Posted on 08/27/2004 11:41:39 AM PDT by Joe Republc
My pedetrician has just recommended that my 10 year old boy use Ritalin.
The issue of Attention Deficit Disorder has come up every so often throughout most of his life, but this is the first time our pediatrician says it's time to try medication.
What questions should I be asking?
What do I need to find out?
Any good resources?
Thanks,
-- Joe
P.S. My wife is in a hurry to do this, now that the doctor says so. I'm not.... my wife and I had some strong disagreement about this last night ;) When I ask around, it seems like men are less inclined to go for this than women.
This is good advice and worked for my second son. We put him on a multi vitamin with omega (attend formula) and it worked wonders. We also made sure he got plenty of rest. Parents fall into the trap that they have so much energy and never get tired. My son and daughter get hyper the more tired they get.
The son who is 8, sleeps 10 hours a night. Our 4 year old daughter sleeps 9-10 hours plus a 1 hour nap in the afternoon. The more rested they are, the more control and focus they have. But the vitamins and reduced carbs (sugar, corn syrup, crackers, etc) really made a difference.
Here is a revealing reply from the thread I posted in 2001:
Do you REALLY want to do someting?
I did my research when I lived in Virginia, and was called in to a parent-teacher conference regarding my (then) 1st-grade son.
I arrived and found the teacher AND the school psychologist in the meeting room. They began to talk with me about how my son doesn't seem to pay attention to what is being taught. They said he had ADD. At the time, I had no idea what that was, but it sounded bad.
They told me that it is a common condition, affecting nearly 30% of the students in their school alone, and millions of kids on a national level.
I was flummoxed! Where did this sudden condition come from? I've never heard of it, I said, and if it is such a rapidly-spreading condition, why is not the CDC involved?!
They handed me pamphlets on ADD and RITALIN and told me "not to worry."
I told them that I wanted to read up on ADD/RITALIN before agreeing to anything.
As I was leaving, I asked them: "Have you tested my son?"
"For what?" they asked.
"For intelligence. Perhaps he is not listening because he is bored with whatever it is you are teaching. I've been educating him since he was 2. He's pretty smart for his age."
"No, we haven't tested him."
"Well," I said, "While I go research this Ritalin/ADD, you prepare a comprehensive test for my son."
The next week, they tested him. 6 years old. 4th-grade math. 5th-grade reading. etc.
At the follow-up meeting they seemed embarrassed.
"We now understand 'part' of the reason why he might not be paying attention."
"Part?" I asked.
"We feel he should still be on Ritalin."
I'd had enough. I dropped my research in front of them.
"Where do you guys get your marching orders from?" I asked. "Who tells you to try placing all of these kids on Ritalin?"
They looked at each other, and the psychologist took over. "What do you mean? Nobody tells us to do anything!"
I told them to open my research folder and study it.
They read the evidence. This new school that my son was attending, was receiving over $425 of federal funds per student that could be labelled as having a "disability." RITALIN instantly places a child on that list. The school had roughly 1,000 students, and 30% of those kids had been corralled into forcing this DRUG into their CHILDREN for monetary purposes.
The school was making a profit. Off of children.
And it is not just that school. The secret was out.
I moved out of the state a month later. Have been homeschooling, and doing (of course) a much better job than I could ever expect from anyone else. My son is now a budding author, and has written several wonderful novels at the tender age of 13.
Parents - take the time and do the research at YOUR school. If your child has been asked to (or forced to) take Ritalin, you child may just be a pawn in a financial game of dice. They DO NOT TRULY CARE for your children. ALWAYS remember that.
21 posted on 12/29/2001 3:09:59 AM EST by ImaGraftedBranch
Luckily for me, I entered Gr.I in 1950.
My 4 sons all had 'problems' in school in the '80s and early '90s, but I refused to tell them to submit to arbitrary rule.
Learn to smile winningly, and subvert the system.
Part of the problem is too much TV and what it does to attention spans (I'm cutting off my cable). The other major part of the problem is women teachers who can't deal with boys being boys
Whats wrong with the kid? Was he acting too much like a normal boy? Did he have the proper disipline? Did he control you? Did you ever really reach him with authority? Did you ever look him in the eye and meant business and followed through? Did you care too much about his "feelings"? The kid knows his lack, and its usually from his parents. No drugs, learn what parents are supposed to be.
I was not talking about my son, but the son of a friend. I have no knowlege of whether the ritalin use was disclosed or not. I can ask however. I do have sons but they have no need of such medications, thank God. My oldest was a very active and trying child but since he could sit and play a video game or watch a full length movie, I knew he was just a normal active boy.
Yes, self discipline can be a problem, and as our son has gotten older (and we stopped the medications about 4 years ago) that is the continual struggle.
BUT, with regard to video games it is a different type of stimulation. And it is quite common for ADD/ADHD diagnosed kids to be able to play for hours. The research is out there.
How will your son learn to control his impulses without the drug? An adult trying to learn that is kind of scary.
You just described my husband when he was that age from the math, reading and disorganization. He has an undergraduate degree in industrial engineering and a master's in computer science.
You also just described a normal 10 year old boy.
Really? And what do you prescribe for someone suffering from cancer, heart disease, TB, etc...bones and rattles?
Mary, you are so right. I have heard that nutrition is a safe way to help these poor children. I remember long ago (when I was young and stupid) I watched an afternoon talk show.....forget which one, and this child was playing quiet normally and they gave him a cube of sugar and BAMM! Katy bar the door!............the kid went outta his mind. Watch out for white bread to do the same thing in some children.
We tried as many options as we knew of at the time. I am glad we stopped when we did, becuase the destruictive behaviors ended for the most part when we started the ritalin. Ritalin was definitley the right thing to do at the time for my daughter. I Know far more opportunities exist for her after giving her ritalin that ever could have had she stayed on the non-ritalin path. She has/had a chemical imbalance in her body that ritalin corrected. It saved her life and our family. By the way, I have 3 other very very active daughters that do not have ADD or ADHD. I have helped dozens of family and friends with diagnoses and and decision making and all have eventually agreed with me. In all but one case, I told the parents I thought their child did NOT have ADD/ADHD.
I would agree. And I've always said that Ritalin is WAY over prescribed. But some kids DO need it.
It's up to the parents to do their homework before they accept that. We went through a couple of months of evaluation and reading before we said "okay let's try it."
non sequitur
"What questions should I be asking?"
Nothing
"What do I need to find out?"
Nothing
"Any good resources?"
Truth, love. Those are the resources your boy needs. Don't look for a solution in the complex; look for it in the simple.
Ritalin
Controlled Substance: This drug is a schedule II controlled substance and is unavailable at drugstore.com.
Information on Ritalin
Everyone I've ever dealt with that had ADD could concentrate on one thing to the exclusion of everything else. I suppose it's possible that everyone I've met has been mis-diagnosed, but they've all had the symptoms. I know that people with ADHD can't concentrate at all depending on severity.
Concerta IS Ritalin, just in time-release form. See here
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