Ritalin Is Not the Answer Action Guide: An Interactive Companion to the Bestselling Drug-Free ADD/ADHD Parenting Program (Paper Text)

Chapter One

You may have read several books about ADD or ADHD and as a result are thoroughly confused. As a parent you want to do everything possible to help your child. Along comes Dr. Stein, and you're now reading new things that differ from most of what you have read before. Whom should you believe? To help with your decision I've created a lighthearted one-act play. Recognizing how burdened your heart may be at this moment, I've written this little play in a tongue-in-cheek, comedic fashion that I hope will ease your discomfort. I am fully aware of the seriousness of the issues.

The play is written to expose the folly of currently popular beliefs and to show how little the professional community knows about the issues. It assumes that many of you are at the stage where your child has the problems listed in the Introduction section, and you have been advised by your teachers or guidance counselors at schools to undergo a battery of tests to determine whether your child has ADD or ADHD.

Before beginning our play, please complete these homework assignments:

For the parent(s): You are required to ask your doctor all the questions our fictitious parents ask of their doctor performing the evaluation. Take this book with you when you make your own visit, and make certain you don't miss any questions. To help, check the boxes provided alongside each question. On the lines provided just below our hypothetical doctor's answers, write the answers given by the psychologist who tests your child. Compare your recorded answers with the ones given by our play's doctor. I believe you will have two reactions: (1) you will be amazed by the similarities between our imaginary doctor's answers and your recorded ones, and (2) you will be surprised by how much the answers reveal about how little the professionals truly know about ADD and ADHD.

For the psychologists, other mental health professionals, educators, and physicians who are reading this book: You are required to be open-minded and to carefully explore your hearts and minds about what you thought you knew and what you are doing to our children. You are required to be brutally honest with yourselves. I'm on your side; I am not the enemy. My wish is to help you clarify critical issues and point you in the direction of more healthy treatment alternatives.

YOUR KID IS SICK

(A One-Act Play)

Scene: The psychologist's office.

Cast: Mr. Ed Ipal Socrates and his lovely wife, Electra

The psychologist, Dr. Noah Lott

The doctor enters with a serious look on his face. He is carrying a package of official-looking documents.

DOCTOR

Well, Mr. and Mrs. Socrates, it's good to see you. I have the results of your son Rex's tests.

Mr. and Mrs. Socrates squirm nervously.

It appears that Rex has ADHD. That's attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Mrs. Socrates begins to cry, pulls out a handkerchief, and blows her nose. She turns to her husband.

MRS. SOCRATES

I knew it. It's been in your family for years. None of you can ever remember anything. All you and your family do is ask questions, over and over again. You never get anything right the first time. You never even pay attention to me.

(Parent-reader: pay attention, check the boxes on the left for the questions to ask your doctor. Record your doctor's answers on the lines below Dr. Noah Lott's answers.)

MR. SOCRATES

Doctor, what do you mean, Rex has ADHD?

DOCTOR

It means that your son has a neurobiological disorder-a disease of his brain and nervous system that prevents him from paying attention and from being able to control his behavior. _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________

Mrs. Socrates cries louder.

MR. SOCRATES

Oh my. Well doctor, where exactly is this disease?

DOCTOR

Well, we're not certain. Research shows that it could be a chemical imbalance or a defect in his brain's metabolism or a problem with some of the anatomy or parts of his brain. _______________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________

MR. SOCRATES

Oh goodness, doctor. Which of the tests that you gave Rex indicate that he has this disease?

DOCTOR

Actually, you see, none of the tests show that he has a disease. ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________

MR. SOCRATES

Well, which of the tests indicate that he has ADHD?

DOCTOR

Actually, there is no test for ADHD. _____________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________

Mr. Socrates glares at Dr. Noah Lott.

MR. SOCRATES

Well, what tests did all those researchers do to find all of these ADD and ADHD diseases?

DOCTOR

They found these diseases using other, different tests: CAT scans, MRIs, EEGs, PET scans, and blood tests. _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________

MR. SOCRATES

Good. Now we're getting somewhere. When can we schedule Rex for one of those tests?

DOCTOR

Well, we can't. There are no such tests available for office or hospital testing. _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________

MR. SOCRATES

Are you telling me that all those researchers have made claims of discovering the things that cause these diseases called ADD and ADHD but that none of these tests are good enough to test my son here in the real world? Are you telling me that you can't repeat these tests to confirm my son's diagnosis?

DOCTOR

Well, yes, we can't repeat these tests. _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________

MR. SOCRATES

You sure do say "well" a lot.

DOCTOR

Well, I guess so. __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________

MR. SOCRATES

What tests did you give my son to make this ADD-ADHD diagnosis?

DOCTOR

The doctor takes out his handkerchief and begins wiping his brow. His hands are beginning to tremble slightly.

DOCTOR

The battery of tests included an intelligence test, some tests for his reading, writing, and math skills, some personality tests, and the questionnaire that you filled out. __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________

MR. SOCRATES

Well, which of those tests show that he has ADHD?

Dr. Noah Lott starts to sweat profusely. His voice becomes soft and meek.

DOCTOR

The questionnaire that you filled out. _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________

MRS. SOCRATES

Doctor, how much are you charging for this battery of tests?

DOCTOR

One thousand dollars. ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________

MR. SOCRATES

Are you telling us that your entire diagnosis is based on that questionnaire?

What the hell were all those other tests for?

DOCTOR

Yes, to your first question. And, uh, well, the other tests were given to measure Rex's overall intelligence, to rule out any learning problems, and to make certain he has no comorbid diseases. _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________

MR. SOCRATES

We already know the child is intelligent. He can read the instructions to fix things better and faster than I can, and he reads the sports section in the newspaper every day. He can name every player on every baseball team in the country. He plays video games like a pro for hours. He beats me all the time. How can he do all that and be ADHD?

Dr. Noah Lott appears to be becoming more and more agitated. He starts to stutter.

DOCTOR

Well, you see, uh, well, ADHD is a selective disease. It doesn't manifest itself when a child does tasks that he likes or that are immediately reinforcing, but it seems to appear when a child does tasks he doesn't like or that aren't immediately reinforcing. _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________

MR. SOCRATES

Hell doctor, I do that myself, all the time in fact, and I'm a professor of philosophy. Do I have ADHD too?

DOCTOR

Well, it is genetic. It does run in families. __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________

MRS. SOCRATES

There you go, doctor. That's the first thing you said today that makes any sense to me. My Edgar here is a bit of a featherhead, and so's his whole family. Edgar doesn't pay much attention to me, you know. Isn't that a sign of an attention deficit disorder? Can you fix that doctor?

MR. SOCRATES

Please don't call me Edgar, honey. You know I hate that name. Doctor, you said you were testing to see if my son has any comorbid diseases? How could he have comorbid diseases if you can't tell he has the first disease?

DOCTOR

Now, now Mr. Socrates, let's not get snippy. I gave your son two personality tests, the House-Tree-Person test and the Rorschach Inkblot test, and they indicate that Rex has depression and oppositional-defiant disorder. __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________

MR. SOCRATES

When I minored in psychology in college, I was taught that these types of tests are not valid. I was told that they are inaccurate and that they cannot predict behavior of any kind. Is that true?

DOCTOR

Well, yes that's true. But the tests help get an overall picture of things. ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________

MR. SOCRATES

Of what use are any of these tests if none of them are accurate?

DOCTOR

Well, the intelligence test is accurate. I never thought about that. It's what I was trained to do, and it's what the literature tells us to do. _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________

MR. SOCRATES

OK doc, you got me for a thousand bucks. Now tell me what are we going to do about my son?

DOCTOR

We find that a combination of treatment approaches works best for children with ADD or ADHD. I'll teach you a behavioral program called a token economy program and a few other behavior modification techniques to help you work with your son. I'll also refer you to Dr. Notso Sober, a psychiatrist, for medication. __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________

MR. SOCRATES

How well do these behavior modification treatments work?

DOCTOR

They really don't work well at all. They usually don't work without the medication. ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________

MR. SOCRATES

Then why are you recommending them?

DOCTOR

It's what I've been trained to do, and it's what the literature says to do. _______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________

MR. SOCRATES

Does the medication work?

DOCTOR

Yes, indeed. Works about the same whether or not you use the behavioral methods. In fact, we really don't need the behavioral methods.

Continues...