*** The Good Ones Knew It

"When I examine myself and my methods of thought, I come to the conclusion that the gift of fantasy has meant more to me than my talent for absorbing positive knowledge."

Albert Einstein

My Change Agent

Let us take a deeper look into my blog's beloved change agent, Sir Ken Robinson.

He is an internationally recognized leader in the development of creativity, innovation and human resources. He has worked with national governments in Europe and Asia, with international agencies, Fortune 500 companies, national and state education systems, non-profit corporations and some of the world’s leading cultural organizations. They include the Royal Shakespeare Company, Sir Paul McCartney’s Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, the Royal Ballet, the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, the European Commission, UNESCO, the Council of Europe, the J Paul Getty Trust and the Education Commission of the States. From 1989 - 2001, he was Professor of Arts Education at the University of Warwick.

His 2001 book, Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative (Wiley-Capstone), was described by Director magazine as ‘a truly mind opening analysis of why we don’t get the best out of people at a time of punishing change.’ John Cleese said: ‘Ken Robinson writes brilliantly about the different ways in which creativity is undervalued and ignored in Western culture and especially in our educational systems.’

(From his Wikipedia page)

Teamed with new things like the Kaplan "Talent Campaign," Sir Ken Robinson should inspire those in charge of the school systems, parents and teachers alike, to not ever believe that their children need to be put on mood altering drugs. We must CHANNEL that of which is rightfully ours, the high energy, utter excitement, the ambition to achieve what most would call irrational, passions for things that are our own, these were the voices of my classmates at The Marin School, and their dreams must be heard.

*** Killing Me Softly With Your Words

"Social network sites risk infantilising the mid-21st century mind, leaving it characterised by short attention spans, sensationalism, inability to empathise and a shaky sense of identity, according to a leading neuroscientist.

The startling warning from Lady Greenfield, professor of synaptic pharmacology at Lincoln college, Oxford, and director of the Royal Institution, has led members of the government to admit their work on internet regulation has not extended to broader issues, such as the psychological impact on children."

And on top of energy drinks, bad food, cigarettes, sedentary lifestyles, they want to pump us with Adderral and tell us we need that too.

Please listen to the audio link posted on this article, and learn more about your world.
I hope you have a facebook account. Lol.

http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=70427815574&h=AsGnZ&u=XADuA

*** What Are People Saying?

What do others, beside me, think about the diagnosing of A.D.H.D. in America?
Here's a poll.

http://www.helium.com/items/421227-are-children-overdiagnosed-with-attention-deficit-disorder

As you can see, most people are on the same boat as I am. So, let's seek this revolution. Let's allow those like Sir Ken Robinson to lead us in an understanding that all individuals, however different and peculiar they may be, have a worth to something; have great worth to something. And drugs should not be in the picture EVER as a personality or mood stabilizer.

I'll tell you right now, if anything is relative, it would be those two things: mood and personality.

Those drugs should be illegal. And mark my word, it will happen, and then the government will make more money regulating the black market of Adderral sales, and will gladly market it as the usual: War On Methamphetamines.

I'll LOL all over you

I just posted on this mans video, Paul Keen. He's making sure we know A.D.H.D. is a disorder we can't take too lightly, and that Phelp's is a perfect example.

He's talking about the bong and pot that Phelp's got caught with, saying that this was a clear result that his A.D.H.D. had stopped being successfully "managed." Sounds about as bogus as his hair. (Sorry fella).

Take a look at his youtube tutorial. You'll get the idea real quick.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gq8FeQOFfjM

My problem here is, all young men get stoned and hungry and go get a Subway footlong everyday. It's a normal (and yes I understand, illegal) thing to do. But this guy here is trying to 1) take the stance that smoking pot is a horribly moral and ethical disaster, and 2) Phelps only did it and got caught because he has A.D.H.D. So basically he's saying, "And Phelp's is the wierdo we must love and protect who has A.D.H.D. and was let out of sight of his Mommy to go and smoke the devil weed and get caught because his attention is too short to achieve anything more."

Ha.

Here's a link to Phelp's story, just to get everyone on the same page.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/10/sports/olympics/10Rparent.html

Day After St. Patrick's

I wish that there were more days, with more reasons, to experience life to some kind of standardized yet ultimate degree. Yesterday was St. Patrick's Day, and it began with taking a remarkably open and uplifting turn, as I ended up going with a bunch of fellow classmates into town, to kick off the celebrations.

We were excused from our everyday requirements. And socializing for hours in front of a Starbucks with fellow classmates that I loosely associated with was more valuable then the time I had spent with them all year . On that day, we were given time to breathe and just be ourselves, in the raw, with no worries about anything for at least an hour, and speak to one another openly about anything that was true to us. How nice it was.

Anyway.

Here are some interesting new finds. Although the Washington Post is probably going under, Kaplan Inc. is its subsidiary. You know those new commercials for Kaplan University? Well, I decided to invest in the Washington Post's stock because of Kaplan Inc.'s new "Talent Campaign." I think its going to be the most successful campaign for education yet. Take a look at a couple of their commercials.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e50YBu14j3U&NR=1

"The world needs more talent than ever, yet it's being wasted everyday, by an educational system steeped in tradition and old ideas... It's time to realize that talent isn't just in schools like this one. It's everywhere...[We're going to] learn how you learn so we can teach you better."

This is the revolution we are all looking for. A.D.H.D. falls into the category of "tradition and old ideas." Western medicine has, for years, simply masked the symptoms of our disorders, pumping us with drugs and reversing our abilities to heal ourselves. True health comes from the inside out, and not the other way around.

Happy St. Patricks Day everybody.

"Quote Me"

Here's some stats given from the New York Times article "Weighing Nondrug Options for A.D.H.D." June 2007.

"2.5 million kids take stimulant drugs for attention and hyperactivity problems. But concerns about side-effects have prompted many parents to look elsewhere. As many as two-thirds of children with A.D.H.D. have used some form of alternative treatment."


Why the hell, then, are these kids put on these drugs in the first place? They suggest simple things like diet change, herbal therapy, vitamins, yoga and massage. The article states these treatments show promise, but there is not enough studies to help parents realize alternatives should be used first, and probably exclusively. They just have to sit there and suffer in question, (after their child has been detrimentally diagnosed) when the "Food and Drug Administration ordered in 2006 that stimulants like Adderall, Ritalin and Concerta [must] carry warnings of risk for sudden death, heart attacks and hallucinations in some patients."

Jesus.

*** Why this and not that, it's like that and like this ya'll.

Why did I choose to bring ADHD to such light? What about eating disorders, what about cosmetic surgery and body image, what about fast food and brain washing advertisements, sexism, domestic violence, capitalism. Why not talk about all these other things that seem to be like poison to the very spirit people are endowed with at birth.

Because I am currently up against the Information Age of America, where information is available to you rapidly, wholly and biastly. And, the underlying efforts of it all, are for us to "Keep up! Keep up!" But, what we forget is that, only a few people are at the forefront of these technological advancements. Only a few, fast-paced, forward thinking, geniuses are running the WORLD's technological advancements. And the difference between our geniuses today, and those of yesterday like Einstein, is that Einstein didn't have a direct link to the rest of the world (the internet) informing people instantly of all his current developments.

SO now, before we even know if our information is correct, we know about it. And they are telling us, "Keep up! KEEP UP!!" And, I'll be damned if I'm going to allow myself to accept that people are being called Attention Deficit, or Attention Deficit Hypertensive, when they aren't even being given the time themselves to decide whether the information they're getting is right or not, or even of real interest to them. There's only a few crazy ass, genius people running the information flow, setting trends of speed, information overload and nothing but analytics.

And I'll be damned if you think that drugs like Adderal are OK to help you reach these inhumane goals of total comprehension, of all work no sleep days, of information on top of information on top of information.

You're good enough to absorb and flow with the world the way you want to . You are good enough to take life at your own pace. You're good enough to live life the way you want to, without people telling you that you need drugs to keep up. PARENTS!!!! Get this message, because you're kids are in your hands. These drugs hurt your kids. We're talking long-term memory loss. We're talking heart murmurs. Not just irritability, and difficulty sleeping. We're talking having your child peaking 3 times a day like they just took a hit off a Meth-Pipe with some crack head genius in the back alley of the internet. No drugs to "keep up." NO DRUGS TO KEEP UP!!!!

Ok, so I'm really trying hard to be serious, and not fill this with mindful sentiments, because I'm no preacher. But, here's the intro of the George Lucas film, THX 1138. It's so strange, it’s so bizarre. I couldn't watch the movie in its entirety, and I only recommend it if you have the stomach for out of this world thinking that’s very, VERY far-fetched. It disturbed me, but is one of the greatest representations of the modern world's push to keep us "Keeping up."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6Z2ag8FMZw&feature=related

It's weird, right? And the movie goes on to show the lives of mindless clones working in this futuristic plantation who eat sedatives and mush for every meal, so they don't question the life they're sacrificing for whoever these invisible people are, running it. Sounds pretty friggin familiar to me.

What We Are Up Against

How High Are We Supposed to Jump Until We Hit Our Heads?

The Law of Accelerating Returns

by	Ray Kurzweil

An analysis of the history of technology shows that technological change is exponential, contrary to the common-sense "intuitive linear" view. So we won't experience 100 years of progress in the 21st century -- it will be more like 20,000 years of progress (at today's rate). The "returns," such as chip speed and cost-effectiveness, also increase exponentially. There's even exponential growth in the rate of exponential growth. Within a few decades, machine intelligence will surpass human intelligence, leading to The Singularity -- technological change so rapid and profound it represents a rupture in the fabric of human history. The implications include the merger of biological and nonbiological intelligence, immortal software-based humans, and ultra-high levels of intelligence that expand outward in the universe at the speed of light.


How High Are We Supposed to Jump Until We Hit Our Heads?

*** Be inspired, not afraid

An Ode to my dear inspirer, my change agent, and an indirect best friend, Sir Ken Robinson , I write with the support of your determination.

As I began brainstorming this blog, there were turns, changes, and pitfalls in what I thought my exact positioned argument was going to be. There are a lot of things to discuss. My boyfriend, God bless him, plays devil's advocate to all my arguments, just to push me a little more. So, like all other things in my life, please bare with me as you try to follow my ADHD-like transformation of thoughts.

This blog is about ADHD, or as I like to call it, A Dumb Hypothesized Disorder. But my issue isn't with the disease itself, or with doctors or the FDA that aide in the diagnosis of children (who are the victims in this blog that I am trying to save). I do think there are overly hyper kids, that they disrupt the classroom, that they cannot follow in the standard forms of education, and whose traits don't follow ideological norms. But, I don't believe, under any circumstances, that a child's natural, habitual, in-bred peculiarity should ever be stigmatized in a way that in turn, could cripple them of their God given right to develop into the individual they were born to be.

I graduated in a class of 25 my senior year of high school. Basically all my friends were diagnosed with some kind of attention deficit disorder, and it was only until my school, The Marin School in Marin County, California, that these kids felt any hope at all. From boarding schools, to home schooling, to mood-altering drugs, my friends, my best friends, had been told from early on that they were not good enough to function in a standardized system. I write in the name of my friends.

PARENTS!! This blog is for you too. I am here to tell you to not be scared. To not be afraid that your child's hyperactivity is a clear reflection of how you did as parents, nor too scary to accept. Do not be afraid of what your children represent according to other people. Do not listen to doctors, to teachers, to the principals at their schools. Your child has a purpose, so do not be fooled into thinking that Ritallin, Adderall, Focallin or Concerta, or any other of these drugs, are going to fix what other people say about your kids. That is NOT your concern.

I beg you, in this overstimulated society, do not give up your duty of nurturing and acceptance and replace it with classification, emotional distance and the acceptance that a drug will be good for your child who is "diagnosed" with A Dumb Hypothesized Disorder.

During the course of this blog, I will evaluate, and re-evaluate my issues with ADHD within this over-diagnosed country.

Meanwhile, meet Sir Ken Robinson, an inspirer, an innovator, a fearless Brit who "challenges the way we're educating our children." He is my change agent, and says "Students with restless minds and bodies -- far from being cultivated for their energy and curiosity -- are ignored or even stigmatized, with terrible consequences. 'We are educating people out of their creativity,' Robinson says." -Ted.com

Please watch this video in its entirety. You will be inspired as we begin this journey together.

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html

Much Love,

Rain