Re: The Fad is Growning

Someone is getting rich, anything to make money.

The love of money is the root of all evil 1 Tim 6:10

http://www.kaimin.org/test2.php?ardate=20031121&id=2246

Students face waiting list for ADHD screenings

Katherine Sather
Kaimin Reporter

It’s hard to focus on lectures.

It’s hard to concentrate on homework.

And for some students at the University of Montana who have attention-deficit
hyperactivity disorder, its hard to get treatment.

Doctors at Curry Health Center have a waiting list of about 15 students who
want to be evaluated for ADHD, and doctors won’t have time to test most of
them until late spring semester, said psychologist Martha Silverman.

The number of students on the waiting list is equivalent to the amount she
usually evaluates over the course of a year.

“It seems like there are more people this year,” she said. “Nowadays
it’s definitely more well-known and accepted than it used to be.”

College is a time when many students may recognize they have the symptoms of
ADHD, Silverman said. Students are faced with homework assignments which are
larger and more difficult than in high school, when they might have gotten by
without much studying.

“They try to study and for some — that’s when it really hits them,” she
said. “We hear things like, ‘It takes me so much longer than all my
peers,’ and ‘I feel like I have to study so much more to get a good
grade.’”

Students are also more aware of the disorder, since it has received increased
attention from the media in recent years, said psychologist Cheryl Vandenburg
of Curry Health Center. She said two-thirds of children diagnosed with the
disease will continue to have symptoms in adulthood.

Students with ADHD may have trouble paying attention and staying focused on
their school work. Often times the disorder includes hyperactivity; students
are fidgety, restless and talkative.

“It used to be a myth that you outgrow it, but that’s not true,”
Vandenburg said.

Women are also more likely to schedule an evaluation than in years past,
Silverman said.

Staff at the Department Of Disability Services has also seen an increase in
women with ADHD. The department offers accommodations to students with the
disorder, such as longer test-taking time in rooms separate from their classes.

“A decade ago we saw a lot of males, but now we’re seeing more females,”
said Bernadine Gantert, the DSS program director. “Women, when they were
younger, tended to be more well-behaved, but males may have had discipline
problems and were identified with ADHD.”

Gantert has noticed an overall increase of students with ADHD who seek out her
organization’s services. Of the 796 students that DDS served last spring, 103
had the disorder.

At Counseling and Psychological Services, Vandenburg and Silverman are the only
psychologists who evaluate students for ADHD. The process takes several weeks,
so the waiting list is long. Students first undergo an hour-long screening to
find out if they’re a candidate for the evaluation.

After the screenings, most students are added to the waiting list for a $350
evaluation that includes an aptitude test, attention test and ADHD
questionnaire.

The evaluation totals about eight hours, but is scheduled in two-hour sessions
that continue for three weeks.

Vandenburg said it’s the most affordable evaluation in town. Other facilities
offer the tests for $800 to $1,800.

“It’s a screaming deal,” she said.

One reason the evaluation process is so thorough is to prevent students from
abusing the drugs prescribed to treat ADHD. Students often use Ritalin or
Aderol, which help them concentrate.

Both Silverman and Gantert said it’s important for students to use
accommodations provided by the Department of Disability Services, such as extra
time for tests.

“If someone with ADHD is testing in the Urey Underground Lecture Hall with
300 other people, that’s not optimal,” Gantert said. “In a private room
we can allow them time to demonstrate their academic proficiency.”