Being the parent of a child (now an adult) who was at one time diagnosed as ADHD, I can vouch for the efficacy of amphetamines for the treatment of this condition.
While we staunchly resisted any efforts to "drug" our child, when we finally gave in and tried it, the results were nothing short of amazing. A child who had the attention span of maybe 30 seconds on a good day could now stay focused and on-task for an extended period of time. This approach served him well and made the difference between his ability to succeed in school and socially for several years. While I can only comment directly on my experiences, I have seen similar results with other children in classrooms I have worked in. Granted, it is not an across the board fix, but properly applied, it does work. And just for your information, there have been studies on the efficacy of amphetamines on children diagnosed with ADHA since the 1970s. Andrew Rowland is one of the leading researchers in this area among others. As for learning gains for these students relative to whether or not they were being treated, I don't know. I have to believe that there are studies on this as well - one just has to do some digging. Of course, since learning gains are a very individualized thing, this would be rather difficult to quantify under any circumstances. Dan (former research assistant, Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute) --- On Sun, 11/7/10, Walt Zarnoch <zarnoch...@gmail.com> wrote: > From: Walt Zarnoch <zarnoch...@gmail.com> > Subject: Re: [MBZ] made up statistics > To: "Mercedes Discussion List" <mercedes@okiebenz.com> > Date: Sunday, November 7, 2010, 11:02 AM > The current "drug em till they don't > ask tough questions and go outside the > lesson plan" treatment for the fictional ADHD money-making > diagnosis is all > hogwash, lies, and downright child endagerment.(my opinion) > A VERY small > minority actually has something treatable by the snake oil > concotions... > > Walt > On Nov 7, 2010 10:09 AM, "Peter Frederick" <psf...@earthlink.net> > wrote: > > Statistics are just numbers, and the formulas used to > generate them > > are NOT intelligent -- they work no matter what > numbers you put in. > > > > The first lessons in a decent statistics class involve > long > > discussions of this fact -- to whit, the numbers mean > nothing unless > > the underlying assumptions of logical connection are > true. The logic > > and measurement parameters mean everything. > > > > One should also remember that descriptive statistics > are just that -- > > they describe a population one has measured. Bad > measuring tools > > result in bad data, at best, and descriptive > statistics are NEVER > > predictive. > > > > inferential statistics (things like comparing test vs > control > > subjects ) are predictive ONLY when all the > assumptions made about > > measurement and logic are true (watch for a term > called "external > > validity" -- it doesn't generate numbers, it's a > logics problem). > > This is where statistics tend to veer off into the > land of fantasy, or > > every outright lies. Just like a survey, one has to be > careful about > > what data is generated to apply statistics to, and how > that data > > actually applies to a problem, since if you don't > measure what you > > think you are, the results are meaningless. > > > > A current example is the use of amphetamines to treat > ADD or ADHD -- > > all the measurements are whether the kid sits still or > doesn't disrupt > > the classroom, so far as I know there are NO studies, > even poor ones, > > that indicate that the kids learn more. Bogus > research, so far as I'm > > concerned, and a gross misuse of statistical tools: > the conclusions > > are completely un-related to the measurements. Another > bad result > > here is the use of amphetamines by kids "studying" as > the assume they > > lead to better learning. No evidence of that, either. > The logic > > failure: compliance in the classroom is mis-labeled as > "learning". > > > > Statistical process control is another thing that gets > me fired up, > > since it's almost always used improperly by American > management > > people. It's only useful if you use the data to > control a device -- > > can't be applied to employees, sales, or biological > systems (with a > > few exceptions), and even then is only useful if you > have a calibrated > > knob to turn. I've been told many times it's not > useful for > > production since it "only finds bad parts" -- > typically, the person > > telling me this missed the whole point, which is to > use the > > measurement data to fix the machines MAKING the parts > so that only > > good parts get made. A monkey with a go/no go gauge > can find bad vs > > good parts, no need of mathematics at all, but if you > want to figure > > out how to fix or replace a manufacturing tool BEFORE > it makes off > > sized stuff, SPC is a miracle. Totally worthless for a > pH meter, > > though -- no variation allowed in the measurements, if > it's out of a > > very narrow range, you re-calibrate or repair it. > > > > I could go on and on, but the point I'd like to pass > on is that one > > MUST know and understand the structure, measurements, > and assumptions > > made in any study of any type using statistics before > reaching any > > conclusions on the validity of the results. > > > > Peter > > > > _______________________________________ > > http://www.okiebenz.com > > For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com > > To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > > http://okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > _______________________________________ > http://www.okiebenz.com > For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com > To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > http://okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
