Lost Kid with ADHD found in CO - searchers adjusted search for ADHD...interesting...

[Tap]

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my question is this - The article says that the searchers changed their tactics once they found out that the boy was Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder affected and without medication.

Exactly how did they change their search tactics?
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Boy who vanished in Colo. found alive By CHASE SQUIRES, Associated Press Writer
Tue May 30, 7:55 PM ET

CANON CITY, Colo. - An 8-year-old boy missing since Saturday was found alive Tuesday after searchers investigated a report of sounds of a crying child in a remote canyon about 35 miles southwest of Pikes Peak.

"He's alive and well," said Zack Slutsky of Western State Mountain Rescue in Gunnison and a spokesman for the operation.

The boy was being evacuated to a hospital. He was found at about 4:20 p.m.

Nearly 100 rescuers and three aircraft were searching for Evan Thompson, who was last seen Saturday morning while camping with family friends and a teacher in rugged country about 90 miles south of Denver. He disappeared after eating a breakfast of Lucky Charms, an orange, and a glass of milk.

Rescuers and his family remained optimistic throughout the search that the boy could survive in the gray sweatshirt and sweatpants he was wearing when he disappeared in weather that has remained mild.

"He's a pretty resilient little boy, he's a great kid," said Teddi Gray, the boy's legal guardian and aunt said shortly before he was found.

About 90 ground searchers, dogs, an airplane from the Civil Air Patrol and two National Guard helicopters helped a 15-square-mile area, retracing earlier searchers as well as expanding he zone were combing an area dotted with pinon pine and juniper trees and creased by steep cliffs and narrow ravines.

"He couldn't have gotten lost in rougher country," said Ronnie Stewart of Canon City, who volunteered to join the search but was turned down.

Gray and other family members were riding in search vehicles and calling for Evan over loudspeakers in case he was hiding from the rescue teams.

"Younger children, they may think they're in trouble, so they might hide," Slutzky said. "A lot of kids are told not to approach strangers."

Gray ever broadcasted promises of a trip to the store to get hot dogs, pickles and a raspberry Slurpy.

The boy, who has attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder, had been without his medication for several days, Gray said. Slutsky said they altered their search based their experience with previous searches for people with similar disorders

[Viva]

I heard on the radio that the searchers simply followed the distinct Spiderman shoe footprints that the kid left.

Adjusting a search for an ADHD kid isn't difficult if you know how to think like a kid with ADHD. Most people don't "get it", so that approach is unlikey to work.

[snowsprite]

Wow...His parents must be having the 2nd best day of their lives!

Sprite

[DBdude]

searchers investigated a report of sounds of a crying child in a remote canyon

Man that tears my heart apart. I'm so glad they found the little guy.

[MassLiberal]

He disappeared after eating a breakfast of Lucky Charms, an orange, and a glass of milk.

Giving a kid with hyperactivity disorder a breakfast of marshmallows might have been part of the problem.

[Greydon Clark]

Giving a kid with hyperactivity disorder a breakfast of marshmallows might have been part of the problem.

I was thinking the same thing.

[Yeti]

Google up "lost person behavior". There are all sorts of quantitative models -- very interesting to know, whether you're a searcher or a lost person.

[P_McPoser]

I know exactly what they're talking about, but can't think of an easy way to put it into words. I do distict things when i'm lost, that I have observed my non-adhd friends not doing. You can be assured this kid wasn't hanging tight in one spot, he was probably trying to find his own way out, and then the rescuers put themselves in the mindset of an 8 yr old boy who would be trying to find his own way out using visual cues (i.e. climbing a hill and looking for a road, or campsite, etc.)...That would be my hyper-focused guess.
;-)
And BTW for those of you with the marshmallow comments, beleive it or not, stimulants CALM DOWN adhd children...That's why they give us meth.

[MassLiberal]

Sugar is a completely different story. Trust me, I have adhd too.

[mday]

Totally cool that they found the kid, but I'm going to cynically state that going without ADHD medication might actually be doing some kids a favor. It isn't remotely comparable to an epileptic kid without anti-convulsants or a diabetic kid without insulin. A lost kid is serious enough issue, don't know why the reports need to include additional pseudo drama like this. OK, off my soapbox now, I promise not to even get started on the topic of over drugging our kids in this country, or childhood obesity or even the heartbreak of psoriasis.

[Viva]

I agree that an ADHD kid ain't going to stay in one place, they're going to keep moving. But there are still distinct MOs at play here. One ADHDer may seek out the high spots while another may select several likely "find me" spots and move between them in the hope of being rescued at one or running into family while on the move.

Sugar isn't an issue here. If anything, the resultant "crash" will mellow out most any kid. But you're right about stimulants helping, this is why I started drinking coffee at 11 or 12.

[P_McPoser]

Boy, I wish my parents never medicated me! That life as a McDonalds worker would have been sooooo fun!

Although, there is obviously a problem of over-diagnosis of ADD....It used to be that teachers made the call, and children were evaluated by child psychologists, not the family doctor.

Totally cool that they found the kid, but I'm going to cynically state that going without ADHD medication might actually be doing some kids a favor. It isn't remotely comparable to an epileptic kid without anti-convulsants or a diabetic kid without insulin. A lost kid is serious enough issue, don't know why the reports need to include additional pseudo drama like this. OK, off my soapbox now, I promise not to even get started on the topic of over drugging our kids in this country, or childhood obesity or even the heartbreak of psoriasis.

[pointedem]

Giving a kid with hyperactivity disorder a breakfast of marshmallows might have been part of the problem.

what came to my mind-
Medication-- any of you guys ever taken ritilan, adderal, stratera, ect?
speed in a pill IMO
I am so glad i was never put on that medication as a child.
Akin to giving you child blow in a pill- flame away, but...
of course it will make you settle down in elementary school-- any one that has ever taken adderal will know that you can sit down and write a 20 page paper in a night and get an A on it.
That stuff is way way way too powerfull to be perscribed to younigin's

giving any kid speed in a little blue pill might be a bad idea.

rant over
glad he's allright

[P_McPoser]

I agree that an ADHD kid ain't going to stay in one place, they're going to keep moving. But there are still distinct MOs at play here. One ADHDer may seek out the high spots while another may select several likely "find me" spots and move between them in the hope of being rescued at one or running into family while on the move.

Sugar isn't an issue here. If anything, the resultant "crash" will mellow out most any kid. But you're right about stimulants helping, this is why I started drinking coffee at 11 or 12.

Yuppers, TONS of coffee is what gets me through a day of forgotten meds.

[P_McPoser]

-- any one that has ever taken adderal will know that you can sit down and write a 20 page paper in a night and get an A on it.

Not if you have ADHD. Imagine that, medication designed to treat a certain chemical imbalance has a different effect on those without the imbalance.....

[slim]

Giving a kid with hyperactivity disorder a breakfast of marshmallows might have been part of the problem.

I keep getting an image of the South Park episode where all the kids start drinking coffee in Tweak's basement.

[P_McPoser]

Sugar is a completely different story. Trust me, I have adhd too.

Eh? Hmm. I guess i've never really noticed any positive or negative impacts on my symptoms from intaking massive amounts of sugar, which I do regularly.

[Buzzworthy]

All I know is I am glad they found the kid, regardless of his mental state. His parents are very lucky to have their child back.

And as for Ritalin, my bro has ADHD and I tried his meds once and holy cow, it was total speed. I did not like it. But it helps him.

I on the other hand I am on anti-anxiety meds.

Medicate the family is our motto apparently.

[pointedem]

everyone had ADD to a certian extent.

do some research - read some journals, pretty intresting this "ADD"

dont take that the wrong way- it's just intersting

the drug is an extremely strong CNS stimulant. It is amazing the amount of over-diagnosis that happens in regard to ADD ADHD cases.
acting up? must be ADD
bad grades? take this pill, your ADD will be cured
full of energy? take this pill you'll calm down.
( the kids are 10 yrs old- of course they are full of energy!)

Not saying there is not a vaild medical application for these drugs- there is- but there are WAY too many youngsters running around hopped up on an incredbly strong CNS stimulant.

I would be intrested to hear any parent's experence in this regard.

[MassLiberal]

I hated being medicated. I actually stopped because so many kids would always ask me for my meds, My dorm room was actually broken into once and my meds were stolen. Insanity.

Also, stratera isn't in the same class as Ritalin or dexedrine, it's more like an ssri.

[Viva]

I love Tweak!

Okay, I'm, going by memory here and might be way off, so don't reference me, eh?

For those who do not know, ADHD, as well as OCD and Tourettes, appear to be, in part, the result of reduced blood flow to a circumscribed region of the brain called the Cingulate Gyrus (CG), a region implicated in the control of impulse and shit like that. As a consequesce, the CG is understimulated and affected individuals lack a certain amount of cognitive control. Ergo, administration of stimulants that serve to increase overall cerebral blood flow, while in itself isn't that desirable, will allow the CG to work somewhat normally. Other areas are also involved, like the Basal Ganglia, and there is mounting evidence that in ADHDers certain brain structures are smaller than those in "normal" controls, which may be the result of decreased blood flow to those areas during fetal and postnatal development.

[irul&ublo]

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my question is this - The article says that the searchers changed their tactics once they found out that the boy was Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder affected and without medication.

Exactly how did they change their search tactics?
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They called the Secret Service. They do the same thing when Bush gets lost going from the Oval Office to the bathroom.

[bryanthebold]

I can easily see how they changed a search pattern for a child with ADHD. My best friend since kindergarten has ADHD, hardcore. The kid must have been changing his mind, and re-evaluating his situation every couple minutes. It's hunters versus gathers. The ADHD kid isn't going to stay with one plan and wait for it to go either good or bad, he is gonna keep changing based on new information that he received. He may even change the plan based on information he already had, and that he had reevaluated.

Although, I am no psychiatrist...

When it comes to over prescribing medication, I kinda have an opinion here. I believe that when parents leave the decision of medicating to their medical professional (MD), they generally can be assured with positive results. I do not believe that the problem ends with medication though. My friend has taken adderall for a year or two, and in the end he hates it. He hates what it does to him, and the effects it has on his body. He understands that there is times when he needs it, and time when he doesn't. He also is learning to use other methods to help his ADHD, which are not medications. Simple stuff, like using a notebook to keep track of his shit. It isn't as simple as medicating kids to fix it, they need to learn and understand their disorder. Physicians need to help their patients understand this, and help with other methods of dealing with their ADHD. I see how parents get the medication, see their doctor every six months to refill the prescription, and never understand a damned thing about their kids. Parents need to learn about the disorder, and learn to treat it from every aspect. Physicians need to keep better tabs on their patients, and try and help patients and parents learn about it. It's something that will take the patient years to understand.

Hell...ADHD is considered a gift. Where I can see this...I'd have to say it's damned annoying at times to deal with these gifted children

[MakersTeleMark]

Qien es mas macho?:


O

[shmerham]

Dispatch: The kid has ADHD.

Search Leader: OK. The kid has ADHD. We're changing our tactics, but we're going to stay focused on our new plan. OK?

Searcher 1: Got it.

Searcher 2: Got it.

Searcher 1: Hey, check out that cool frog! Hey, where'd it go? I gotta go find that frog.

Searcher 2: I'll help you find it.

Searcher 1: I think it went that way.

Searcher 2: I want to see how fast I can run down that hill over there.

Searcher 1: I bet I can run down it faster.