
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, February 16, 1995                   TAG: 9502160080
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                  LENGTH: Medium

DRUGS NO CURE-ALL FOR ATTENTION PROBLEMS, REPORT SAYS

ATTENTION DEFICIT DISORDERS usually are treated with drugs like Ritalin. But researchers say the problem may be diagnosed too often and medicine may be overprescribed.

Medication alone isn't enough for kids who have severe trouble concentrating, the Education Department said Wednesday in its first report on a disorder being diagnosed in a growing number of children.

Two new videos produced by the department give teachers and parents tips on what can be done in the classroom to help children afflicted with chronic attention deficit disorder, said agency official Tom Hehir.

The role of drugs such as Ritalin - now prescribed to 60 percent to 90 percent of U.S. children with attention deficit disorders - needs more study, Hehir said. Possible overprescription is a worry, he said.

Many researchers go even further - warning that attention deficit disorders are diagnosed too often, or that medicines such as Ritalin have become a ``silver bullet.''

``We shouldn't be prescribing medicine simply because that's the easiest way to go,'' said Dr. Mark Stein, who runs a University of Chicago clinic for children and adults with the disorder.

Stein says the problem is a lack of money to pay for good evaluations of students to determine who actually has the disorder.

The Education Department and some Republican members of Congress say they will look at whether too many children are diagnosed as needing special education when the federal law governing such programs is re-examined later this year.

In its report, the Education Department stresses that parents, teachers, psychologists and doctors should work together to evaluate children. They must ensure that poor hearing, learning disabilities or even stress at home aren't causing attention problems.

But Stein says comprehensive evaluations rarely are done. He recalls the case of one child diagnosed after a five-minute meeting with a psychologist. Later, the child was found to have borderline mental retardation.

Children with attention deficit disorders are distracted easily. They often have trouble waiting in line, yell out answers to questions before a teacher has finished, or constantly shift from undone task to undone task.

They have trouble following instructions, can't play quietly and interrupt others. Many also are hyperactive. But some aren't, and instead simply may appear to be daydreaming.

Although studies remain inconclusive, the disorders appear to run in families, researchers say.

Bonnie Fell of Skokie, Ill., whose three sons have the disorder, remembers sitting on her bed a decade ago and sobbing because her oldest was failing school and getting in constant trouble.

With no one to help her and little information available on such behavioral problems, she felt totally alone and inadequate.

``The best thing about videos like these is that now parents know we're not out there alone,'' Fell said.

The Education Department estimates that 3 percent to 5 percent of U.S. children younger than 18 have attention deficit disorder - between 1.5 million and 2.5 million children.

by CNB