Hill of Secrets: An Israeli Jewish mystery novel by Michal Hartstein Page B

suffering from attention deficit disorder?"
                  " No. Well, I never saw such a diagnosis."
                  " So how do you know he had such a problem?"
                  " Formally, I don’t know, but I do have years of experience and I've had dozens, if not hundreds, of cases in which I knew before the parents did and actually guided them until they sought the appropriate treatment."
                  " And what did you recommend to Ariel's parents?"
                  " I told them what I told you, that he was a smart boy but his difficulty was getting in the way of his development. I explained that there was no reason to be afraid of diagnosis and treatment."
                  " What treatment?"
                  " In Ariel's case, and from my experience, the only effective therapy could have been medicinal."
    " Ritalin?"
    " Yes, Ritalin. Or Concerta, whatever the doctor prescribes. I, of course, don't hand out prescriptions, but I often bring it up with the parents so they can go to the doctor with an open mind. I think there's a lot of ignorance about this subject. Someone hears a child experiences side-effects because of Ritalin and immediately they talk about the medicine as if it's poison."
    " Did you mention Ritalin to Meir and Hanni as well?"
    " To Hanni. Meir didn't come to the parent-teacher meetings," Batya corrected me .
    " I have a feeling she didn't like your advice.”
                  " To say the least. I don't remember such an outburst of rage from a parent.”
                  " What did she say?"
                  Batya chuckled. "She said she wasn’t going to drug her child so it would be easier for me in the classroom."
                  " Why are you laughing?"
                  " Because it's a pretty common line from parents, when they don't understand two fundamental things: the first is that I'm only with the child for part of each day, while they have to deal with a restless child during most of the day, and the second is that the medical treatment is for the good of the child and not the good of the teacher."
                  " And there’s no other treatment that doesn't require medication?"
                  " There is an option to give the child a wide range of treatments that increase the attention span and decrease the need for medicine, but that only works when the disorder is not very severe to begin with and when the parents are prepared and willing to invest a lot of themselves. Medical therapy requires the parent to give the child a pill and a glass of water. Alternative therapy requires many hours of treatment at the expense of the parents’ and the child's free time."
                  " Was Ariel treated?"
                  " I've seen so many children and parents and I can categorize them quite easily. I'm rarely surprised. Ariel was the type of kid whose parents think pampering with brands constitutes good parenting. They replace parental giving with shopping. Don't get me wrong, I don't object to gifts and all sorts of treats. But you can get a child who has no value for money and is busy morning until night with the next toy he wants to get. I can also understand where this stems from. Many parents work in a very pressurized job, they barely see the kids and the gifts are the parents' way of expressing their love and mainly quieting their conscience. Two weeks ago, I had to do some tests at Asuta hospital in Ramat Hachayal. Have you ever been there?"
                  " No."                            
                  " Right across from Asuta is the big, beautiful building of a high-tech company, I think it's Comverse. Below it are a few cafés and restaurants, and right in the center is a toy store. It's not a residential area, not a shopping center,