Portsmouth School Board's ADHD flier draws fire

Cheryl Ross:

Last month, the School Board sent a warning to parents about the “harmful effects” of drugs used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Much of the flier’s information was taken from the Internet, including from a Web site run by a group founded by the Church of Scientology.

This week, six national organizations and eight local groups sent a letter requesting that the School Board retract the flier and send a new one stating that ADHD is a disease that requires treatment.

P O L L

Should the Portsmouth School Board have sent a controversial flier on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder to parents?

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The groups include the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, the Virginia chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Tidewater chapter of Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.

The flier was sent “to instill fear in parents,” said E. Clarke Ross, CEO of the Landover, Md.-based national office of CHADD. “It’s not based on published science, but on propaganda.

“This is the first time I’ve heard of this kind of propaganda being officially disseminated from a school system to its pupils,” Ross said.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at October 25, 2007 12:00 AM
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