Dear FRONTLINE,

I was not medicated as a child. I was considered hyperactive as a child. I am 37 now, and when I was a child you were to be put on Ritalin. My parents refused to do this. There was not enough research done on the drug at the time and my Chiropractic father felt that the drug would mask the symptoms but not effect the cause. He later received a Bio-nutrional degree from Missouri @ Columbia, and has devoted most of his adult life to Nutritional Research.

I created his website and if anyone would like to discuss their problems with him I could give you his address. I know I have problems, but others that I relate to on a daily basis do not even know what I struggle with every day. I feel that ADHD as a child manifested into ADD as an adult for me. It may have ultimately contribute to my moodiness and Bi-Polar condition.

If parents are looking for alternative methods for treating this disorder. Yes it is a disorder. For an ADD person like me to say that it is not a disorder is like an alcoholic saying that I just drink socially I have no problems, then please do your homework. I modified much of my hyperactivity as a child by staying away from sweets. Parents read info. on the effects of sugar on children. I did a college research paper on this very topic. This did not correct my ADD.

I have struggled with attention span all my life. I hate the word focus. This is impossible for me to do. There are lots of good books about ADD and I have read a few. I was very upset with the organization that is against medication. Sometimes I wonder if I had been medicated it an early age would I have acheived more in LIFE. My heart goes out to all the parents that struggle to understand this complex chemical imbalance of the brain. I also cringe when I hear the word normal. We are all different people with different needs. Labels are good if the person being labeled doesn't use it as a crutch. Good luck parents e-mail me @ cbaldwin64@juno.com if you would like to strike up a discussion.

Chad Baldwin
Bloomington, Illinois

Dear FRONTLINE,

I am a 49 year old woman who was recently diagnosed with ADHD. I have been in and out of counseling since the age of 18, trying to determine why I was different. Why I was considered to be intelligent in school, but just couldn't succeed. Why I put my foot in my mouth, why I am so intense, why I have had a hard time maintaining relationships. Why I was bullied in school and never in the popular cliques.

In addition to seeing a psychiatrist for the last two years, I have read every book I can get my hands on and I believe that I now have the answers I need. My favorite book is "You Mean I'm Not Crazy, Stupid, or Lazy?" by Kate Kelly and Peggy Raimundo. I am everywhere in that book, and it is fun to read.

I am taking Adderall and find it very useful. I take it when I feel the need for it, maybe only once a day, or when I have a proposal to write or a meeting to attend that I want to be attentive to.

Self-esteem issues are huge with this disorder. I was considered to be difficult, unpleasant, disobedient and generally unlikeable as a child. I am beginning to form ideas about ADHD and how it is perceived and managed. I believe that ADHD is much more common than we realize and that parenting styles and classroom structure are pivotal in determining whether a child succeeds or fails. An ADHD child that has involved parents who channel her energy may become an athlete or research scientist. A child who is punished for challenging ideas and blurting the answer without raising their hand first will become more frustrated and discouraged.

There are many strengths in having an ADHD mind, and they should be discovered and encouraged. This may be accomplished with medication, having experienced it, I can only say that it makes a huge difference. I am more likely to speak now, because I'm not so afraid that I will embarrass myself. I can respond to instructions more efficiently, and complete a project that I have started.

It saddens me to see such controversy and opposition as shown in the Frontline piece. It places a stigma on accepting help for a condition that can be so easily managed and can be so damaging if misunderstood. The Frontline piece illustrated the conflict created when children decide to stop taking the medication because of disapproval by others. The condition remains and self esteem and confidence suffers because the kids still can't keep up with their peers. They become convinced that they are not as good as their friends. I can remember the feelings very well, even now.

I would be willing to enter into discussions with others about ADHD.

Melanie Hesse
Oxford, Pa

Dear FRONTLINE,

I would like to ask all those nay-sayers if any of them have lived with a child who has these behavior and learning issues. What would you do? Do you think that counseling will always work? And what happens if the child refuses to go to counseling?

Have you ever had to be around a child who is acting out, unruly, and frustrated? Have you had repeated calls from his school, and visits on his behalf with the teachers, coaches, etc because he cannot get himself to act as others his age do? Have you ever had a child expelled from a school because his behavior was so out of control? How much do you think you can ask of teachers and administrators who must help all of our children? And what do you think this does to his self-esteem? How do you raise his brothers and sisters normally, when you are constantly focused on getting him to stop his destructive behavior?

Do you honestly think that we parents who choose to medicate our children would do this if we had other choices? We wanted so badly for him to be able to function as other children did, but that was not happening, especially in high school, a very critical age. Ritalin and alternative schools got him through, and we are very grateful for this.

It is difficult enough to raise a son to adulthood with all the outside pressures children face, without having groups make us feel guilty because we choose a path they see as wrong. We love our son; but it is for his own good, especially, and for the good of our family, that he is medicated. To those of you who are negative about this, I would love to have you live with him for a day, even now,when he does not take his Ritalin, and then tell me what you think. I would bet that you would find it a very frustrating 24 hours.

Are we sorry we chose this path? No, but we are intelligent enough to worry about the long-term effects.

He is doing so well now, actually in college, where we thought he would never be. We thought that by the time he reached his later teens he would either be dead or in jail. Ritalin and a competent doctor helped him tremendously. Will he stay on Ritalin for the rest of his life? Only he can make that decision, but for now, it is a lifesaver.

Think before you make judgments, and walk a mile in my shoes.

Thanks for listening.

Camden, NJ

Dear FRONTLINE,

I've worked with ADHD clients for almost 5 years using a technology called EEG Neurofeedback.

A small but growing number of cutting edge psychologists and therapists are using it with their ADHD clients.

It is not magic - it is used to improve self-regulation through brain wave training.

One of my clients -- a successful 50 year old executive had been on Ritalin and Dexadrine on and off for about 15 years. He said those medication always helped him. But after 5 sessions of his training -- he had stopped the medication, and said "he felt more himself" than he could ever remember. He said the medications helped him stay on task, but they also dulled him a little. The brain training allowed him to stay on task, but he felt much more alive.

There are many stories. There's a great book called Symphony in the Brain, by a science reporter, Jim Robbins. It's so new, that few doctors and many psychologists are unfamiliar with the state of the technology. It's too bad the show couldn't have showed some of it.

Mike Cohen
Los Angeles, CA

Dear FRONTLINE,

I think Frontline is one the finest news organizations in the United States. After watching tonights brodcast on AD/HD,however,I am more depressed than ever about the state news coverage on thiis subject by American news organization.

Dose anyone get it? Guess what Edward R.

Murrow,Attention Deficit Disorder is not an invention of Generation-X! The disorder has always been with us.

I know, becaus I was diagnosed with AD/HD,then termed "Minimal Brain Dysfunction," while still in the first grade. The year was 1963 and John F. Kennedy was President of the United States. At that time, AD/HD was considered a childhood disoredera myth still promoted in tody's mediaalways disapeariing with the onset of adolescence. Because of this terrible misconception, millions of my generation with AD/HD, grew up unrecognized and unmedicated. If the media ever wanted to put an end to the pro's and con's of medication, how about investigating AD/HD adults who grew up with out benefit of medication?

An AD/HD adult

John Dickerson
Philadelphia, PA

Dear FRONTLINE,

The strugle enjoy our son as he is tremendous. While his emergy level is sometimes quite high, he has,until recently, been a sweet and joyful little guy. However,

since the schoolprivate independent started pressuring us subtly at first to have him medicated. the toll has been extremely difficult on us but most especally on our son. He is now in the 4th grade. He has become sad and unsure of himself at times and senses quite perceptfully, that he is different.

He hears us arguing about his schoolwork and the demands the school places on him and our efforts to help him. The school only percives that he takes up too much time not because of behavior but because of unsuredness. They have become almost obsessed with academeic statistics and what impact chilren like ours might have these scores I suspect.

We strugle at home with whether to medicate or not to medicate almost daily. Do the risks outweigh the benefits? How would he be treated if he lived in France like the family whose roots are in France? Do these countries have other approaches worth exploring or as I suspect are they "tracked" into vocational terminal programs with little chance of achieving higher education, where we knoe that ADHD adults are among the most creative. Amd what about the sweet boys and girls who enter into this world with such spirit and spark? What becomes of their sense of self worth by the time they enter adulthood? I wonder about this, almost every waking moment. The choices are painful and the risks to a child is almost unbearably high. My husband and I have a long journey ahead of us with our son and I only hope that our love and trust of eachother and our faith in our son will help us forge a way together. Thank you for your thoughtful program

Laurie

New Haven, CT.

Dear FRONTLINE,

Years ago I read a book in which that author proposed

that these symptoms were caused by a dry connection

between neurons. He concluded that essential fatty

acids were missing from this area and could be

replaced by primrose oil.

I would like to reread this book, but I can't

remember the book title or the author's name. But

a book cover flashed in the show the other night, and

I think that may have been the author. It was gone before I could write his name down. Can anyone

help me out?

Thank you,

Debi Stevenson

Debi Stevenson
Lyons, Colorado

Dear FRONTLINE,

While your program was relatively well-balanced, I was disappointed by the way you seemed to focus on the drugs as an answer to ADHD. Medications are a component of the treatment of ADHD, but are best used in conjunction with behavior modification, etc. Drugs alone are not the answer, but they are a very helpful part of the big picture. I was also disappointed that there was such a negative attitude towards ADHD. There are some very positive traits as well - the ability to hyper-focus, creativity, the ability to multi-task none of which have been lessened in either my husband or son by their medications, by the way.

As for those who don't believe in ADHD, I suggest they come stay at my house for a weekend - we'll take father & son off their meds & by the end of the weekend I assure you, they'll sing a different tune. Rarely have I found anyone who believes ADHD is bogus who lives with a person or persons who have it. However, I would be the first to agree that schools are not doing their job. Certainly our public school was not! From the beginning of the school year we had complaint after complaint that my son was "out-of-control", that he needed more meds or an aide i.e. jailor. Instead of following his IEP, they did virtually nothing to deal with his ADHD & learning disabilities. While IDEA was expanded in an effort to help kids with ADHD, this school at least has used it as a means of getting financial aid which is not expended on the children it was intended to help. Using kids with learning disabilities this way is much more abusive in my mind than giving my son medication which allows him to function in a fairly normal manner.

Maggie Corchnoy
Gloucester Township, NJ

Dear FRONTLINE,

When I was in a private elementary school 20 years ago I had terrible trouble focusing. I fidgeted a lot, couldn't sit still, couldn't complete any assignment that couldn't be done in one sitting, etc. My teacher's solution? She taught me how to knit, and allowed me to knit in class. Knitting helped my focus tremendously. I knitted all the way through high school and in college I was able to wean myself from it, having practiced concentrating to the point where I could do it on my own. Now I have two degrees in math.

If I'd been born 20 years later and gone to a public school instead, my teacher would have pegged me as ADD and sent me to a psychiatrist who would have doped me up to make me "normal." I would have had to live with the knowledge that only a pill made a freak like me just as "normal" as everybody else. I would never have felt good enough. No matter how much we say that this disorder is normal even though it is disorderly enough to require medication, no kid will ever see it quite that way until medication is the norm at his school... and I think many teachers realize this and want to make medication normal to help the self-esteem of these kids. But self-esteem only comes from knowing that you can accomplish-- and knowing that you can't accomplish without assistance doesn't make you feel accomplished.

Logan, UT

Dear FRONTLINE,

I am a middle school Biology teacher. I am confronted everyday with students who have behavior problems, mood swings, and personalities from A to Z. Identifying with my students helps me to see them all as individuals, as young people with important problems to face, obstacles to overcome, and joys to celebrate.

I feel that some of these children NEED medication to focus. Some of them acheive more with the prescriptions they ingest, and are better for taking them. There are some kids who take the medicine, and are sheltered by the ADHD or ADD acronyms. These students and their parents wear these 'diagnoses' like a banner, challenging all educators and administration to dare 'improperly' educate their children. Lawsuits and legalities ensue, and believe it or not, educators are tired of dealing with the nightmare of paperwork and demeaning behavior that these cases present.

Some students could show marked improvement in their grades and behavior if their parents would stop making excuses for why they can't help their children, or influence their behaviors in school, and just attempt to do their jobs as parents. That means they need to BE PARENTS! Kids need structure, and some really just need sheer discipline to show them what is acceptable behavior in society and what is not, not medication.

I am an advocate for my students, it seems recently that parents, psychologists, and lawyers are trying to take away that special rapport and exchange it with bitterness, regulations, and resentment. I hope that I can weather the coming storm and continue to effect change in young lives, there are an increasing few of us who can stand the pressure.

Thank you for the eye-opening program, and for your time.

Julie Gates
Wyoming, Delaware

Dear FRONTLINE,

My son was diagnosed with ADD about a year and a half ago he's now 7 and in 1st grade with straight "A's". We worked very hard with his preschool and kindergarten teachers to keep his somewhat disruptive behavior in check during the school year, but it was when he was expelled from summer camp that this issue came to a head and we opted for the medication. IT HAS BEEN A LIFESAVER for him. He is on Concerta and doing fine. We had a very BAD experience with Adderall, however, in that it made him explosive and violent and I was told by our psychologist that she has seen this reaction numerous times with Adderall. If this is true, and I have no reason not to believe it, then Shire is lying about the reported "side effects" and psychotic episodes with Adderall.

Voorhees, New Jersey

Dear FRONTLINE,

I have been a special education teacher for 25 years. The children I work with are diagnosed as Emotional Support and many of them have an ADHD diagnosis. I teach children who are in first and second grade. They are usually not placed on medication before entering the program. After years of experience, I am easily able to determine which students need medication. It is truly miraculous to see the differences in children when they are placed on stimulant drugs. It is very difficult to watch those children whose parents refuse to medicate them. The classroom is a very frustrating place for them. They experience failure on a daily basis. Even though the program is very structured and we have a very positive behavior modification progrom in place, self-esteem is dependent on school success. Even first and second grade students feel like failures if they feel as if they don't measure up to the other kids. Teachers don't even have to tell them they aren't measuring up they know it. It breaks my heart to hear these kids say, "I"m stupid," "I don't have any friends," "No one wants to play with me," and "I hate school."

It is very hard to convey to parents who choose not to medicate their children that this decision has life long ramifications for their children. Kids carry the sense of failure into adulthood.

Carol Goldberg

Carol Goldberg
Ambler, PA

Dear FRONTLINE,

I just finished watching the program and felt compelled to write in order to inform parents, teachers, and other health care professionals of the use of neurofeedback for ADD & ADHD. I am a nurse and also have a private practice utilizing this type of therapy for ADD, ADHD, Autism, as well as other areas.

Neurofeedback is a type of biofeedback but different in that it utilizes an Electroencephalograph to gain information about the child's neurological status. The child "plays" computer games that have parameters set specifically for that child, depending on the EEG reading & other information.

I have been quite pleased with my client's outcomes as have the kids/parents. I am not specifically anti-drug; I am pro-progress. I believe Ritalin and Adderall can play an important role in therapy. However, these drugs have not been found to have long term benefits, which is why the effects are gone once the medication is out of the person's system.

The neurofeedback is a type of therapy that builds stamina and has been proven to have long term benefits. I would gladly discuss this with anyone who is interested. The only reason I chose to write is because this was not presented as an option on the program, and with my experience, I wanted to inform the public.

Thank you. Melissa Moulder,RN

melissa moulder
athens, ga

Dear FRONTLINE,

We are the parents of two adopted children from South Korea. An earlier respondent mentioned no "Orientals" are diagnosed with ADHD. First of all, that person should know that the correct term is "Asians". Secondly, our son has been diagnosed as ADHD. I "knew" it from the age of six months. However, because we had no genetic background to go on, we had to wait until he started school. At the end of his kindergarten year, he started taking 5 mg. of Ritalin. His teacher did not know. Within one week, she asked me if he was on medication. It made that much of a difference. It was not easy to give him that first pill. I actually cried before I gave it to him. Our son is now in the third grade. I would never question any parent's decision to medicate their child. As many people have said, "Walk a mile in my shoes."

As a side note, I am an elementary teacher. I have taught for twenty-three years. I have had students "diagnosed" and "not diagnosed" with ADHD. Some are medicated, some are not. I would never "tell" a parent that the child has ADHD. That is up to a pediatrician and psychiatrist. However, I have seen many "miracles" of medication. Contrary to another respondent's remark about long-term effects, children have been taking Ritalin for as long as I have been teaching. There have been studies as to the effects of Ritalin. I have also heard that students that need medication and are not given it "legally" tend to self-medicate with street drugs and alcohol. It would be interesting to see research done on this.

Finally, as to the Church of Scientology working to stop the diagnosis of ADD and ADHD, why in the world should we listen to them? Are they affected by ADD?

Thank you, Frontline, for bringing the discussion to the public.

S. Nichols

Sue Nichols
Blaine, MN

Dear FRONTLINE,

I have a seven year old son in second grade. When he was in first grade, his first grade teacher sent us information about adhd. She had us fill out some forms for my husband and I to see if we felt he had adhd.

My son was having trouble reading, but was excellent at math and loves science. He has trouble staying on task at school and loses interest easily. He is very outgoing and expresses himself well and is mature for his age. There was talk about keeping him back and talk about wanting our pediatrician to see him and put him on medication. My husband and I have stood firm in our decision not to EVER put him on any medication. We give him extra attention and have both worked hard on making reading fun. He has a fantastic second grade teacher who has gotten him two tutors in the title 1 program and we send him to summer school and the sylvan learning center in the summer. We also try to always keep him very involved in sports ice skating, swimming, tennis, football, baseball etc. He loves soccer. We feel that medication may be the only alternative for some children. However too many parents are not second guessing teachers and doctors. I will never put my son on medication--no matter what the so called professionals say I should do.

Cromwell, ct