by April Cunningham (Notes) on Saturday, April 28, 2012 at 2:06pm
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About one in eighty eight children are diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder, and 5.2 million children under the age of seventeen have been diagnosed with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or ADHD (CDC). Doctors have been prescribing dangerous medications for children with these disorders for over three decades. Doctors should not be allowed to prescribe medications, such as Ritalin and Risperdal, to children under the age of twelve with Autism and ADHD because the side effects and risks put the children in danger. Furthermore, alternatives and therapy are available for Autism and ADHD.
Doctors have difficulty diagnosing Autism and ADHD because there is no CAT scan or blood test for these disorders. A doctor simply goes by a checklist of symptoms and behaviors to diagnose the disorders. According to Dr. Sears, Autism is defined as “a neurological and medical disorder in which the parts of the brain that control communication, behavior, social interaction, learning, sensation, and motor coordination are not functioning properly. However, each person diagnosed with Autism is affected in different ways “(5). Children are diagnosed by their symptoms based on what is called the ‘Autism Spectrum’. The child must have social delays, such as in nonverbal language, and in social impairment. Also, the child will show symptoms of repetitive, obsessive behaviors such as arm flapping and swaying (10).
Attention-Deficit Disorder or ADHD is equally difficult to diagnose. “ADHD is a condition that develops within children in their early years and makes controlling behaviors and emotions difficult”, says experts on adult and child adhd.com. One symptom of ADHD in children is inconsistency. One day a person with ADHD can preform a task with ease and then tomorrow have difficulty with the same task. Other symptoms include difficulty following through on instructions, concentrating, and organization, and distraction. The Conner Scale was developed in the 1970s by Dr. Conners, a psychologist, to diagnose ADHD and despite the horrific motives of the scale, is still used today. On September 29, 1970, A Privacy Hearing on the Role in the Use of Behavior Modification Drugs Used on School Age Children went before the House of Representatives Subcommittee to determine whether funds were being used correctly. Before the first witness was called, Cornelius E. Gallagher, a Representative in Congress directed the court’s attention to the fact that almost three million dollars of federal funds had been spent by the National Institute of Mental Health in grants to conduct research of behavior modification prescriptions given to children with a learning disability (United States). Unfortunately, these blanket grants are still active today, according to the ADHDtesting.org website. The worst information is that the Conner Scale has never been validated. Anytime a validation certificate is requested as an accurate measure in diagnosing ADHD from trusted organizations such as Center for Disease Control, Food & Drug Administration and the National Institute of Health, just to name a few, not one of them are able to provide any type of certification of this “test”. Are the drugs actually needed to treat ADHD and Autism? Dr. Mendelsohn does not think so. In fact Dr. Robert Mendelsohn questioned whether or not his medical specialization was even necessary, noting “Most childhood illnesses can be treated competently within the home by informed and caring parents. When medical treatment is indicated it can be provided as well by general practitioners or family practitioners or by specialists to whom their patients are referred” (qtd. in Broer). The dangerous prescriptions such as Ritalin and Risperdal should not be prescribed to such young children for these disorders that are difficult to diagnose. Actually, the drugs
