COMMENTS OF FRED A. BAUGHMAN JR., MD. RE LETTER OF DM, PSYCHOLOGIST ON AN INDIAN RESERVATION

DM, Ph.D.
Indian Health Service
Middle, WA  89480


DM, 11/6/00, wrote:

Dr. Baughman,
  Viewed your site with great interest. I work with native Americans on
the …. Indian Reservation. I am the first and only clinical psychologist
here. Have 16 years experience (including 6 in neuropsychology/head
injury). Have always been skeptical of ADD/ADHD--always discover many
emotional problems, family dysfunctions--good reasons not to pay attention!

[Dr. Baughman:
ignored to make way for the psychiatric, 'chemical imbalance' label, and for the
'chemical balancer', the pill!]

Also, poor education = lack of development of "cognitive attack skills"
necessary to learning in school. As well, failure to include variant styles of
learning (hands-on, action learning) in public education pathologizes minority
groups

[Dr. Baughman:
special education, labels and drugs galore thoughout
minority groups]

  with "apprentice" approaches to teaching throughout their cultural
history.

Anyway, I'm new here and trying to work persuasively with others with
strong beliefs in child and adult ADD.

[Dr. Baughman:
an ideology full of believers,
most of them scientifically illiterate, impossible to persuade with science or
facts]

 Much medication
flows out of here.  American Indian children and adults face enormous
obstacles in life without having to be labeled with this phoniness-- it
is another aspect of cultural domination and ethnocide to watch this
happen. We have huge numbers of FAS (fetal alcohol syndrome)

[Dr. Baughman:
a real
disease; a complex of physical, including brain abnormalities, due to
maternal alcohol consumption and toxicity to the embryo and then the
fetus]

  kids here with ADD labels.

  I really need ammunition-- specifically, data on ADD/ADHD as a
"catch-all"  substitute for emotional and behavioral problems. Also,
average rate of diagnosis and prescription rates versus total number of
children evaluated to start exposing the abuses here. Also, ADD/ADHD as
cultural categories pathologizing minorities.

  Any thoughts you have would be very helpful. Thank you for your site!

[Dr. Baughman:
Thank you DW for writing and for seeing phenomena as well as your
duty to protect the children, clearly. I am confident that the
class-action suit, now under way, in which I am involved, will expose
the fraud of it all and the defrauders themselves, those who have
invented ADD/ADHD and who orchestrate the victimization of normal
children.]