No matter what you do, do not let them drug your son. "Just say no". Our young men were both 'diagnosed'. It will consume years of your time, but is well worth it. Our eldest is a high school senior with an excellent GPA, 99th percentile SAT and ACT, and enjoys the outdoors. Our youngest is a sophomore and enjoys great academics as well. Plus they both love each other and have overlapping circles of friends. They comment on the "Zero's". Mostly boys that have zero spark in their eyes. The ones that stand in "that line" every morning for the drugging. It is a harsh commentary on our society.
Thanks for the encouragement. I really don't want him drugged. I (still to this day) have had signs of ADD myself. My method of control is to simply concentrate more...it's rarely failed me...and I became an engineer and an Air Force officer.
I have a special needs kid. From an illness when she was a baby, she got brain damage as seen on an MRI.
Anyway, I know kids that are on ritalin for very minor behavior problems.
I can understand putting a kid on ritalin if when they are 5 & 6 and they still cannot talk. I can see trying ritalin if your kid is 10 and still having problems learning how to read.
A lot of other conditions have the same symptoms of ADD/ADHD. My daughter at times can be very inattentive. Well, my daughter has speech problems, and she will avoid speaking at times (especially when she had only a few words). She also has auditory problems and can get very distracted in noisy environments.
Anyway, I wouldn't say no to medication in every instance, but too many kids are put on medication before trying other interventions.