As a prescriber of schedule two narcotics, I consider the comparison of cocaine to Ritalin *in this article* sensationalism. For example, marijuana and heroin are both schedule one narcotics, but surely you would agree that if someone said marijuana was “just like heroin,” this would be laughable. It may be argued that the author meant “just like” only in reference to the schedule, which taken literally, may be true. But the sentiment certainly meant to draw parallels and insinuate danger in a sensational way. I think this attitude is more harmful than helpful from a public health perspective.
You may wish to contact the article's author with a constructive explanation of your concerns, and any suggested re-wording which you believe may be more beneficial?
Meanwhile, as a casual observer I would say that the point of the article was to raise awareness among those in the target audience: parents of gifted children, a relatively small and overlooked percentage of the population, so they may ask questions, do their research, have conversations with their children's medical providers, and together make informed decisions. The article is not lobbying for public health policy or giving medical advice. It is not published in a medical journal.
Possibly you are missing the point of the thread, and the point of this article within the thread, and are therefore veering off-topic.
And I’m still looking for data on the prevalence of this misdiagnosis issue. I don’t see the answer in any of the SENG links, but maybe I am overlooking something.
You may wish to contact SENG and the book's co-authors to inquire of their research data and sample size(s)?
I am also interested in how it compares to the problem of lack of access to a needed diagnosis (for any number of reasons). Which is worse? And which is more frequent?
I doubt that information would be presented in this Gifted Issues Discussion Forum, but rather may be a subject for research.
For any of the posts on this thread, one could similarly ask, or demand to know, how prevalent any particular negative experience may be... how frequently it occurs... what the likelihood of occurrence is. But for purposes of this forum, it may be enough for parents to be aware of and prepared for any of the cautionary tales in the various posts in this discussion thread; this is a crowd-sourced sampling of negative experiences that children and families have encountered, a collection of anecdotal evidence, not empirical evidence.
