled to practice psychiatric counseling. Fox reportedly “treated” Nicky Stevens, a young man who died while under psychiatric care in New Zealand.

The questions regarding that case are too numerous to even consider. But one cannot help but question the obvious. If Fox surrendered his license to practice medicine and prescribe drugs in July of 2012, how was he allowed to practice psychiatric counseling and prescribe psychiatric drugs in New Zealand?

Additionally, Danbury State’s Attorney, Stephen Sedensky, will be prosecuting Fox’s case, because he tells Ablechild that the sexual assault charges are “the strongest.”   But Ablechild cannot help but wonder why Sedensky, who, according to the Sandy Hook investigation, knew about the allegations of Fox’s sexual assault, the failure of Fox to retain his records and the questionable psychiatric drugging back in 2012, didn’t initiate an investigation of Fox at that time. The information, that was available in 2012, hasn’t changed.

These are important questions because there are victims of what appear to be blatant psychiatric abuses. These are important questions because, in the immediate aftermath of Sandy Hook, Connecticut lawmakers passed sweeping, costly, mental health legislation without having any information to warrant the increased mental health services.

In fact, based on what has been revealed in the Department of Health investigation about Dr. Paul Fox, Adam Lanza’s last known primary psychiatrist, it would appear that an investigation into psychiatric practices in the state were actually needed. And if ever there was an argument for release of Lanza’s mental health records for the five years leading up to the shooting, it doesn’t get any better than simply reviewing the long-known unquestionably abusive mental health services provided by Fox.

 

 

 

 

 

Milford, CT School Sued for Student’s Mental Health Treatment Prior to Murder

Written by Able Child on . Posted in Violence.

According to the Newtown Patch, a recently filed lawsuit, regarding the stabbing of Maren Sanchez alleges that “Maren reported to the high school guidance department her concern that Christopher Plaskon was emotionally disturbed and was threatening to commit suicide or acts of serious self-harm by cutting himself with a knife, and that she believed it was important for high school personnel to help Plaskon, then 16, to prevent him from engaging in potentially violent conduct dangerous to himself or to others.”

With the ever-increasing number of school shootings across the nation, one must wonder if this lawsuit may be the tipping point for a national discussion on schools involvement in arbitrarily identifying students with alleged psychiatric disorders and recommending mental health “treatments,” known to be associated with an increased risks of suicide and violence?

The National Association of School Psychology, NASP, is responsible for the information that is supplied to the school psychologists that function within the school and evaluates and identifies students for eligibility for special education.  A common factor in all mass shootings and stabbings committed by students is the failure of the school system or institution to release the mental health records of the perpetrator.

The mental health records, which would reveal whether psychiatric drugs were involved during the incident, more than the choice of weapon, is the critical information needed to identify contributing factors that may help to eliminate this massive public health crisis.  Without the information contained within the mental health records, the public, as well as our lawmakers, cannot write effective legislation to protect students, families, as well as all consumers.

Is the NASP a monopoly with strong conflicts of interests that relies on privacy to shield their role in the increased risks of violence and suicide plaguing our education system?

According to the NASP services listed below, and their claim regarding the school psychologists’ unique qualifier, this lawsuit provides the public with a unique opportunity to initiate a conversation about how much power this association is given and the risks it creates for our children. After all, even NASP knows there is no known abnormality in the brain that is any alleged psychiatric disorder, making these diagnoses suspect.

Nevertheless, the NASP writes, “School psychologists are uniquely qualified members of school teams that support students’ ability to learn and teachers’ ability to teach. They apply expertise in mental health, learning, and behavior, to help children and youth succeed academically, socially, behaviorally, and emotionally.”   So, the NASP basically does it all.

Data collection and analysis
Assessment
Progress monitoring
School-wide practices to promote learning
Resilience and risk factors
Consultation and collaboration
Academic/learning interventions
Mental health interventions
Behavioral interventions
Instructional support
Prevention and intervention services
Special education services
Crisis preparedness, response, and recovery
Family-school-community collaboration
Diversity in development and learning
Research and program evaluation
Professional ethics, school law, and systems”

Is this safe? After all, it is near impossible to eliminate their involvement with a student who attends the public education system.  The NASP political influence on lawmaking only grows stronger each year.  A student has a very difficult time to refuse psychiatric evaluations and still receive special education help and is not provided informed consent on the subjective nature of their assessment tools – basically opinions of behavior.

The Milford Lawsuit is interesting in that the family seems to have chosen the right target – the school’s involvement with the perpetrator’s mental health treatment.

The State missed this opportunity in the Sandy Hook mass murder to investigate the link between mental health “treatment” and the mass shooting and to hold those treating Lanza accountable. In fact, the State used the killings to push for more mental health “treatment,” based on no evidence that Adam Lanza lacked access to school-based or community-based mental health services or that those services were not the best that money could buy. The mental health billing records, autopsy, and toxicology of Adam Lanza were never released to the public, despite AbleChild vs. Chief Medical Examiner Freedom of Information request.

What Happened to the First Amendment, Sandy Hook?

Written by Able Child on . Posted in Sandy Hook, Violence.

In response to Jacqueline Smith and her opinion of Professor James Tracy, two words immediately spring to mind: Toughen up. Strong reaction? Yes. But trampling on the First Amendment is serious and requires a strong response.

Smith claims that Professor Tracy doesn’t have a First Amendment right to “spew his nonsense.” There is no need to go any further in her rambling, disjointed piece. Smith simply does not understand that it is precisely this kind of “nonsense” that the Founding Fathers intended to protect.

Smith may not like, appreciate, or understand Professor Tracy’s thoughts and motives, but he has a right – and some would argue a duty – to critical thinking, and a right to publically espouse those thoughts, however repugnant they may be to Smith’s, and others, delicate sensitivities.

The problem with Smith’s thought pattern, as it pertains to the First Amendment, is that she believes that if the speech is hurtful or offensive to another then it simply is unacceptable and constitutionally unprotected. That’s not how the First Amendment works, as made clear by Smith’s own ugly diatribe directed at Professor Tracy.

Let’s not forget that the Founding Fathers believed that open dialogue was so important that they made it the FIRST Amendment, not the sixth or seventh, etc.   More importantly, that freedom of speech is unabridged and there is no caveat that the speech cannot hurt someone’s feelings.

Smith’s attack on Professor Tracy’s Constitutional rights, ultimately, is due to the Professor’s questioning of the official version of events at Sandy Hook. While Smith claims her concern is that Professor Tracy crossed the First Amendment line by making a request of Lenny Pozner, in reality, anyone remotely familiar with this important case, is fully aware that Smith’s version of events was less than unbiased.

The bigger question, though, is why questioning the official version is so offensive to an alleged “newsperson?” Professor Tracy is far from the only person raising issues about Sandy Hook, as there literally are millions of websites dedicated to questioning the events at Sandy Hook and, one would think, many more millions who read them. Surely Smith is not suggesting that all of these people are not entitled to their views on the matter and must be silenced should they dare speak out publically.

What occurred at Sandy Hook has serious repercussions for not only the families of the victims and others associated with the tragedy, but everyone who is subjected to the legislative policy that has come from the incident.

As Smith well knows, the Connecticut Legislature passed sweeping, costly mental health legislation a full year prior to the release of the investigation. In other words, the legislative action was taken without full knowledge of the facts. Nevertheless, the good folks of Connecticut must not only pay for, but live by, those emotional, not fact-based, decisions. By anyone’s standards, this cannot be called responsible or thoughtful legislating.

Ablechild, a parent organization fighting for informed consent rights as they pertain to psychiatric diagnosing and psychiatric drugs, is intimately aware of the difficulties surrounding the gathering of information about Adam Lanza’s mental health records.

Despite Ablechild filing a FOIA to obtain Lanza’s mental health, toxicology and autopsy records, the state refused to publically release this information when Assistant State Attorney, Patrick Kwanashie, stated disclosure of Adam Lanza’s records “can cause a lot of people to stop taking their medications.”

These records may have provided some insight into Lanza’s actions. But to this day, despite a lengthy and costly investigation, no information about Lanza’s mental health for the five years leading up to the incident has been made publically available. Frankly, there is no information publically available that Lanza did, or did not, receive mental health services in the five years leading up to the incident.   These facts did not stop poorly thought out legislative measures from being rammed down the throats of the citizens of Connecticut.

This is just one example of the problems surrounding this incident. Anyone who read the 6700-page investigation knows there are many more. But, beyond all of this, the issue remains the right to publically discuss any, and all, issues surrounding the official version of events at Sandy Hook regardless of whose feelings may be hurt.

No, Editor Smith, you do not get to decide whose voice is worthy. You do not get to judge whose First Amendment rights are more important.  You may not like the voices you hear, or how they are used. They may be distasteful and hurtful, but every American has a right to that voice. It’s quite possible that Professor Tracy finds your opinion hurtful, and he may even think that you are writing it to purposefully harass him, but even he would have to agree that you are entitled to your damning words.

 

 

AbleChild Participates in Gun Violence Roundtable in Bridgeport, Connecticut

Written by Sheila Matthews on . Posted in Sandy Hook, Violence.

On June 29, 2015, AbleChild was one of two organizations that participated in an important Roundtable on gun violence, held in Bridgeport, Connecticut.  Mayor Bill Finch, Senator Richard Blumenthal, and Bridgeport Police Chief, Joseph Gaudett Jr., hosted the event in response to yet another community rocked by an attempted mass killing in Bridgeport, Connecticut that took the life of one and injured eight others.

Kenny Jackson of Street Safe, an organization that mentors young people, told the group, “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people,” referring to Senator Blumenthal’s attempt to sue gun manufacturers, go after the NRA, and ban “illegal” weapons.  Jackson illustrated that it is the human element that his organization’s mission focuses on, including increased parental involvement and mentoring programs.

Jackson introduced several of his staff members who shared their stories about their own journeys through the criminal justice system. AbleChild is in agreement with one of the member’s experiences with a child he mentored in the Bridgeport public school system. The Street Safe member said the student was misdiagnosed with a psychiatric disorder, ADHD, and thought there was great need for increase numbers of parent advocates for families meeting in Individual Education Plans (IEP).

Mayor Finch indicated that over-diagnosing may be due to “cultural differences” and that this was not the first time he had heard of psychiatric misdiagnosing.  AbleChild believes over-diagnosing is the product of mass marketing of psychiatric drugs and the lack of informed consent.

AbleChild’s mission is informed consent regarding psychiatric diagnosing and the potentially deadly “treatment” that is recommended.  The DEA classifies many of the mind-altering psychiatric drugs as “controlled substances.”  The “treatments” are associated with increased risk of suicide and violence according to the Food & Drug Admistration’s Black box warning on the drug packaging.

Senator Blumenthal, one of the sponsors of the roundtable, explained his desire to propose legislation to ban the use of illegal guns termed straw purchases. AbleChild does not understand how Senator Blumenthal believes a ban on an already illegal process would reduce gun violence.

AbleChild pointed out the recent indictment of several Newtown police officers who were reportedly involved in the distribution of controlled substances and “illegal” guns (4 long guns), exactly what Senator Blumenthal is trying to ban.

Furthermore, on November 26, 2013, one day after the release of the report of the Sandy Hook tragedy, Senator Blumenthal held a roundtable discussion in Bridgeport with the intent to reduce gun violence .  According to Senator Blumenthal, “The report on the Newtown tragedy revived the memories of what gun violence did not only to the Newtown community but to all communities.”

So it appears to be the same old, same old.  It is all about guns and no personal responsibility. Despite the fact these roundtables have been held on several occasions, lawmakers and law enforcement refuse to look outside the possibilities that something or someone is responsible other than a gun.  And the violence will continue.