Charlotte Observer - Charlotte,NC,USA
... have the disorder. "I think a lot of it is misdiagnosed," said
Judge, a 27-year-old bill collector for AT&T. "They mistake bad behavior for attention deficit. ...
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/7909455.htm

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Black parents tend to mistrust drugs

2 worried mothers in Charleston recount feeling pressured

ERIC FRAZIER

Staff Writer

CHARLESTON - The distrust for medicating children is evident in the voices of some African American parents here in the Lowcountry, where attention deficit drugs are being used at above-average rates.

Wachovia Judge and Carol Richardson have both seen the drugs help their children. Still, they resent what they felt to be pressuring by school officials, and doubt that white parents feel similarly pushed.

"I felt like I had no choice," said Richardson, whose 13-year-old daughter has been on the ADHD drug Adderall about three years. "I did it out of frustration."

"I felt forced, that medicine was the only way," added Judge, whose 10-year-old son takes Concerta, the long-acting form of the ADHD drug Ritalin. "It's almost like they position it to where it's like, `You need to get this kid tested or else he's not going to do well.' "

Charleston school officials say threats or pressure tactics would violate their policies, and add that racial considerations don't enter their deliberations about ADHD. While teachers may be first to voice suspicions about ADHD, officials say they cannot formally diagnose the disorder or prescribe medication for it.

Still, some civil rights leaders suggest racial biases make white educators less tolerant of misbehavior from black children. They accuse schools of pushing for ADHD testing in hopes of controlling African American children, not helping them.

"It does have to do with race when it comes to something like this," said Richardson's sister, Dorothy "Dot" Scott, president of the Charleston NAACP. Scott said medication "seems to be the easy way out: Drug them. Medicate them. They're easier to control."

National NAACP officials, alarmed by such assertions, are pushing for a new federal law that would make it illegal for educators to insist on psychiatric medication as a condition of staying in school.

Some parents have occasionally complained that schools told them their children couldn't come back to class unless they received medication, said Diane Irvin, the Charleston County School District official who oversees special education and health services.

She said the district's policy requires careful consultation among school staff about troubled students.

Jeff Simon, a school psychologist, said he does believe children are overmedicated, but he sees no evidence it happens to minority children more often than others.

Still, black parents generally are more skeptical about the drugs than whites, said Simon, who serves two schools in Mount Pleasant, one of Charleston's more affluent suburbs.

"To some degree, they're dealing with teachers whom they feel a bit of a cultural gap with," he said. "It's harder for them to build that trust. It's a tremendously controversial topic across race, economics, in every respect."

Nationally, other school officials say the complaints stem from little more than isolated missteps by a few frustrated teachers and principals.

"Our stance as an organization is that that's not an issue," said Ruth Fodness, an official with the National Association of School Psychologists.

But the NAACP's Scott said black parents do feel pressured, and such pressure can lead to unnecessary medication.

After Judge's 7-year-old daughter began having trouble with inattentiveness and crying in school, Judge took the child to the Medical University of South Carolina's developmental pediatrics clinic for an extensive battery of ADHD tests.

The tests showed her daughter didn't have the disorder.

"I think a lot of it is misdiagnosed," said Judge, a 27-year-old bill collector for AT&T. "They mistake bad behavior for attention deficit. I think a lot of kids are on medication who don't need to be on it."

She added, however, that she believes her son was correctly diagnosed, and the medication is helping him.

Richardson said she placed her daughter on Adderall after repeated confrontations with teachers. Teachers said her daughter was disrupting class, making bad grades and failing to pay attention to teachers.

Richardson acknowledged her daughter's "outspokenness" was a problem for teachers, but she felt teachers were chastising the child more harshly than white children who did the same things.

"They chose their words very carefully," Richardson said of the educators. "They never came right out and told me (they suspected attention deficit). They just told me I needed to seek other means of controlling my daughter."

The drug worked, however. Her daughter's focus improved. Grades went from D's and F's to B's and C's. But the child lost weight, dropping from dress size 14-16 to size 3, and has trouble sleeping at night.

Richardson would like to stop Adderall and try herbal medicines, but fears approaching school officials. She said when her daughter mentioned coming off Adderall at school, an educator said that might prompt a child neglect report to social workers.

"I'll have to try (the herbs) in the summer," Richardson said. "I don't want to go through all the hassles with the teachers again.