Posted on 09/24/2008 9:27:12 AM PDT by Maelstorm
Ritalin should no longer be given to hyperactive children.
The drug should not be prescribed to children under five and used for older children only when they have severe ADHD or as a last resort, the guidance says.
Instead, parents should be taught psychological techniques for changing the behaviour of unruly youngsters diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
The guidelines were issued by the National Institute for health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) and the National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health.
The directive says parent training and education programmes should be offered as a first-line treatment for ADHD, both for pre-school and school-age children.
The programmes show parents how to create a structured home environment, encourage attentiveness and concentration, and better manage misbehaviour.
Research has shown they can be highly effective, helping children do better at school and lead more normal lives.
Teachers should also be involved in the management of school age children, says the guidance.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.sky.com ...
Good for you. Everyone seems to be screaming how horrible Ritalin is, there are many, many cases where it is needed. There are synapses in the brain that aren’t triggering for someone who is truly ADD or ADHD.
It got a bad rep because every little kid who needed his butt spanked was put on Ritalin instead.
BTTT
“Medicating children to attend school has always disgusted me.”
The DoDDS school system in Panama had a person on staff who prescribed Ritalin to a huge number of children with supposed ADD/ADHD. A physician? No - a “prescriptionist”. Hunh? You chose the right word: disgusted.
Colonel, USAFR
Agree completely. Except when there is a legitimate issue with the child that requires intervention.
A swat on the behind is an excellent way to discipline normal, healthy children. However, not all children should be dealt with like that.
We searched for months for the allergan causing my son's problems. Turned out it was corn and corn, corn sweetners, corn syrup, etc. were in everything, even the baby food. Handling that issue, made behavior issues better also.
Exactly, my son was ADHD and I knew that despite his day, no matter how much he’d done, he still needed a full hour of non-stop physical activity.
I recognized it early because I have the same problems and I taught him how to behave when he had to and let off steam at appropriate times. His teachers were always complimentary of his behavior in class. In 5th grade I got a message from the teacher that he was acting up in class so I went up to the school. He had gotten in trouble a few weeks earlier and the punishment was to sit in class at recess and it just snowballed where he was missing every recess. I told the teacher that he needed to find another way to punish him because the teacher was just punishing himself. As soon as he stopped keeping him in for recess the problems stopped.
“Having an ADHD or Autistic kid in a class is like having a fire alarm that goes off at random times.”
Somehow, my teachers survived me (and I them). But that was back in the olden days when it was expected that a certain percentage of primary school boys were going to be massive pains-in-the-ass.
I for one, proudly counted myself amongst the “runs with scissors” “does not refrain from being disruptive in class” crowd. I would rather have liked your image—I would have fancied being a fire alarm going off in class at the most annoying times. I was bored and had steam to blow—so let ‘er rip.
Of course, it was also back when teachers were allowed some leeway in dealing with it. Teachers dealt with it. Boys grew up. But today, it’s a big honkin’ deal.
Boys haven’t changed. Teachers have. Folks shouldn’t go into primary education if they don’t want to deal with the 20-30% of boys that are highly disruptive. It’s part of the gig. You could argue that boys shouldn’t even start school until 7 or 8. But that’s not the way we do it.
Sedation and drugs are not “dealing with it.” All they do is make the teacher’s life easier at huge cost to the child.
I also have a son who was treated with ritalin. He was diagnosed at 3 & luckily the doctor wouldn’t prescribe anything until after the age of 6. Once he started taking the ritalin, he was able to concentrate & focus. I agree that the teachers weren’t interested in helping (I brought many books in specifically for teachers, but they weren’t interested). I’m happy to report that my now 19 year old is 6 foot 3 (yes he defied the stunted growth thing) is working a full time job, and looks forward to going to college. I don’t think it’s for everyone, but ritalin helped in our case & my son graduated with exceptional grades. He’s a healthy, well adjusted, bible believing teen & I couldn’t be prouder.
Thanks for your support. I would also hasten to add that we have had success with Ritalin in our family. We know our kids and we know they needed the help. However, I do agree wholeheartedly that Ritalin is being used on healthy kids these days to try to keep classrooms in order. We knew that if we had gone the traditional school route, some of our kids would have been on drugs from day one.
I’m so happy and inspired to hear how your son turned out. I hope my 8-year-old comes around as well. The Ritalin is helping, but a day doesn’t go by that I don’t wonder about how his life is going to turn out.
We have a severely hyperactive child
Ritalin (a derivative) makes it possible for him to function in the normal world.
People who haven’t been through it- do not know what they are talking about
It can be caused by organic brain chemical dysfunction or other brain damage and the stimulant medications therefore have an opposite effect on true ADHD. They calm the kid down. They make an amazing difference and allow the sufferer to act “normal”, meaning be able to exercise self
control and self regulation, which leads to being treated and accepted as normal and the self esteem boost is priceless
Unfortunately sarcastic and condemnatory remarks such as posted here cause a lot of guilt and may lead some parents to deny treatment options for their kids
sad
as for what did they call truly ADHD/DD kids 50 years ago before ritalin, in the good ol days when wooden paddles beat the mischief out of them in an effort to tame their behaviors?
smokers. drop outs. underachievers. misfits. weirdos. alcoholics.
My son described trying to concentrate as “trying to hear a very soft radio in a room full of screaming people”. That was when he was only about 10.
People are so ignorant and judgmental when they haven’t lived through something personally.
Actually it’s about as potent as caffeine (and much less so, in terms of producing withdrawal symptoms/physical addiction). The government just likes to control things.
First, I agree with you entirely. Problem today is that the schools want as many kids there as possible because in many states the state aid depends on attendance. Schools are incented to have all types of miscreants and medically ill children there. Second, ADHD is a disease that can be benefitted by drugs. However, the drug is overprescribed and my hunch is that the school districts try to place a guilt trip on parents who do not medicate their kids. Coping skills and other techniques are also necessary for these kids. Drugs should be the last resort.
For us, too. Our ADHD-suspect child became a well-mannered, self-directed achiever after corn and corn products were eliminated, then allowed sparingly at an older age.
What's sad is that people we've known have tried food elimination, saw it working, but couldn't deal with the fighting -- "I want my _____________ (flakes/chips/soda)!!!" at full scream. They gave up and went back to the drugs.
I love the people that come out and trash anyone who uses this method. Talking about what they do not know about. Stories of how they triumphed with 4 kids at home with a stay at home mom blah blah... Maybe so sometimes, but no shoe fits all feet.
I was not a believer either. My eldest now out of college was mildly ADHD and my view was old fashioned. He actually made very good grades and was not a behavior issue, but I know he had trouble when he was in grade school and junior high and the worseof it was our relationship since he was in trouble more than most. He somewhat outgrew it the older he got and is now very successful.
My 11 year old has it thrice as bad as he did and we tried my old method and it SUCKED badly. We worked our butts off with her. We were always on her and I mean always. Grounding, timeouts, spanking, positive and negative reinforcement of all kinds and all the crap the non-medicators push as a cure all. I capitulated and we went to a pediatrician that tried other things first but we are now on the Daytrana patch ( for about 2 years ) and she became a new kid. Good grades and no behavior issues but still spunky in her own way and alert ( not a zombie ). When we take her off it for summer break or vacations you can see the difference almost immediately for the bad. I can see her growing out of it as well to the point she can identify her issues and deal with them unmedicated.
What the naysayers just flat do no get is the agony the child is in. The want to do well and please their parents and teachers but they just cannot and they will tell you that. The do become depressed if they are disciplined enough and they also begin to see themselves as lessor since they are not as good as other kids in their view.
A hint ADHD is genetic. I look back on my childhood and I wish my parents had tried this. I was always in trouble for “not paying attention” and not getting my school work right. As I got older I got better and went onto college and have done well because I gain the cognitive skills to cope, but I often wonder how much more I could have done if I had made the much better grades. Maybe college wouldn’t have taken 6 years.
As much as I do not like medicating anyone unnecessarily ( I hate to take Tylenol unless I hurt really bad ) I am a believer in this method when warranted and those that condemn it are very uniformed and reactionary.
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When I think about it, it just breaks my heart. These poor kids. I am sometimes moved to tears when I think about what the world must have been like for my son before intervention. When we had him initially evaluated, he couldn’t complete the testing because he couldn’t focus on what was happening. The doctor told us that he was “borderline retarded” because his IQ tested so low. Well, he’s actually very smart. He just couldn’t focus on what he was doing through all the noise and chaos he was experiencing.
Right now, we’re having some problems with sleep problems and some tantrums when the drug wears off. We’re thinking that the medication might need fine tuning. But even with these problems, we’d never go back to where he was before.
You are correct. Ritalin is a stimulant that "stimulates" that part of the brain that has trouble controlling one's behaviour. If this part of the brain is fine, then it can act as a general stimulant. Extreme care must be taken when prescribing this drug.
bump for later.
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