Posted on 07/10/2013 1:46:20 PM PDT by neverdem
Studies of Children With Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Find Little Change
It's no longer shocking to hear of children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder—and others simply facing a big test—taking ADHD medicine to boost their performance in school. But new studies point to a problem: There's little evidence that the drugs actually improve academic outcomes.
Stimulants used to treat ADHD like Ritalin and Adderall are sometimes called "cognitive enhancers" because they have been shown in a number of studies to improve attention, concentration and even certain types of memory in the short-term. Similar drugs were given to World War II soldiers to improve their ability to stay alert while scanning radars for enemy aircraft.
However, a growing body of research finds that in the long run, achievement scores, grade-point averages or the likelihood of repeating a grade generally aren't any different in kids with ADHD who take medication compared with those who don't. (Typically, studies take into account accommodations schools provide kids with ADHD, such as more time to take tests.)
A June study looked at medication usage and educational outcomes of nearly 4,000 students in Quebec over an average of 11 years and found that boys who took ADHD drugs actually performed worse in school than those with a similar number of symptoms who didn't. Girls taking the medicine reported more emotional problems, according to a working paper published on the website of the National Bureau of Economic Research, a nonprofit economics research firm.
"The possibility that [medication] won't help them [in school] needs to be acknowledged and needs to be closely monitored," says economics professor Janet Currie, an author on the paper and director of the Center for Health & Wellbeing, a health policy institute at Princeton University. Kids may not get the right dose to see sustained benefits, or...
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
My son’s college roommate was taking Adderall a lot to “help him study”. Glad my son stayed away from it.
The drugs weren’t for the kids. They were for the teachers.
I have taught for almost 8 years at the elementary level. I cannot tell you how many kids have come through my class that were on adhd medicine. Of those, I can count exactly 2 that, in my non medical opinion, benefited from the medication in a way thay actually helped them to focus and perform better in school. I also cannot tell you how many times parents have tried to get me to “diagnose” their children so that they could take that recomendation to some quack doctor somewhere in order to get their kid put on meds. I refused to do it every single time. I tell them that I am not a doctor and only a medical professional can make that determination. Apparently, they do receive some kind of gov’t money if their kids are labeled adhd and they also receive free breakfast and lunch at school. Over 80% of the kids at my school eat free. It’s all about the money and not having to actually parents their children.
It helped our family greatly—the kids and me, too. I wish they had this stuff when I was at university, because studying would not have been near as hard as it was. A few years ago I took a local college course while on this medication and learning was almost effortless.
A retired schoolteacher told me the same thing - that parents would receive extra money and special perks if their children were diagnosed with ADHD. Like you, she refused to go along with it. The parent would ask her to sign a paper to be used for diagnosis, and she would say, “No, I don’t believe in that, and I’m not signing.”
However, in many other schools, the opposite happens: the teachers try to convince the parents to medicate their kids. I’ve met many parents over the years who either went along with it or fought it. And I’ve spoken with quite a few teachers and former teachers who admitted that they would push to have their students medicated. One teacher taught first grade, and she told me that she herself “has ADHD” and takes the same medicine, as does one of her own children.
Years ago when I was a high school teacher, I had a kid who was bright but did poorly. After Christmas he was focused, always had his eyes on what we were doing, and his grades went up. At a parent-teacher conference I ask mom what happened.
I had another kid who was lamenting his poor SAT scores. He had taken them twice and performed much lower than expected. The third time they went up an amazing 120 points (back when 1600 was perfect) that got him accepted at the schools he wanted . No, he didn’t have someone else take the test for him.
Guess what happened with both kids. Ritalin. For some kids it is a life saver. Are too many on it? Yes.
I had another bright kid who never was involved, didn’t do work or finish it. His parents told me he had medication but never took it. He was sure he could do it on his own but he was very unhappy he couldn’t do it. He never did take them.
adderall boosted my DD’s grade average an entire grade and helped her be able to focus, set goals, and organize
when a kid needs it, it works
In moderation, it is very effective for some people. I've known students that could study for days without sleep or distraction.
IMO, it is far safer and more effective than taking the equivalent dose of caffeine needed to stay awake under those conditions. Pure caffeine is actually more toxic than cocaine but few people consume it in those amounts since it comes diluted with water.
When our Son was young he was on Ritalin for a time, we only medicated him at school so he could focus, As he matured he learned to control his impulsiveness and focus his attention. As a adult he has done exceptionally well in school earning his Masters in English. Not every antsy child should be medicated, but there are true cases of ADHD that require SOME medication for SOME time until the child can learn to control their impulsiveness and focus their attention. The problem is too many quacks and drug companies have a vested interest in ADHD.
We’re using a supplement called Neuro-Maxx, a very high quality liquid vitamin, krill oil, and additional vitamin D with our son. We couldn’t be happier with the results. Waiting for the ADHD doesn’t exist I’m just a bad parent FReepers!
Laboratory animals die when they are deprived of delta sleep. Chronic delta sleep deficits in humans are implicated in many diseases, including depression, heart disease, hypertension, obesity, chronic pain, diabetes and cancer, not to mention thousands of fatigue-related car...
Right the article talks about college kids, I referenced personal experience about my young son in grade school, not college. Delta sleep had nothing to do with it.
It's been a few years, but I believe the problem with ADHD kids is that their brain is in the phase little kids have at the end of the day where they get unfocused and hyper just before they fall asleep.
The Ritalin brings their brain up a notch. If you don't need it, it can bring it up too much. But there are adults on Ritalin since the problem is not always outgrown or they don't learn to cope with it. I've know a few adults who should have been on it!
I may have the details wrong, so someone correct me if so.
That theory makes sense to me. I’ve always believed that a myriad of other ailments are being diagnosed as “ADHD.” And it’s very plausible that lack of sleep is one of them.
Spot on. This is a tragedy and at its heart the state is anti-boy because it’s anti-men and manhood.
The more metrosexuals the easier to control.
It's over prescribed and the number of kids who really need it is in the low single digits as a percent of all children.
Positive reinforcement and environment are just as effective as these drugs for nearly all children.
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