Biology Mia Bettino
Current Event Report 5/19/14
Schwarz, Alan.
"Thousands of Toddlers Are Medicated for A.D.H.D., Report Finds, Raising
Worries." The New York Times.
The New York Times, 16 May 2014. Web. 19 May 2014. <http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/17/us/among-experts-scrutiny-of-attention-disorder-diagnoses-in-2-and-3-year-olds.html?_r=0>.
This article is about young children
diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder being diagnosed with
medications like Ritalin and Adderall, which some doctors find very unsafe for
small children and their developing brains. Based off of a report by Susanna N.
Visser, it is estimated that ten thousand two- and three- year olds are being
treated with such medications. She says that families with children that have
behavioral issues are coming to the doctor for help and the children are being
diagnosed with A.D.H.D. instead of making an effort to change their child’s
learning environment. Some children are misdiagnosed, for behavioral issues are
sometimes a result of a violent or neglectful home life. Dr. Doris Greenberg, a
behavioral pediatrician, says, “You have children with depression and anxiety
who can present the same way, and these medications [like Ritalin and Adderall]
can just make those problems worse.” A 2006 study about the effects of
methylphenidate (Ritalin) showed that these medications could help with
A.D.H.D. symptoms, but the study was only performed on a small number of
three-year-olds. Overall, it is very controversial as to whether or not these
stimulant drugs on young children with A.D.H.D., especially since so many
children are misdiagnosed.
This article is very relevant to
today. I have heard a lot about more and more children being diagnosed with
attention deficit hyperactive disorder and that they are often treated with
these drugs, but I had no idea that children were being given these medications
as young as two years old! Since A.D.H.D. diagnoses are on the rise, it is very
important that doctors are careful with what they are prescribing to young
children and why. Behavioral pediatrician Dr. Lawrence H. Diller said, “People prescribing
to 2-year-olds are just winging it. It is outside the standard of care, and
they should be subject to malpractice if something goes wrong with a kid.”
Obviously, some people are taking this controversy very seriously.
I really enjoyed reading this
article. It gave me good background information about the topic and went into
detail about why this is such a big controversy. I learned that one in five
boys will be diagnosed with A.D.H.D. during childhood! That is a huge number –
that is way larger than I expected. This article was to the point but gave
enough information so that I felt well informed about this topic after reading
it. One question that arose while reading the article was: What are some things
that could happen to a child if they respond badly to the stimulant drugs? I
thought that this was key information that the author left out. However, the
article was very well-written and has made me curious to find out more.
Mia did a good job of making this current event easy to understand even if the reader is not familiar with the topic of medications for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. She did a nice job of making her current event interesting and made the reader want to learn more. I like how she incorporated statistics into her current event because it really allowed me to understand how serious this controversy is. I also thought it was smart of Mia to add quotes from doctors about this topic because it gives the reader an expert’s opinion to relate to. From reading Mia’s Current Event, I found it interesting that some children’s parents would rather put their child on a medication than try to create an easier learning environment for their child. I also found it interesting that children as young as 2 years old are prescribed with medications, especially since the child’s disorder could be misdiagnosed. Like Mia, I was astonished to learn that one in five boys will be diagnosed with A.D.H.D. during childhood. To conclude, I think Mia did a good job on her current event. I think Mia could have explained more about the symptoms of A.D.H.D. Overall, great job Mia I really enjoyed reading your current event.
ReplyDeleteGreat current event Mia! It's interesting to read about children and medicine because it's happening all around us and one day we will have kids of our own. I was so shocked that doctor's were prescribing these intense medications to such small children. They should do a larger study rather than their 2006 study and see with a larger group of toddlers if the effects of Ritalin actually work. I think you did a great job of putting a lot of important details that were easy to understand. Also you had some really nice quotes that supported your topic which I really enjoyed. I am not surprised that doctors misdiagnose these kids. They should do more research about the kid before they diagnose their problem. Like Celia, I am also shocked that parents go straight to medications without therapy or anything.
ReplyDeleteOverall, Mia you did a great job is was a well developed current event. My only suggestion is to add information on the background of ADHD. So people get to know what is is, and are familiar with it when reading. But, you did an amazing job!