“As with ADHD, the incidence of learning disabilities has also been growing at a rate of 10-20 percent every 10 years since WWII,” said Brown. “The difference between a learning disability and attention deficit disorder, she says, is the professional who diagnoses it. The Department of Education refers to the condition as a learning disability, and the American Psychological Association looking at the same set of symptoms labels them Attention Deficit Disorder. Add these two percentages together and 12 to 38 percent of the nation’s children have learning problems.”
Kids live in a world full of toxins, limited exercise, a lack of sleep, fast foods, and loads of time alone caused by the need for parents to work two jobs to make ends meet. The consequence is severe allergies to a toxic environment, obesity from a lack of exercise, an inability to learn due to a lack of sufficient nutrients to keep the brain functioning properly, and limited emotional security in 38 percent of our children.
Brown says that proper diet, exercise and adequate sleep are the key to helping a child overcome learning disabilities and improve his ability to attend. “There is no easy solution, no pill, no magic wand, or special education program that is going to make a child a better learner,” Brown said. “Learning disabilities and ADHD are not the fault of the children, or failure of the school. But, the schools have to teach each child that comes to them. “
Learning disabilities should become as much a concern for public health as it is for education, according to Brown. “Instead of medicating kids into oblivion because they can’t sit still, parents should be encouraged to cut the sodas and junk food, provide opportunities for their kids to exercise, ensure they get 6 to 8 hours of sleep each night, and take the time to interact with them on occasion,” she added. “There is no substitute for parenting, and there is no replacement for proper diet, exercise and good sleep habits to enhance a child’s readiness for learning.”
Comments
What a load of crap.
I never really stopped to think about how everyday advice like diet, rest, and excercise could improve a child's learning abilities. That's very interesting.
A Learning Disability and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder are two DIFFERENT DISORDERS and any educational psychologist should know this! To put it simply, a child with LD has trouble understanding, processing and/or learning to read words, write or compute math, and child with ADHD can’t mentally focus and/or physically sit still long enough to learn. Schools view LD as an educational issue covered under the IDEA and ADHD as a medical issue which is not. Some students may have both, but each disability requires different education interventions, as well as medical treatments which may include medications. LD and ADHD have been documented, studied and treatments developed by medical and education professionals for over 50 years. Ms. Brown seems to blame poor parenting and poor teaching as the root of the problem which is 100% false information! If you want TRUE facts about LD & ADHD, visit LDA of America, www.ldaamerica.org or CHADD, www.chadd.org.
Where's a reference list for this information? If you check NIMH's website for the actual study regarding the rate of sudden death, it says that in 10 of their 564 cases of child sudden death, the child was taking Ritalin (1.7%). Yes, that's higher than their "control group" in which 2 of the children (.35%) took Ritalin. Although this is a striking coincidence, it hardly speaks to a correlation.
www.nimh.nih.gov/science-news/2009/questions-raised-about-stimulants-and-sudden-death.shtml
Also, in the SAME STUDY the scientists admit they couldn't control all confounding circumstances - there could have been any number of factors that contributed to the death (i.e. asthma).
The editor of the study also noted that ADHD itself could just as easily have contributed to the deaths - it shouldn't be blamed entirely on the Ritalin.
It is wholly irresponsible on your part to imply that Ritalin causes 500% increase in deaths without giving us a solid fact-based reference.
Does the person who wrote this or the one who recommended a better diet, more activity, more sleep, and more parental involvement have a child with ADHD? What does a parent do when they have done all of the recommended "fixes" and the child still cannot sit still or focus long enough to learn anything? My son has a diet free of all artificial ingredients, he gets plenty of excersize, he gets plenty of sleep, and I do not work so he gets plenty of parental interaction. He is still very hyperactive and cannot focus unless he is on medicine. Any other recommendations? I would love to have them. Do you truely think that parents like giving their children these medications?
To Kathy K: it is only fair to you inform readers that CHADD has received donations from stimulant manufacturers.Very hard for an organisation to remain neutral when its existance is financed by pharmaceutical companies.
To Eric: you can manipulate statistics either way; it does not change the fact that Ritalin can cause permanent neurological damage.
To Brian's mom: as a mother of two ADDH children I understand your dismay. In my case I went further on the search for an answer: sensory integration therapy (skin, visual and auditory), supplements (vitamin B6 has been proven to be as effective as Ritalin...without the side effects), elimination diets (gluten, casein, salycilates, any and all types of artifitial molecule), reduced pesticide intake (certified organic food), sports, detox, etc. In my case it worked for hyperactivity: even their teachers would be surprised of their diagnosis (5 diff specialists)Rit was not the answer. Hyperact was never a problem ADD they learned to f
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