Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a common loophole. My kids actually had ADHD and anxiety but their immigrant mama didn't know about possible accommodations, unlike moms who went knew and manipulated the system. Fortunately mine did well on their own but had to work much harder and go through unnecessary stress, all their academic lives.

My daughter and son both have anxiety but not ADHD. The psychiatrist really pushed the adhd diagnosis on my daughter. She was the doctor so I took her advice and filled the prescription. Less than a week on the pills her agitation was off the chart. It’s like taking an adult who’s already wound up over something and he snorts a ton of coke at a party. Bad decision. I felt awful giving her something that made her feel worse. But at least ADHD was ruled out.

Some kids without anxiety can easily fool a doctor into getting stimulants and they like the way it makes them feel.

Anonymous wrote:The real question is what will many kids do with their lives once they graduate and all of the accommodations go away? My nephew graduated from an expensive LAC years ago and could never hold down a job - has been fired too many times to count for executive functioning issues. He still a young man and is now on Medicaid, divorced, a deadbeat dad and my sister supports him. He can’t even hold down a retail job. College was a waste of time and money for him - perhaps trade school or programs focused on life skills would be a better path for truly severe cases. I know a number of men like this, and life is extremely difficult and depressing for them. The simplest tasks are difficult to complete. ADHD has different levels of severity and the most severe cases seem to need more than college or grades to function in life.

Anonymous wrote:I’ve said this long time ago in this forum that white people are cheaters evidenced by disproportionately high amount claims of ADHD. They also cheat by self identifying as Hispanics in college applications, which has been well documented in various news outlets.

Anonymous wrote:This is a common loophole. My kids actually had ADHD and anxiety but their immigrant mama didn't know about possible accommodations, unlike moms who went knew and manipulated the system. Fortunately mine did well on their own but had to work much harder and go through unnecessary stress, all their academic lives.

Anonymous wrote:The real question is what will many kids do with their lives once they graduate and all of the accommodations go away? My nephew graduated from an expensive LAC years ago and could never hold down a job - has been fired too many times to count for executive functioning issues. He still a young man and is now on Medicaid, divorced, a deadbeat dad and my sister supports him. He can’t even hold down a retail job. College was a waste of time and money for him - perhaps trade school or programs focused on life skills would be a better path for truly severe cases. I know a number of men like this, and life is extremely difficult and depressing for them. The simplest tasks are difficult to complete. ADHD has different levels of severity and the most severe cases seem to need more than college or grades to function in life.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If there is such an epidemic of ADHD, could the problem be the curriculum and the way education is approached in this country instead of the kids’ executive functioning limitations? In other countries like Finland and Russia, kids aren’t taught to read until age 6-7 and there’s more emphasis on play during the early years. Not only that, but there’s also a vocational “track” for kids who aren’t college-bound. The US was like this even for the Gen X cohort. Kindergarten was about play and high schools offered (some) vocational training. I get that technology has changed things but the same technology is present in other countries…

The culture in Finland and Russia, even amount the non wealthy people is entirely different. Their education culture in specific is different. You can’t compare.

Anonymous wrote:If there is such an epidemic of ADHD, could the problem be the curriculum and the way education is approached in this country instead of the kids’ executive functioning limitations? In other countries like Finland and Russia, kids aren’t taught to read until age 6-7 and there’s more emphasis on play during the early years. Not only that, but there’s also a vocational “track” for kids who aren’t college-bound. The US was like this even for the Gen X cohort. Kindergarten was about play and high schools offered (some) vocational training. I get that technology has changed things but the same technology is present in other countries…

Anonymous wrote:If there is such an epidemic of ADHD, could the problem be the curriculum and the way education is approached in this country instead of the kids’ executive functioning limitations? In other countries like Finland and Russia, kids aren’t taught to read until age 6-7 and there’s more emphasis on play during the early years. Not only that, but there’s also a vocational “track” for kids who aren’t college-bound. The US was like this even for the Gen X cohort. Kindergarten was about play and high schools offered (some) vocational training. I get that technology has changed things but the same technology is present in other countries…

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Even though this is a depressing topic as a parent of an ADHD kid this is an interesting thread on ADHD. I had no idea that adderall was banned in Europe.

My kid describes his issues as noise in his head that stops him from doing activities he does not like. He says the medication quiets the noise. He also has slow processing speed but general whips through work so while he had an extended time accommodation, he never uses it.

I worry a lot about his ability to function in college. He’s come a long way with his issues but it’s definitely still a problem. Very disheartening that so many kids are taking advantage of the system and this will only make it harder for him.

My son is a freshman at an OOS flagship across the country. I was terrified but he has done very well. He has accommodations in college of extra time, can take exams at the office of disability services, and has a single suite.

He’s had challenges for sure - he still struggles to stay on top of assignments and did lose points for forgetting to submit pop quizzes or complete all parts of an assignment. Still finished the semester with a 3.5 gpa in the honors college.

His dorm room is a mess but he does clean up, does his own laundry and picks up his prescriptions.

I do have to provide some scaffolding support via daily checkins and reminders of due dates.