Is ADHD a myth?

Femme_Fatale

Chairman Meow wrote: »

And you do have a scientific background in this? Im so sorry Professor science, i didnt realize, i withdraw everything i said in light of that conclusive rolleyes emoticon you just posted.

I don't use that symbol much, but sometimes it's good at expressing exasperation, which this thread is causing a lot of.

I don't have a scientific background, which is precisely the point - I'm not arrogant enough to think I know better than people who have years and years of research and published papers behind them.

If a person wants to question a scientist, fine, but having a feeling that something is a myth, and nothing more, is hardly a basis for questioning them.

And seriously, there's no need to insult parents of children who have Aspergers (which every kid under the sun is not diagnosed with).

homeOwner

I do some extra maths and english classes with primary school kids with a range of abilities and there are quite a few kids whose parents tell me they have been diagnosed with ADD, dylesxia, dyspraxia, learning difficulties etc...

In some of the cases I can totally see that the child isn't reacting/behaving/performing the same as other kids their age are. In other cases I just don't see it and if the parent hadn't mentioned it I would not have guessed because the child's ability to concentrate and do their work is comparable to their peers. I have no training in the area of diagosing learning difficulties, I just work with the kids on maths and english.

For the kids where I can see the differences, its usually lack of ability to concentrate is the big one and they need one to one attention to constantly bring their focus back to the work. Left on their own for a few mins I have seen that they:
- immediately stop writing and look around/fiddle with whatever is on the table
- write random numbers where they should be writing letters and vice versa
- forget what they are supposed to be doing and start really concentrating on doodling which they have to finish or they get upset.
- obsessively look ahead a few pages to see what's coming up next or count how many pages are left to do after each page etc...
- one in particular needs constant noise in the background or he cant work (he uses earphones in my class but isnt allowed to in school) but I suspect this kids is autistic and hasn't been diagnosed.

My students' academic ability tends to be on par with their peers when they are given one to one attention ie they have the ability to master the work they just have fallen behind due to their in ability to concentrate/focus. So its not an intellectual issue, their ability to grasp the concepts are affected by their inability to concentrate/focus, if that makes sense. They are not "bold" or doing it for attention, they are just simply not able to sit and concentrate the same as their peers. And their parents tell me its the same in all areas of their life. These kids are 5-10yrs old.

Tony EH

I'd say those are symptoms of a child who just isn't that interested in the subjects that you're teaching and feck all to do with ADHD or ADD or any other fancy termed nouveaux mental "disorders".

Concentration takes time to master and EVERY person will experience difficulty with concentrating on things that do not stimulate them.

Trying to concentrate on something that you personally find boring is something that is universal to everybody. Some things are just bloody boring.

looking_around

sup_dude wrote: »

Just a question for those who have ADHD... do you think it's something wrong with you, or do you think it's a flaw in the education system and society that everyone is taught in the same way and expected to be able to function like everyone else, despite the fact we're all different?

Flaw.

As a kid I was diagnosed hyperactive 5 or 6. (out of 10 levels, this was before add/adhd)

Had a fantastic school, that just kept switching the subjects for me. I never spent longer than 15minutes doing anything, despite what the rest of the class was doing.
This is something I kept through out school, and as A+ student, I never had any teachers complain.
They just pretty much ignored me if I opened up a book for a different class.

Can't say they'd do the same for a lower grade student. However, that lower grade is not necessarily proof of a bad a student.

I saw an image once. About different animals, cat, dog, bird, elephant, and a tree behind them.
The exam was "to climb the tree". This is a very good example of our educational system.

__
I do think adhd is well over-diagnosed though and parents are too quick to medicate, rather than try talking to schools/teachers and working a different system.

homeOwner

Tony EH wrote: »

I'd say those are symptoms of a child who just isn't that interested in the subjects that you're teaching and feck all to do with ADHD or ADD or any other fancy termed nouveaux mental "disorders".

Concentration takes time to master and EVERY person will experience difficulty with concentrating on things that do not stimulate them.

Trying to concentrate on something that you personally find boring is something that is universal to everybody. Some things are just bloody boring.

Its difficult to explain, its the "way" they lose concentration.

Give a 5 yr old a nice workbook with coloured pictures, large writing and a pencil and ask them to write eg their numbers, the normal reaction (in my experience) is that they follow the instructions, sometimes ask questions about the picture, they might scribble a bit but for the most part they are engaged and do what they were asked to do. They work for about 20 mins in total so its not a long class.

Some look around, fiddle etc.. but if you walk past or ask them to keep working they get back to it.

The ones that I would describe as behaving "different", start to focus on something else (eg the zipper on their jacket, or doodling, or whatever) and its very difficult to get them to stop doing that and go back to the thing you asked them to do, they need to zip the jacket up to the top before they will go back to their work, or they need to finish the doodle or its upsetting, or they need to fiddle and count the pages ahead and its almost instant, from the moment you walk away from them. You could argue they are not interested, but what they are doing is repetitive and constant behaviour every class. They work well when someone is there is literally bring their focus back to the work.

The older kids know they are "supposed" to follow instructions and when they lose focus it takes a discussion/reassurance about how many pages left, is this work "new", "can I do this work", "will I be finished in 5 mins" etc.... to get them back on track, rather than the rest of the kids who go right back to it once you ask them to.

I am probably not explaining it properly.

looking_around

Tony EH wrote: »

Years ago, medication and psychotropic drugs were rare for people who were suffering bouts of "depression" and non-existent for difficult children.

Nowadays, it takes a few minutes to be "diagnosed" with ADHD and passed Ritalin, or get told you're "suffering" from "depression" and thrown some Lithium.

Years ago, meds other than sedatives did NOT exist for ADHD.
It's a bit of an unfair comparison.

I do think depression is too quick to be treated permanently with meds, rather than counselling(or both), if there's a chance it's situational rather than physical.
However, this more because the patient want meds,and don't ask about counselling.There are counselling options in Ireland, free, if you don't mind 6 month waiting list, so yes, you'd need meds for the 6 months at least anyway.
Situational depression is not any less of a risk or pain than chronic.

also lithium is NOT used for depression, but bipolar, and even then rarely, as it requires constant blood testing to make sure the liver isn't harmed. And since Ireland can be slow on the testing, most people with bp, won't take it unless they feel absolutely desperate.

Tony EH

True, and I am being a bit flippant with my sentence there. However, the point still stands.

These new psychiatric terms are bandied about far too quickly these days and their "medication" is supplied with such rapidity that it's quite scary, especially when one considers that very little testing has been carried out on said "medication".

Reb1000

I think one of the main issues with neurological issues such as ADHD, Depression etc. is that in the past and even now it has been difficult to diagnose them and thus, people do not believe these problems are as real as other medical issues such as diabetes, or a heart attack. The later are a lot more physical and easier to understand and perhaps that is why people believe that a lot of neurological issues are still a myth

Valmont

anto3473 wrote: »

Absolute nonsense. There are physiological differences and differences in neutral development which can be demonstrated on fMRI, a clear difference between people with ADHD and others with continuous performance tests and a number of other means it can be demonstrated to be an actual thing.

If these physiological differences are so clear and reliable then perhaps you could explain where there is no objective pathological test for ADHD? Not to mention the statistical power of neuroscientific experiments is low across the board. The reason ADHD is a mental illness and not a real illness is because there is no physical pathology and the day there is the debate will stop and the real doctors -- the neurologists -- will step in. Until then we are simply dealing with the medicalisation of misbehaviour and/or bad parenting.

Reb1000 wrote: »

I think one of the main issues with neurological issues such as ADHD, Depression etc. is that in the past and even now it has been difficult to diagnose them and thus, people do not believe these problems are as real as other medical issues such as diabetes, or a heart attack. The later are a lot more physical and easier to understand and perhaps that is why people believe that a lot of neurological issues are still a myth

Allegedly neurological. The lack of physical pathology behind mental illnesses places them in a sort of nosological limbo where they are sort of 'pre-diseases' but unfortunately rather than having the list shrink as the physical causes are found the list is growing as more and more human behviour is re-labelled and re-classified by the mental health industry.

Turtwig

You need to be careful though Valmont. If there was such an objective test for ADHD how costly do you think it would be? Does the flu not exist if we can't confirm presence of the virus because you know most GP's won't get physiological results that quick -and they'll have to address the thing a whole lot earlier. They'll only ever identify symptoms that reasonably could still be many things. That's why further tests often have to be done. In the past, many of these further tests didn't exist or weren't accessible. The point though here is that most medicine that we use today was also used when the techniques to objectively establish what ailment a person had were indirect. In fact, most of science works off indirect observation not direct. It's when things are direct that you should count yourself really lucky. Let's face it for most mental health that would at the least involves brain scans which are bloody expensive today. There is a recognition that all medicine needs to be ultimately based on physical observation but it's not always practical or possible. Hopefully with more technological advances this will become practical. Until then indirect observation is what most professionals will have to base the majority of their decisions on.

kidneyfan

http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/adhd/brain-imaging-data-adhd

looking_around

Jernal wrote: »

Let's face it for most mental health that would at the least involves brain scans which are bloody expensive today. There is a recognition that all medicine needs to be ultimately based on physical observation but it's not always practical or possible.

On this, depression and schizophrenia can be observed through brain scans already. So the physical aspect is there(I wouldn't be surprised with great neuro knowledge, other mental illness will have their physical aspect proven too.), but like you said, the cost makes it impractical when the symptoms can be quite obvious without the "evidence".

I do hope to see a time when brain scans will become as cheap and easy some blood drawn.
That every doc will have a head reader or something, might even look like the blow dryers in hairdressers :P
Just sit under this for 5 minutes please, hehe.

Gyalist

ceadaoin. wrote: »

I read an article about doctors prescribing ADHD drugs off label to enhance academic performance. Why would you give your kids strong medication like this just so they get good grades? There are some seriously selfish parents out there. These drugs have only been in use for a relatively short time so the long term effects are unknown.

A few years ago it came to light in the U.S. that some parents of children at some of the most exclusive private schools went as far as to have their children diagnosed with ADHD so that they were given extra time to complete the SAT. The schools were aware of the practice but turned a blind eye as academic success justified the fees and helped with recruitment and rankings.

The ADHD miraculously disappeared after the students gained entry into the Ivy League colleges of their choice.

Valmont

looking_around wrote: »

On this, depression and schizophrenia can be observed through brain scans already. So the physical aspect is there(I wouldn't be surprised with great neuro knowledge, other mental illness will have their physical aspect proven too.), but like you said, the cost makes it impractical when the symptoms can be quite obvious without the "evidence".

Depression is the name we give to a state of being; it cannot simultaneously be the name of a certain pattern of cortical activity unless you change the meaning of the word. Depression is sadness, hopelessness, distress, and unhappiness. It simply doesn't make sense to say it can be observed through brain scans when you have the person in front of you telling you they want to end their life. Yes, people who are depressed have different levels of cortical activation in certain areas than those who are not; just as those who are riding bicycles have different levels of cortical activation to those who are not. The question then becomes what sort of brain activity does it take to classify these depressed people as 'sick' with depression? The answer is only that people who are depressed are different from those who are not, cortically speaking, at a given moment. That none of physiological data on depression or schizophrenia is contained in standard pathological textbooks tells you all you need to know really; the varied and unreliable neurological findings have simply never discovered a method of action biologically determining a depressive state. We have been promised the 'causes' of mental illnesses for hundreds of years now and we are still waiting, always being led to believe it's just around the corner.

Valmont

Mental Illnesses cannot be diagnosed correctly by any objective test:

From The National Institute of Mental Health:

NIMH wrote:

What Brain Scans Cannot Do

Diagnose mental illness when used by themselves
Predict risk of getting a mental illness.

Cost has nothing to do with it because the 'causes' (and I doubt there are any in terms of direct brain activity) are unknown.

Chairman Meow

Femme_Fatale wrote: »

I don't use that symbol much, but sometimes it's good at expressing exasperation, which this thread is causing a lot of.

I don't have a scientific background, which is precisely the point - I'm not arrogant enough to think I know better than people who have years and years of research and published papers behind them.

If a person wants to question a scientist, fine, but having a feeling that something is a myth, and nothing more, is hardly a basis for questioning them.

And seriously, there's no need to insult parents of children who have Aspergers (which every kid under the sun is not diagnosed with).

And if youd read my post instead of pouncing straight for the rolleyes button, youd see all i said was it seems like cases of aspergers are cropping up as much as ADHD did in the 90s. A statement based on the fact that 2 of my wifes 3 longest friends, both have kids diagnosed with aspergers.
You seem to have taken "every kid under the sun" meaning literally. I really hope you dont actually think aspergers is somehow related to the movement of our solar system.

B123m456

I have ADHD and I can assure you it is not a myth. When I'm not on medication I find myself on edge, I find it hard to pay attention to things, to conversations, to my teachers. It is not a result of bad parenting and it makes me sick that someone who doesn't have a disorder that I live with can put it down in such a way. For those of you who think it is a way of thinking, a personality type, or how a person was brought up, you need to do more research before you judge as ADHD is as a result of a chemical imbalance in the brain

Divergent

Not myth. New label. Old problem.

Spunge

ADD medication increases my productivity and mental clarity dramatically, but ive never been diagnosed with it.

Lingua Franca

A friend of mine wasn't diagnosed with anything as a child, he was just thought of as an annoying little sh*t. Which he certainly was, he was always running around yelling like a mad thing and was utterly unable to apply himself. He cannot take down time or sit still. He's always on the move, always doing something. He's not horrible or unpleasant in any way, he just always has to be doing something. He can't stay more than a few days in the one place, even on holiday. He's out every night at plays, lectures, parties, meetings. He can't read a book or an article - he always requires a summary because he hasn't the patience to sit still and focus to read at all. Now as an adult attending uni as a mature student we're so sure that he has it that he's going to a psychologist in a few weeks time hoping for a diagnosis. He's been lucky enough to fall into a good career where he actually needs to move around doing different things all of the time, which is perfect for him and his talents and abilities but to get his degree he needs to be able to read the books and write the essays and that's really tough for him.

He has older and younger brothers and sisters who have no such problems at all and his parents are both teachers so it's absolutely not a case of bad parenting.

It is an overdiagnosed disorder* but I have no doubt that it exists.


*My brother was diagnosed with ADD back when they first started diagnosing children with social disorders and ADD was the flavour of the month but it never seemed quite right. He fits the bill for Asperger's syndrome, though.

Penny Tration

Spunge wrote: »

ADD medication increases my productivity and mental clarity dramatically, but ive never been diagnosed with it.

How do you get prescription medication without being diagnosed?

Spunge

Santa Claus

hatrickpatrick

Controversial opinion time!
The vast majority of ADHD diagnoses among kids are young boys. This is a result of the feminized school system regarding girls as the gold standard, and boys as malfunctioning girls. Young boys naturally have bags of energy and find it exceedingly difficult to sit still for long periods of time, but as this natural state doesn't suit the establishment agenda, it is classes as a "disorder", a problem which must be fixed as opposed to a natural part of being a young boy.

It makes me deeply sad to see so much medication thrown at this in places like the States. Masculinity is not a psychological defect which must be "cured".

Shakespeare's Sister

"Whee! I'm Dick Tracy! Take that Pruneface! Now I'm Pruneface, take that Dick Tracy! Now I'm Prune Tracy, take that Dick..."

Sunnyisland

hatrickpatrick wrote: »

Controversial opinion time!
The vast majority of ADHD diagnoses among kids are young boys. This is a result of the feminized school system regarding girls as the gold standard, and boys as malfunctioning girls. Young boys naturally have bags of energy and find it exceedingly difficult to sit still for long periods of time, but as this natural state doesn't suit the establishment agenda, it is classes as a "disorder", a problem which must be fixed as opposed to a natural part of being a young boy.

It makes me deeply sad to see so much medication thrown at this in places like the States. Masculinity is not a psychological defect which must be "cured".

Hatrickpatrick I love your posts, don't always agree with them, but I love them never the less :-)

Snake

My brother has it - it's no myth.

candy-gal1

Imho, and yes I expect to get some slating for saying this but it is only opinion from my experience of this things, education of them and looking into of people who I know who have been diagonsed either self or by a doctor, most mental illnesses such as ADHD, Depression, Ashbergers and the like are no myth but are very much so overtly put about on people!

I mean, If I think of myself most of the time I would have the symptoms of all these things at one time or another, doesnt mean I am diagnosed with them

I know a few friends and friends of friends, and live with a family member who would say they have Depression, Ashbergers, ADHD, and some are very real but imho that is very rare, especially the bad cases, but again imho if you let anything overwhelm you and just sit back and do nothing for a long period of time, of course your going to worsen and feel like there no way out!

BTW Im not trolling, Im just always curious about this subject as to me it seems to ask questions of it seems very taboo

Snake

candy-gal1 wrote: »

Imho, and yes I expect to get some slating for saying this but it is only opinion from my experience of this things, education of them and looking into of people who I know who have been diagonsed either self or by a doctor, most mental illnesses such as ADHD, Depression, Ashbergers and the like are no myth but are very much so overtly put about on people!

I mean, If I think of myself most of the time I would have the symptoms of all these things at one time or another, doesnt mean I am diagnosed with them

Well that's the case for a lot of conditions.. Have the symptoms of a cold does mean you have a cold - you could have hay fever.

As someone who has dyspraxia, which is similar to ADHD, I can tell you that it is most certainly not a myth.

Tail Docker

woodoo wrote: »

An excuse for brats.

I doubt it. I'd say it's a cop-out for parents who feed their kids shyte that drives the kids scatty.

Instead of going "Well Mr and Mrs Miggins, the test results have come back and it turns out ye are too feckin idle to bother making your kids proper food. The processed crap ye have fed little Jimmy has turned him into a cross between the duracell bunny and Damon. Ye are crap parents."

Saying the kid has ADD is easier. I reckon it stands for Additive Drivven Demon.

Snake

Tail Docker wrote: »

I doubt it. I'd say it's a cop-out for parents who feed their kids shyte that drives the kids scatty.

Instead of going "Well Mr and Mrs Miggins, the test results have come back and it turns out ye are too feckin idle to bother making your kids proper food. The processed crap ye have fed little Jimmy has turned him into a cross between the duracell bunny and Damon. Ye are crap parents."

Saying the kid has ADD is easier. I reckon it stands for Additive Drivven Demon.

There's no test result you're observed for an hour or so by a psychiatrist and asked some questions to see how focused you are. ADD/ADHD aren't bold children they're children who don't focus well.

spurious

I don't think it's a myth, but I do think it's wildly over diagnosed in many cases where BOLD is the true issue.

In teaching we would see these kids with all sorts of diagnosed conditions, many of which would disappear in the classroom of a 'strict' teacher, only to re-appear in another class later and then disappear again. We also of course saw the children who genuinely had an attention problem consistently, but very many that could turn it on and off when it suited and did.

Bogan

It's basically a given what type of parents are going to be behind the child "diagnosed" with these conditions. You'd be totally shocked if they were successful or educated people.

beauf

Tail Docker wrote: »

I doubt it. I'd say it's a cop-out for parents who feed their kids shyte that drives the kids scatty.

Instead of going "Well Mr and Mrs Miggins, the test results have come back and it turns out ye are too feckin idle to bother making your kids proper food. The processed crap ye have fed little Jimmy has turned him into a cross between the duracell bunny and Damon. Ye are crap parents."

Saying the kid has ADD is easier. I reckon it stands for Additive Drivven Demon.

How do you explain a situation where only one kid has it, and not the rest of their siblings.

Lucyfur

Bogan wrote: »

It's basically a given what type of parents are going to be behind the child "diagnosed" with these conditions. You'd be totally shocked if they were successful or educated people.

Ah now.

That's bolix.

Tail Docker

beauf wrote: »

How do you explain a situation where only one kid has it, and not the rest of their siblings.

That one didn't eat their greens.

RobbingBandit

Magaggie wrote: »

"Whee! I'm Dick Tracy! Take that Pruneface! Now I'm Pruneface, take that Dick Tracy! Now I'm Prune Tracy, take that Dick..."

Lousy Beatniks.

beauf

candy-gal1 wrote: »

.... imho if you let anything overwhelm you and just sit back and do nothing for a long period of time, of course your going to worsen and feel like there no way out!....

Do you mean anything. Or just some things.

Because if you have some people who have a natural advantage, in something physical. You have some people who have a disadvantage. Considering the brain is a lot more complicated, its likely the same applies to that aswell. Some people are good at numbers, some people bad at staying focused. Good, bad sense of direction. Good coordination, bad coordination.

From that perspective, "not trying hard enough" is very unlikely to be true for absolutely "anything".

beauf

Tail Docker wrote: »

That one didn't eat their greens.

According to you they get all get fed crud.

SpatialPlanning

Is ADHD over diagnosed or was it previously under diagnosed? The majority of trained professionals here seem to think the former.

Mam of 4

Tail Docker wrote: »

That one didn't eat their greens.

And what if they did eat them? And their fruit, and ate balanced healthy meals and then still regressed and were diagnosed with ADHD? Aspergers Syndrome? Dyspraxia? Hyperlexia? Hypersensitivity? The list is/can be endless . .

Do you not think that maybe parents beat themselves up enough thinking if I'd have done this or gave them that they might not have this diagnosis ? Without others thinking oh if they'd fed them properly they would've been ok.

Walk a day in any parent of a child with a *label* shoes ...

SpatialPlanning

spurious wrote: »

I don't think it's a myth, but I do think it's wildly over diagnosed in many cases where BOLD is the true issue.

In teaching we would see these kids with all sorts of diagnosed conditions, many of which would disappear in the classroom of a 'strict' teacher, only to re-appear in another class later and then disappear again. We also of course saw the children who genuinely had an attention problem consistently, but very many that could turn it on and off when it suited and did.

As a teacher are you qualified to make the observations and judgements that you are making? Or are you basing your observations and judgements on a preconceived notion of what kind of pupil to expect in your classroom? Can a strict teacher cure other diagnosed problems?

This is only part attack, part genuine question, Doctor.

Tail Docker

Mam of 4 wrote: »

And what if they did eat them? And their fruit, and ate balanced healthy meals and then still regressed and were diagnosed with ADHD? Aspergers Syndrome? Dyspraxia? Hyperlexia? Hypersensitivity? The list is/can be endless . .

Do you not think that maybe parents beat themselves up enough thinking if I'd have done this or gave them that they might not have this diagnosis ? Without others thinking oh if they'd fed them properly they would've been ok.

Walk a day in any parent of a child with a *label* shoes ...

I do. Fecker never ate his greens either.

Bogan

Lucyfur wrote: »

Ah now.

That's bolix.

No not really. They'll be a disorganised mess, probably puffing on a fag/joint and blaming everyone else for their kids bad behaviour. Meanwhile the kids are going nuts, completely un-noticed by the parents.

Mam of 4

Tail Docker wrote: »

I do. Fecker never ate his greens either.

Ok, I apologise for making the assumption that you hadn't a clue
But my point still stands

SpatialPlanning

Bogan wrote: »

No not really. They'll be a disorganised mess, probably puffing on a fag/joint and blaming everyone else for their kids bad behaviour.

And how would you know, Bogan?

Tail Docker

Mam of 4 wrote: »

Ok, I apologise for making the assumption that you hadn't a clue
But my point still stands

There's a well known and highly respected teacher in Offaly - Mrd D. - she works with kids with autism etc etc. Our youngest was physically damaged at birth (shyte delivery) and had learning difficulties - he's smart as a button, just couldn't make sense of words/numbers etc. Two years with Mrs D and he was off and flying it educationally. If we accepted the "autism" diagnosis/label and the meds etc that went along with it, he'd be on the wonder drugs and still struggling. Little fecker still hates his greens though..

Bogan

SpatialPlanning wrote: »

And how would you know, Bogan?

I have eyes and see it every single day. Kids are wanting a bit of attention but their parents can't be arsed with basics. How do you not see it SpatialPlanning?

beauf

Mam of 4 wrote: »

Ok, I apologise for making the assumption that you hadn't a clue
But my point still stands

His point wasn't logical. Regardless of anything else.

Bogan wrote: »

No not really. They'll be a disorganised mess, probably puffing on a fag/joint and blaming everyone else for their kids bad behaviour. Meanwhile the kids are going nuts, completely un-noticed by the parents.

Again you often see kids who are not like their parents, or different from their siblings.

If it was purely down to environment, or parents they would all be the same.

Its not logical.

Lucyfur

Bogan wrote: »

No not really. They'll be a disorganised mess, probably puffing on a fag/joint and blaming everyone else for their kids bad behaviour.

Ah no.

I've an education and I stopped smoking agggggggeeeeessss ago and I don't get benefits and I pay all my own bills and I don't deal drugs or breed puppies by the gallon and I STILL have a kid with autism/adhd/dyspraxia/ocd/possible torretts

And he's fecking deadly. And if the autism/adhd/dyspraxia/ocd/possible torretts fairy came along in the morning, I'd politely ask her to put away her magic wand, cos my maggot is pretty awesome just how he is, even if half the general public think his conditions are made up/bad parenting.