The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, May 29, 1996 - A5

GENERATION RITALIN

Generation X is fast giving way to Generation
Ritalin, as the number of young people using
the controversial stimulant to control Attention
Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder grows,

In B.C. alone the number of users is up 400
per cent in five years to over 16,000 prescrip-
tions according to Pharmacare records,

While most of them are in their teens or
younger, as information about ADHD grows
saul are being diagnosed in increasing num-

TS,

The sudden jump all round has some
physicians and teachers wondcring if the condi-
tion isn’t being over diagnosed and Ritalin pres-
cribed as a miracle behavior control. ,

“I definitely think there’s a problem with over

prescribing Ritalin,”’ says a northwest health
care worker who asked not to be named, "J
Strongly belicve more one-on-one time with
parents and teachers, more attention 10 diet and
a healthy respect for children would help stop a
lot of the acting out deing diagnosed as
ADHD,”’

Often children suffering physical or sexual
abuse exhibit similar behaviors as ADHD suf-
ferers, like social aggression, inaltention or im-
pulsiveness,

Critics add that many Ritalin advocates au-
thorize the drug even when the case is mild and
causes litile disruption. .

So far no serious side effects have been traced
to the drugs and in Jow doses it is considered

non-addictive,

New Jersey-based Ciba Pharmaceuticals —
Ritalin’s producer — says in the 40 years its
manufactured the stimulant no problems have
been reported,

But there are potential side-effects. With
properties similar to amphetamines, in some
cases Ritalin can cause a racing heart, nausea, ,
headaches and insomuia,

And in large doses, it can lead to dependence
on the dug. There have been reports nationwide
of teens on Ritalin selling their pills for $10-$20
per tablet,

The Health Ministry is currently investigating
whether Ritalin is being appropriately pres-
cribed,

CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE TERRACE STANDARD

The Mail Bag

Just a bad dream

Dear Sir:

1 enjoyed your ‘‘illegai ad’? published for Cariboo
Press by The Terrace Standard on May 2, 1996,
regarding the muzzling effect of the Election Act.

As the ad explains, everyone (except political parities)
is now limited to spending a maximum of $5000 during
an election campaign.

Obviously, this is a loss in ad revenue for newspa-
pers, as well as being a “‘freedom of expression’’ issue,
which journalists are always going on about anyway.
Thank goodness,

What I found most humorous was that the ad undid
itself.

One
boy’s
battle

By Jennifer McClarty
The Interior News

ONATHAN measures his
life in tiny increments of
time.

Al 7 a.m. the alarm goes off,
and the 10-ycar-old forces himself out of
bed to hit a timer buzzing downstairs,

If the trip takes longer than 15 minutes
—% including dressing for school —
privileges are revoked.

That means no Sega.

There’s exactly a half hour for breakfast
with his parents and two sisters, and then an-
other 15 minutes to pack a school lunch.

By the time his teeth are brushed and the
door closes behind him the Ritalin he took
only 45 minutes ago has begun to kick in.

Jonathan is one of many kids in north-
western B.C, and across North America using
Ritalin to control what is fast becoming an
epidemic condition — Attention Deficit Hy-
peractivity Disorder.

Without the controversial drug and a daily,

regiment of set tasks, his morning routine

would dissolve into chaos. Almost a

teenager, he would be dependent on his

parents to keep him focussed with constant
reminders.

Ritalin — despite its checkered reputation
—~ has given him self-reliance.

Bul before the prescription and an under-
standing of what ADHD is, life was very dif-
ferent for both Jonathan and his family.

“‘T always thought he was immature for his
age, but when he was in kindergarten the
teachers would say, ‘Don’t worry, he'll grow
out of it. It’s just a phase.’ [ believed it too
until things began to get worse.”

By grade school Jonathan showed a total
lack of control in the classroom, unable to
concentrate on an activity for more than a
few seconds. He would lay down in the

_hallways — sprawling out his arms and legs

— fidget during story time, and even had

trouble holding a pencil properly.

The unmanageable behavior in the class-
room would then accelerate to a feverish
pitch as the supper table was cleared at home
and evening set in.

“At 6 p.m. he was bouncing off the walls
— literally. It was a batile to get him to bed,
and then at 2 a.m. he would roam the house,
dumping out his Lego ready to play.

‘We didn’t know what to do. We tried

- everything to calm him down,”’

It was when Jonathan’s inability to associa-
te appropriate behavior with times of the day
and actions with consequences that the
ADHD became dangerous to both him and
his family. ,

In one incident he took a knife to his school
bus seats, slicing open ihe vinyl cushions to
expose the while stuffing inside.

*T still don't know where he got that knife.
I know it wasn’t his intention to burt anyone
— he was just showing off for friends. He
does things wilhout knowing why — without
recognizing they may be dangerous.”’

Another time, in the empty lot next door
where a house was under construction,
Jonathan tried to light a fire with his baby
sister in tow. The flame got oul of hand, and
both children suffered minor burs on their
hands.

‘He really had no clue that he had done
something that could have hurt them, He just
acted with complete abandon.’’

Both the family physician and other agen-
cies responded with ‘boys will be boys.”

Then came the promises of Ritalin.

Ather wits end Jonathan’s mother made the

decision to try the drug despite her reserva-

tions tht even with a low dose her son's per-
sonality might be altered or masked under its
control.

For the first two weeks her fears were con-
firmed when Jonathan turned into a stranger.
Even his teachers — who had difficulty
wying to control him in the classroom —
phoned to asked he be taken off his dosage.

**T just cried. There i was trying to give my
child the best opportunity to learn and be
happy, and I felt like I had betrayed him."’

She was ready to end the trial run, and take
Jonathan off the drug.

But the day after the phone call, the initial
adjustment period ended and Jonathan
returned to normal — only this time with
mire self-control.

“Even with the Ritalin self-starting is still
tough. He’s still a fiddler, When he walks
into a room he still has to touch and investi-
gate everything, but teaching him to recog-
nize consequence is so much easier.”’

Increased concentration

Now in Grade 5 Jonathan is a consistent A
and B student, and has even taken up Tai
Kwon Do — his first organized sport. Before
he lacked the concentration to take part

He takes a one-and-a-half dose in the mom-
ing, one at noon and another half in the eve-
ning. The routine is considercd mild, and is
controlled by his schoo] and parents.

As far as being teased by his friends,
Jonathan's mother says there are several kids
who make the daily trip to the office for their
noon hour pill with matter of fact efficiency.

It’s the parents, she says, thal have a hard
time dealing with it.

To critics of the stimulant who say it may
have damaging side-effects over time and is
prescribed quickly as miracle drug,
Jonathan’s mother believes she has given her
son the best possible chance in life.

“If Jonathan comes to us one day and says
he wants to try and handle things without the
Ritalin, or we feel he doesn’t need it
anymore, then we'll take him off it on a trial
basis.

“Until then [ would rather know that my
son wili be safe, won't hurt himself and has a
chance to live a normal life. I’d be more con-
cemed what could happen to him without it
than with it. He’s an incredibly bright boy. I
want him to be able fulfill that potential.

“Now I think be has that chance.”

| Hyperactivity. ‘i

likely inherited

OBSCURE and poorly understood only a decade
ago, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is
now one of the most commonly diagnosed behav-
ioral problems in children.

Recent medical research has revealed that
ADHD is in fact more than a hyperactive condi-
tion, and is most likely an inherited disease that
affects how the brain collects, stores and recalls
information.

‘It’s like having a computer with a hard drive
that doesn’t know where the information you want
is stored,’? says Smithers pediatrician Clare
Moisey. ‘‘In the simplest terms, a person with
ADHD is someone who can’t organize themselves
in a time sequence, Past, present and future are ir-
relevant.”’

While most children see their life as a linear
event with long term rewards and goals along the
way, a child with ADHD needs tasks condensed
into small time sequences followed by immediate
stroking.

Classic symptoms of such a world view are im-
pulsivity, distractibility, and hyperactivity.

Sitting still to tie a shoe, write a sentence or
much less pay altention in class become pain stak-
ing tasks.

But Moisey is quick to point out that packaging
ADHD into tiny, manageable boxes is impossible.

Some children demonstrale the ability to con-
centrate on a subject with intensity, have active
imaginations or in stark contrast can be quict and
removed,

The basic biological problem of lack of blood
flow to the frontal lobe doesn’t work alone.

“*Tt’s not a pure situation,’’ says Moisey.

Often a child with ADHD may have other learn-
ing disorders, not to mention the impact of home
and school environments. Each factor has a part in
how ADHD is ultimately played out.

Without treatment and in combination with ex-
acerbating factors the problem can bubble into

' dangerous behaviors like drug use and crime.

Suicide rates are also high among people who
have ADHD.

“It’s very complex, and we are still working to
understand it.”

Crowded classes make disorder visible

READING GLASSES and hearing
alds are both designed and pres-
cribed to help children focus, says
Smithers pediatrician Dr. Claire
Moiscy.

‘Ritalin s simply another way to
help kids with a different kind of
disability learn.

“To get them through the school
system with the best chance pos-
sible, I view ADHD as a trealable
medical condition.” ,

Despite vocal criticism of the
stimulant Ritalin being used to
temper Attention Deficit Hyper-
aclivity Disorder, Moisey strongly
believes in its use.

As class room sizes burst at the
seams, overworked teachers don’t
have the time to provide the one-
on-one coaching children with
ADHD require to team, he says.

“In many cases, without Ritalin
these kids would slip through the

telligent.’’

the equation, and

cracks — and these kids aren’t
dumb. Many are extremely in-

He adds, however, that a diag-
nosis and close monitoring fit into

who walks into his office with a
short attention span Is handed a
year-long prescription,

First a complex serles of behay-
ioral studies is conducted, designed
to detect the presence of ADHD,

followed by long discussions with
parents,

Part of the reason Rilalin use is
being called epidemic, says
Moaisey, is because burgeoning
class sizes bring less structure,
making children with ADHD stand
out more, Teachers and physicians
are simply more aware of It.

“ADHD has existed for many
years, It’s the changing system that
has finally made it visible.”

not every patient

The ad said, ‘‘We can’t talk,” when obviously you
can, you just did.

Then the ad said, ‘‘Okay, then, you can’t talk,’’ but I
am right now, if you print it. And it cost me way less
than $5000.

The ad also said that the Election Act is invalid under
the Charter, so it seems to me it’s not a law, really,
afier all.

Finally, the ad suggested that if I, the reader, don't
‘agree with Cariboo’s stand on this issue, I should '‘go
back to sleep’’. That's funny, becuase it’s Cariboo that
seems to be having the bad dream. There, there.

, Charlynn Toews,
Terrace, B.C.

. 3 : .
Didn't destroy spirit
Dear Sir:

When vandalism occurs everyone loses. It is a ter-
rible act that not many people understand, The worst
part about it is how it affects children.

When my friend had to tell ber three-year-old son
that he may not be able to go camping because a man
had ruined their tent, he was very upset.

He cried and asked why anybody would do some-
thing like that. This of course was the same reaction
that we all had as well,

But the most upsetting part was that just before bed,
the lite boy asked his mom and dad if the bad man
would come back and hurt him or the tents again.

We want to tell the man who slashed our six tents
that regardless of what he did, we thoroughly enjoyed
our May long weekend.

My friends and | pulled together and worked to sal-
vage the quiet camping weekend we had hoped for.

You may have destroyed our tents, but you did not
destroy our spirit!

Jessica Lambright,
Terrace, B.C.

Snow Birds an example fo
Dear Sir: ; ue

In response to the May 15 letter by Mr. Jim Johnson
of Kingston Ont. concerning the cost of the Snow
Birds... -

The Snow Birds represent the very best of what dt
means to be a Canadian, As a icam they provide us
with a standard of perfection and a sense of pride in‘
being a Canadian. As individuals they give our children
role models to look up to and sct the standards for the
next generation to mect,

As we watched the Snow Birds perform, I think my
five-year-old daughter put it all into perspective for me.
She looked up and said, ‘‘Daddy, one day I want to do
that.’’ So you see the seeds have already been planted,
al] that remains is to see what prows.

The Snow Birds, SkyHawks and RCMP Musical
Ride all act as ambassadors for our country and role
models for our children. By showing them what they
can achieve as Canadians we are assuring our country’s
future, What price can you put on that?

Ask any of the children who were in a classroom the
teams visited what they think about the Snow Birds and
SkyHawks and | think you will hear, ‘One day I want
to do that”’ again and again.

Brian MeNalr,
Terrace, B.C.

“‘Where’s my puppy?”

Dear Sir:

This letter is addressed to the jerk who was driving
like bis ass was on fire and his head was catching.

On Friday, May 10 at approximately 11:50 p.m. a
speeding driver hit and killed our family dog on the
3600 block of Kalum St.

The driver didn’t even bother to stop and see if there
was anything they could do.

To a Jot of people this was just a dog; to us he was a
family member for six short years.

I want to ask this person what I should tell my two
and a half year old when she asks mommy ‘‘Where's
my puppy?”’,

I would also like to know if this was a person or a
child would the driver have still kept going without
looking back? I want the driver io know the pain and
suffering you caused us,

Someday I hope this person will be enriched by the
love and loyalty of a pet. Then you may understand
where I'm coming from.

So to the driver [ say in the meantime for godsake
slow down, The next life you take may be your own.

, Barb Burrill,
Terrace, B.C,

THE START IS FOR PEOPLE LEARNING TO READ

The Start

Fish, fish, fish’ ae
SOMETHING NEW could be coming to Ferry Is- Ane
land. ben aa

City council says it wants to help young salmon -
grow there.

An old gravel pit on the island could just be the
place.

Young salmon from local hatcheries could be
moved to the old gravel pit. Once there they could
grow to be adults, ;

One person on city council says the pit would
just be like a daycare centre, ee te