If it is not broke, why are you trying to fix it?

If people, especially children, act in a peculiar way that is not just like everyone else, we have come to think they must have some type of disorder. What is so unacceptable about being an individual?

by Mary M. Ernsberger — 

Can you imagine the world without the telephone? What about electricity, the light bulb or Disneyland? How about the telescope or E=MC2 or the automobile? Then there’s the airplane, chewing gum and “Star Wars.” Do you know what all of these inventions have in common? Each of their inventors stood out as different from the crowd, and actually exhibited the symptoms of ADD or ADHD.

If people, especially children, act in a peculiar way that is not just like everyone else, we have come to think they must have some type of disorder. What is so unacceptable about being an individual? When did expressing creativity and imaginative thought become wrong? Why is being energetic instead of being a couch potato so often labeled a bad thing?

Some of our most recognizable musicians, actors, artists and sports legends share these traits — people like Beethoven, Mozart, Stevie Wonder, George Burns, Jim Carrey, Robin Williams, Van Gogh, Picasso and Hemmingway. Don’t forget Babe Ruth, Magic Johnson and Greg Louganis. The list could go on and on. There are politicians, philosophers and scientists who belong on this list.

What if these creative “lights” had been extinguished or locked in a box because they were radically different? What if all of these people had been given a little pill so they would conform, and act like everyone else? Where would we be today — and where will we be tomorrow if we continue to fix what isn’t broken in the first place?

In 1999, the Colorado State Board of Education passed a precedent-setting resolution that required school personnel to use academic solutions rather than drug solutions to resolve behavior, attention and learning problems. Since then, state legislatures, school boards and national organizations have responded to the need to protect children from arbitrary and forced psychiatric labeling and drugging, and to monitor the prescription rate of stimulants and other psychiatric drugs for children.

On Dec. 18, 2003, Arizona went another route, passing HB2024 which states: “A child whose parent, guardian or custodian refuses to put the child on medication or questions the use of a psychiatric medication shall not be considered abused, neglected or dependent for that reason alone.” For more information about past and pending legislation on this subject, visit www.fightforkids.org. Speak up so your voice can be heard. Remember, our children are the future of our state and country.

Mary M. Ernsberger is a master hypnotherapist and life path coach who creates individual drug-free treatment options for children and adults labeled as ADD/ADHD, gifted or exceptional. 480-343-9555, [email protected].

Reprinted from AzNetNews, Volume 25, Number 3, June/July 2006.