Putting kids on ridlin (ADHD, have to tell her, parents, son)

[yankeegirl313]

My sisters son is 8, maybe he`s 9 now, but she is thinking about putting him on ridlin (spelling?)
She says that he`s attention span is very low in school, and she is thinking this will only help him.
He has already been held back once.
I have seen other kids on this type of thing, and its sad to see.
They are like zombies!
Is it a good thing to put your child on such type of drug, in order to get them to pay attention in school?
They didn`t have this drug years ago, and they managed somehow, right?

[FarNorthDallas]

My son's 1st grade teacher was shocked when I told her he was medicated. She said, "Oh I don't believe in medication. Take him off of it." The next day I sent him without it. She called me at 2pm that day, "...um, now I see what medication does for these kids. Now I get it. When I tell the kids to get their books out it's the difference between a kid putting the book on his head or just getting it out and opening it up properly. It's subtle, but crucial. Please put him back on medication."

Simply put, my son is not teachable without medication for attention issues. He can't process information. He can't rest his eyes on words long enough for it to register meaning to him. So, don't feel sad for him. Without it, he would be illiterate. That would be sad.

What would be nice is to stop all this silly nonsense that attention issues of the brain are really bad parenting. The diagnostic tool needs to be a brain scan or something definitive like that, rather than a subjective questionnaire. Until then there will be parents who use these drugs as performance enhancers for their otherwise normal kid (a common thing to do in academically competitive upper class areas).

And on the other hand, kids who really need the medication to learn due to how their brain is structured can be identified quickly and medication started before years of opportunity are lost forever due to denial.

[yankeegirl313]

Hhmmmm......you don`t say.
Well, maybe she should put him on it then.
From what I have seen, the kids are just drugged out of their head, walking around like zombies.

[gentlearts]

The child needs to be thoroughly tested and evaluated before she just "decides" to put him on ritalin. My son had to repeat kindergarten and was tested by school and evaluated by his pediatrician.
My son was on ritalin for years and he was by no means a zombie or anything less than normal acting. I will say it affected his growth, so that he did not get tall until after he went off it in high school.
There are children who are just behavior problems and who don't really have ADD or ADHD. In my son's case, he was never a behavior problem, but could not easily filter out outside distractions in order to concentrate. For example, he knew the answers on a test, but took too long to finish the test, so therefore would fail it.
The medicine was a blessing. In early high school, he decided to not take it any more. He struggled, but by then had learned coping skills on is own and made it through college too.

[TouchOfWhimsy]

What would be nice is to stop all this silly nonsense that attention issues of the brain are really bad parenting. The diagnostic tool needs to be a brain scan or something definitive like that, rather than a subjective questionnaire. Until then there will be parents who use these drugs as performance enhancers for their otherwise normal kid (a common thing to do in academically competitive upper class areas).

I wish this were the way it was. Way too many children are "diagnosed" with attention deficit problems, when in MANY cases it's either lack of discipline, different learning styles, or the fact that some kids just do'nt have the patience to sit for 6 hours learning what to them is meaningless junk in school. I don't have actual numbers, but I have heard that in some areas, 20% of children (mostly boys) are drugged. That's sickening. I do believe that some children might need medication if they truly can't function, but too many times I think teachers simply can't control 30 children, and the more spirited ones get the shaft.

I have a 7-year-old son who I homeschool. I think that in a regular classroom, he might be labelled as "ADD" simply because once he "gets" a concept, he does not want to spend a day or a week or a month or a year relearning and memorizing it. Once he understands something, we move on. I remember being bored silly in school while waiting for the rest of the class to catch up, and he simply does not have the attention span to put up with that nonsense. I think he'd be the kid either daydreaming and looking out the window instead of doing his busywork, or else he'd be making mischief. Unfortunately, I think this is the case in many students who are labeled.

[jimj]

Originally Posted by FarNorthDallas

My son's 1st grade teacher was shocked when I told her he was medicated. She said, "Oh I don't believe in medication. Take him off of it." The next day I sent him without it. She called me at 2pm that day, "...um, now I see what medication does for these kids. Now I get it. When I tell the kids to get their books out it's the difference between a kid putting the book on his head or just getting it out and opening it up properly. It's subtle, but crucial. Please put him back on medication."

Simply put, my son is not teachable without medication for attention issues. He can't process information. He can't rest his eyes on words long enough for it to register meaning to him. So, don't feel sad for him. Without it, he would be illiterate. That would be sad.

What would be nice is to stop all this silly nonsense that attention issues of the brain are really bad parenting. The diagnostic tool needs to be a brain scan or something definitive like that, rather than a subjective questionnaire. Until then there will be parents who use these drugs as performance enhancers for their otherwise normal kid (a common thing to do in academically competitive upper class areas).

And on the other hand, kids who really need the medication to learn due to how their brain is structured can be identified quickly and medication started before years of opportunity are lost forever due to denial.

There is a brain scan available now. On top of that I'd encourage any parent who's being told their child has ADHD to do some research on the different meds and exactly what the doctor is telling you so you can match up what you see to what's being told to you.
I've made no secret that I'm a big fan of Strattera since it's non narcotic and we've not seen the side effects like we did with the amphetamine based drugs, not to mention it can't be abused.

[yankeegirl313]

Stattera huh? I`ll have to tell her to do some research on that.
Her son really is a little hyper thing...wow. I guess ridlin and all that scares me because I don`t know that much about it. Just from what I have seen with other kids on it. Maybe they didn`t have the right dose, or medication or something. I dunno.

[FarNorthDallas]

Originally Posted by jimj

There is a brain scan available now.

Yes, but it's not the diagnostic tool for ADHD.

[pitt_transplant]

I would review his diet first. Too many sugars, dyes, processed food chemicals will make kids act like this.

My friend was put on this in highschool. It improved his grade and he joined more sports.
He wasnt brain dead. I think the dose is too high if thats going on.

But I wouldnt give the kid a drug at this age right off the bat. Grades dont really matter at this age and maybe it was just best for his maturity level to be held back.
A lot of the greats in history were late bloomers.

[movingtohouston]

My son has adhd and has been on medication from 1st grade. It has never made him a zombie it only helped him be "normal". Prior to taking ritalin, he couldn't focus enough to read or really function in a classroom.I was after school with him every single day for 3 hours trying to help him with the work he couldn't get done during the day, then we got to go home and do all his homework and try to get him to read. By that time it was after 6 at night. Once his medication kicked in he was able to complete his work during school, could focus enough to read books, finish his homework. Fights with classmates lessoned, life was soooo much better.

I get that its not for everyone but I do know it was like night and day for my son.