I am a mother from the State of Connecticut who testified on a new law to restrict school personnel from recommending behavioral drugs. Schools should not be mental health clinics, but a place were children can develop mentally.
I stand by other parents and lawmakers who want to protect children during their early childhood development. All parents have a right to hear the validity of this disorder. There is a need for a Federal Law to prohibit profiling through ADD checklist and the marketing of selective research studies on mental disorders in the public school system.
After thirty years and billions of dollars on drug research for attention deficit disorder, we ask for accountability. Brain Scans, DNA, blood from children, but yet no proof of the existence. The State of Colorado, Georgia, Washington, Minnesota, North Carolina, Hawaii, Texas, Utah, Connecticut and now New York ask for accountability from the drug and mental health industry, the FDA, and the United States Government on the validity of this disorder.
These children need educational resources not labels and drugs. All Children young and old lost when these funds were diverted away from Educational Tools and Teacher Training to the mental health industry.
These children falsely accused of suffering from mental disorders deserve to be heard on the floor of Congress as well as in a Court of Law. Ten States State’s taking action should send a message to Washington. The Federal Government must act as Well.
Sheila Matthews is the co-founder of AbleChild.org, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring that parents and children are fully informed about the risks associated with psychiatric labeling and drugging in the public school system. A resident of Connecticut and Florida and mother of two, Matthews became an outspoken advocate after her own son was labeled as having behavioral issues at school and she was pressured to consider psychiatric medication for him. This personal experience fueled her commitment to protect children and empower parents facing similar situations.
In 2001, Matthews made history as the first mother to successfully testify for the passage of a state law in Connecticut that prohibits school personnel from recommending psychotropic drugs to parents. Her advocacy has extended nationwide, where she has worked to remove dangerous antidepressants from use on children in state care and has pushed for greater transparency and accountability from both the pharmaceutical industry and government agencies.
Under Matthews’ leadership, AbleChild has achieved significant milestones, including contributing to the prohibition of mandatory psychiatric medication as a requirement for school attendance in Connecticut. The organization also campaigns for improved adverse-reaction reporting and better prescription labeling, such as advocating for the inclusion of the FDA’s MedWatch contact information on all prescription drug labels.
Matthews has been a prominent voice in national media, appearing on CNN, FOX, and in publications like Time Magazine and The New York Times, and she regularly participates in conferences and legislative hearings to further the cause of informed consent and educational freedom. Her work continues to focus on protecting children from unnecessary psychiatric labeling and medication, promoting educational resources over pharmaceutical interventions, and advocating for legislative reforms at both the state and federal levels.
Sheila Matthews, Cofounder, State of Connecticut and Florida
Email: sheila@ablechild.org