Survey: 1 in 10 kids has ADHD
Survey: 1 in 10 kids has ADHD
ATLANTA (AP) — The number of U.S. children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder continues to rise but may be leveling off a bit, a new survey shows.
More than 1 in 10 children has been diagnosed with it, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which surveyed more than 95,000 parents in 2011.
ADHD diagnoses have been rising since at least 1997, according to CDC data. Experts think that’s because more doctors are looking for ADHD, and more parents know about it.
The condition makes it hard for kids to pay attention and control impulsive behaviors. It’s often treated with drugs, behavioral therapy, or both.
The latest survey found about 11 percent of children ages 4 through 17 had been diagnosed with ADHD. That translates to nearly 6 ½ million children. Half of children are diagnosed by age 6, the study found.
A 2007 survey put ADHD diagnoses at 9.5 percent of kids.
The CDC survey asked parents if a health care provider told them their child had ADHD. It’s not known how thorough the assessment was to reach that conclusion.
ADHD diagnoses were increasing at a rate of about 6 percent a year in the mid-2000s, but slowed to 4 percent a year from 2007 to 2011. That may reflect that doctors are closer to diagnosing most of the kids with the condition, said the CDC’s Susanna Visser, the study’s lead author.
Ariz. child abuse reports botched
PHOENIX (AP) — The revelation that about 6,000 cases of suspected child abuse reported to an Arizona hotline were never investigated has cast a disturbing spotlight on a state department in disarray as officials call for investigations and accountability.
Over the past four years, a team at Arizona’s Child Protective Services agency improperly designated the cases “N.I.” — meaning “Not Investigated” — to help manage their heavy workload and focus on the most severe cases, said Clarence Carter, chief of the state’s child welfare system.
Under state law, all reports generated via the statewide hotline must be investigated, Carter said Thursday. He noted plans would be revealed Monday on how the state will catch up on the overlooked backlog. At least 125 cases already have been identified in which children later were alleged to have been abused.
“I don’t know of any fatalities,” Gregory McKay, the agency’s chief of child welfare investigations, said of the botched cases.
No one has been disciplined, but Arizona’s Department of Public Safety will investigate.
“There must be accountability in this matter, and I will insist on further reforms to make sure that it cannot happen again,” Gov. Jan Brewer said.
The practice of misclassifying the cases and essentially closing them started in 2009, and rapidly escalated in the past 20 months as caseloads increased, Carter said.
“The idea that there are 6,000 cases where we don’t know whether or not children are safe, that’s cause for grave alarm,” said Carter, who as director of Arizona’s Department of Economic Security oversees CPS and other social welfare agencies.
CPS has been one of the governor’s major priorities and has suffered from understaffing and major increases in abuse reports and workloads in recent years.
Duke lacrosse accuser convicted
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — The woman who falsely accused three Duke University lacrosse players of rape was convicted of second-degree murder Friday in the stabbing death of her boyfriend.
The jury deliberated for about six hours over two days before reaching its verdict in the trial of 34-year-old Crystal Mangum, who was sentenced to between 14 years and 18 years in prison.
Reginald Daye, 46, was stabbed on April 3, 2011. He died of complications 10 days later. Mangum claimed the stabbing was a case of self-defense, saying Daye was beating her in a jealous rage when she grabbed a knife and “poked him in the side.”
Assistant District Attorney Charlene Franks told the jurors during closing arguments that the evidence did not back up Mangum’s story.
In 2006, Mangum falsely claimed Duke lacrosse players gang-raped her at a team party where she was hired as a stripper. The case caught the nation’s attention, as the coach was forced to resign and the university canceled the remainder of the season.
The three players arrested were eventually declared innocent by North Carolina’s attorney general after Mangum’s story crumbled and her mental stability was questioned.
Gun group nearly left Newtown
NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) — The gun industry’s national trade association and lobbying organization considered moving its offices from Newtown after last year’s mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, the president and CEO of the National Shooting Sports Foundation said in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press.
With a handful of the nearly 50 foundation employees confronted by angry neighbors and protesters appearing outside the foundation’s headquarters, Steve Sanetti said he had to look at the situation from “a strategic standpoint” and determine whether having the name of Newtown associated with the organization would affect its mission to promote hunting and shooting sports.
“We had to consider whether a move was appropriate,” Sanetti said Wednesday. “But I polled all the employees here and, to a person, it was like, ‘Don’t move. We like it here. We’re part of the community. We have nothing to be ashamed or embarrassed of. We didn’t do this. We’ve been fighting this sort of thing. Stay the course.’”
While the Northeast is not necessarily steeped in the hunting culture, like other parts of the country, Sanetti said the foundation is located in Connecticut because the manufacturing base of the firearms industry was historically located here.
NSSF boasts a membership of 9,500 of mostly businesses, including manufacturers, distributors, firearms retailers, shooting ranges, sportsmen’s organizations and publishers.