Comments on: Here he is, Judge Fink

By: kimbriel

kimbriel — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 21:42:58 +0000

Holy crap, this is appalling!! Your son is beautiful and smart and wonderful… and you are a hero for helping him

By: Aaron

Aaron — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 22:02:03 +0000

When I was 8 my school requested that I begin to take meds as it seemed I couldn’t pay attention enough in class to sufficiently grasp reading skills. The doctor said that I had ADHD and would need to take meds. My father and mother refused to drug me, so they took me to another doctor. This doctor was actually advertised as not being one that would jump onto the med train. He took some time and did a complete physical. A little bit of testing later and they found out I was def in my right ear and dyslexic. Once I returned to school, the administration demanded that I wear a hearing aid, use a depressant med (to keep dyslexia slightly in check), and for me to have a class in which the reading standards were lower. My parents refused all three. They wanted me to be seated to the right of the typical “teaching area” which is completely reasonable because they didn’t want me to look like a freak — I wear one now of my own choice but it is nice they waited till I could chose because school yard peers can be brutal. They again refused the use of any drugs. Also, they didn’t want me to have lower standards… rather they hired a neighbor (high school student) to help me with reading.
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I am now a constant reader. I love Kurt Vonnegut’s novels!!! (I am extremely close to having “So it goes.” tattooed to my arm when I turn 18… but that’s not the point.) I write for my school’s newspaper about political and social issues in the opinion section, it looks like I will be either the opinion or news section editor next year, and I am hoping will be the editor-in-chief. I am on Quiz Bowl, Academic Decathalon, and Academic Superbowl ~ social studies. I am writing for a Libertarian newsletter from Michigan. Though I am a Sophomore I am looking forward to college. I am considering going to DePauw for Political Sciences/Law double major or Ball State for Journalism or Education (Social Studies).
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My parents did the right thing and I thank them everyday for it. I am capable of fulfilling my life dreams and am in the process because, well, my parents are awesome.
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Honestly, Ben seems like a real bright kid that is just as rambunctious as boys have always been and doesn’t need a toxic foreign substance ruining his mind and body. The fact that he asks “Definition?” proves to me that this boy wants to be a sponge to knowledge. Please continue to stand strong, you are doing the right thing for him!!!

By: The Nutcracker

The Nutcracker — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 07:44:13 +0000

I agree that this video is a real eye-opener, and you can tell by the policeman’s reactions to Ben that he was as impressed with him as we are.

As I said in another post, however, playing the blame game isn’t enough when it comes to the cause and/or treatment of behavioral conditions. It isn’t just the system, or just the school, or just faulty parenting, or just a head injury or just fetal alcohol syndrome or just an inherited trait or just any one thing that is screwing up our kids. Every case is as different as every child. There are just too many variables to say that there is any one cure, therefore, drugs can in no way be the ONLY answer. Drugs are, however, a quick fix, an instant cure, the easiest method of dealing with something nobody knows much about…yet. It’s all just theory and experimentation at this point, and there are still a lot of people who don’t even think of it as a ‘legitimate’ condition. If you don’t know the cause, how can it be real? For some, they think they know the cause and the cure is pretty simple; more discipline!

It seems as if the control has been given over to tired, overwrought, overworked, and underpaid caregivers, be it parents, teachers or doctors. Doctors don’t know the cause and they’ll be the first to tell you. They are prescribing dangerous doses of mood altering drugs to see which one works. The kid has a bad reaction? Ok, we’ll try this one and see what happens. See me in six weeks. Ah yes, that’s a common side effect with some kids. Well, there’s this new one out right now that we’re getting very good reports about. The success rate is very high and the side effects are minimal. Let me know how it goes and if there are any problems give us a call. Oh, so Tommy is finally doing better at school? He’s not getting into as much trouble after school? He’s easier to handle? He’s better? Please doc, define “better”. Better for who? Tommy or everybody around him? Ben is shown here as our little Tommy, which is probably one of the few testimonials we will ever get to see from a child speaking honestly about his own condition. It speaks volumes. If he has one parent who can home school him and see him through the educational system, hooray for that parent. If he has one teacher who has enough patience to guide him in the right direction and stimulate his natural curiosity and above average intelligence, kudos to that teacher. If there is one doctor out there who can suggest a change of diet or atmosphere at home instead of doling out drugs like Flintstones vitamins, then there is hope. Please people, let’s just slow things down a bit and look at this for what it really is….

By: Rob Perrault

Rob Perrault — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 00:51:24 +0000

Hey Jim,

Smart kid, Ben looks real bright.

So sad that our school systems are so cookie cutter style. The U.S. needs to come up with a better plan to educate children that have difficulty with the current system.

Boys and girls should be taught in the manner that best suits them as an individual and we really need to do better than just try and drug these children. It probably comes down to profits and funding through laws and so forth that some politician or judge is getting kick backs, corruption etc.

Jim did the right thing in trying to save his child In not wanting to have happen to his child what has happened to so many. When forced into a corner you must think outside the box.

I don’t like the force of any drugs especially on a child, that is perverse!

Don’t let this happen to our countries children.

http://www.ritalindeath.com/

Good luck, Rob Perrault

By: Laurie

Laurie — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 08:34:12 +0000

The doctor that diagnosed Ben with ADHD should be saving his pennies for a malpractice suit sometime in the future.

By: Joe Kaiser

Joe Kaiser — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 17:02:57 +0000

Ben says it all when he says to the cop, “define mature.”

As the cop noted, Ben is mature for his age. Interestingly, the ADHD child is NEVER referred to as “mature.” The EXACT OPPOSITE is true. By definition, the ADHD child is immature.

“Mature” and “ADHD” are mutually exclusive terms. Maturity virtually excludes Ben from any possibility of having ADHD.

Define mature?

Heck, define misdiagnosed, and I’m quite certain Ben just did.

By: Jim

Jim — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 02:03:43 +0000

This wasn’t at a children”s facility – it was at the Fort Lauderdale Police Department, and it had nothing to do with caring enough about Ben to tape the interview.

This was done in their interrogation room (the same one I was in) and it was all about obtaining evidence to be used against me in court and nothing else.

Instead, they got the truth and a heavy dose of reality.

It should be clear to everyone that sees this that Ben is only a “victim” when he is with his mom and he wants to be away from her abuse.

By: Sheila

Sheila — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 20:23:31 +0000

This is the best video ever! What Courage! This boy should have the right to live label and drug free. Ablechild.org supports this boy’s journey in life.

By: Bill Haymin

Bill Haymin — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 17:45:39 +0000

Unfortunately American citizens have not been paying attention to whom we allow to represent us. We have sown the wind and are now reaping the whirlwind. Corrupt and twisted thinking people are routinely placed in office by a dumbed down populace. It is a sad day in America.

By: Don Cordell

Don Cordell — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 07:25:34 +0000

They did the same thing to my daughter in 1965, either my daughter take drugs to calm her down, or the court would take my daughter, and drug her, and send her to school. The schools admit that over 60% of the students are on some mood altering drug to control behavour, how soon before it’s all citizens to make us behave? Just a little bit in our water supply would work wonders, mellow and nonconfrontational at your bidding.
Then we will all be happy, and surrender our rights for the good of the nation.