LUV2EDU Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 Some children that were given drugs for ADHD and ADD have had positive results. However, hyperactive children (who don't have ADHD) have been given drugs, because their teachers didn't want to deal with their interruptions. What parents need to know is that teachers cannot legally diagnose their children. They are not doctors. They can only suggest that you take your child to see a doctor. In addition, doctors have advised parents that ADHD/ADD is hard to diagnose. Several conditions can mimics ADHD/ADD. What Drug makers Don't Want You to Know http://www.ritalindeath.com/adhd-drug-deaths.htm DOCTOR IS IN: ADHD over-diagnosed? http://blogs.ajc.com/better-health/2009/03/17/doctor-is-in-adhd-over-diagnosed/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SherryTX Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 A good friend of mine down in southern TX had her kid on medication because his teachers couldn't deal with him. They moved out of state for a while, took him off, and he was fine in public schools in Colorado. They eventually moved back to TX, in the same town, and she wisely decided to home school him so they wouldn't have to deal with the same issues again. This is good info..thanks for sharing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nestof3 Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 Aaron's third grade teacher told us Aaron needed to be on Ritalin. We began homeschooling him in the fourth grade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KidsHappen Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 This is the orignial reason that I took my son out of school in the fifth grade and started homeschooling as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtb1999 Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 This is one of the reasons we are homeschooling. I can almost guarantee that both of my kids would be labeled with some sort of "disorder" in a public school! :glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tree House Academy Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 Teachers tried twice to bully us into having my son on medication. While I did give in and try it when he was only 5 years old, I stopped it after 3 months to never go back! I knew in my gut, as his mom, it was not what he needed all along. I do think he truly has ADHD, but I also see that he is thriving in school and in social situations, and the rest, he will have to learn to get a handle on. He can't learn what he needs to learn to control himself if the medicine is controlling him. That said, I know there are cases where medicine is needed, warranted, and wonderful for the child. If my son was struggling to learn or focus so that he could learn, I would not hesititate to give him the meds if they helped. In my case, the meds didn't help and he wasn't struggling, so why do it? KWIM? I actually had a special ed teacher in ps approach me and tell me that I had better give up and just give ds some medicine because he was going to fail 3rd grade when he got there. She said that K-2nd were easy and I would have real problems in 3rd with him. 3rd was the best year he spent in ps. Not only did he not fail, he was tested for the gifted program, despite his ADHD - and he made straight A's the entire year (he was one of 4 kids in the entire grade level to pull all A's all year long). On top of that, he won award after award for academics at the end of the year. That same sp ed teacher came up to me at the final banquet and told me that they were releasing my son from Special Ed behavior services...obviously he didn't need her anymore. HA! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swellmomma Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 That said, I know there are cases where medicine is needed, warranted, and wonderful for the child. If my son was struggling to learn or focus so that he could learn, I would not hesititate to give him the meds if they helped. In my case, the meds didn't help and he wasn't struggling, so why do it? KWIM? Yup, Ds *needs* his meds, without them he is a danger to himself and everyone around him. He spent 2 weeks in a psych ward when he was only 5, actually spent his 6th birthday there and has been on meds ever since. DD on the otherhand does not respond to meds, so while she struggles she is not taking something like ds because there is no point. I think parents need to be more discriminating in whether or not they chose meds. They should not avoid them solely out of fear nor shoudl the push them out of laziness to work with a hyper child or because a teacher told them they had to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LUV2EDU Posted April 9, 2009 Author Share Posted April 9, 2009 (edited) A good friend of mine down in southern TX had her kid on medication because his teachers couldn't deal with him. They moved out of state for a while, took him off, and he was fine in public schools in Colorado. They eventually moved back to TX, in the same town, and she wisely decided to home school him so they wouldn't have to deal with the same issues again. This is good info..thanks for sharing. Since he was fine in Colorado, the school's environment (in Texas) and its bureaucracy may have played a big role in her son's behavior. I am glad he is doing great -now that he is in a more positive environment.:001_smile: Edited April 9, 2009 by LUV2EDU Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottakee Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 Very nice point, swellmomma. Meds are overused and UNDERused. A good doctor is going to rule out other physical issues---thyroid, seizures, allergies, lead poisoning, sleep issues, etc. before giving meds for ADHD or other mental health issue. Your local pediatrician or family doctor most likely is NOT an expert in this area and should not be making the diagnosis and starting treatment. I think that if the kids would all see a peds. psychiatrist or neurologist or dev. ped. then we would have a better track record of kids needing meds getting them (and the correct ones) and the kids that don't need them, not getting them. We started with the pdoc before my daughter even turned 3. She did though test for thyroid (found dd was hypothyroid and is now under the care of a peds. endocrinologist), urinalysis (dd had a low grade infection that was treated--now sees a nephrologist), did an EEG (found dd had seizures and now sees a neurologist), etc. All of those pieces were important for getting the right treatment. That said, she STILL has bipolar and ADHD and must take her meds to remain at home safely. At 5 she was crying because she was homicidal, suicidal, and hallucinating gory things. Leaving her to live like that was not an option for us. Now on the proper meds, most people would never know that she has bipolar, was psychotic in the past, etc. Back to the original post. While some kids are medicated when they aren't needed, lets not make parents feel terrible for using medication correctly if their child needs it. The key is proper diagnosis and treatment by a specialist---not just going off a teacher's suggestion, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelingChris Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 I think parents should be well aware of the risks and benefits of any medication. That being said, while it is sad that some children died while on these medications, children die while on all kinds of medications including ibuprofen, antibiotics, cold medications, etc, etc. These medications have been taken by millions over the years so several deaths are not unusual. That being said, when my dd who takes ADHD medication was foind to be having tachycardia, she was referred to a cardiologist. Two cardiologists have cleared her for the medications and her tachycardia went away when her seven month long headache went away (not related to the medicine). Schools should also not be making diagnosis, only suggesting a trip to the doctor, if necessary. I am currently living with one medicated ADHD and one non-medicated one plus myself (mild ADHD, non medicated), Living with the medicated one is a delight, living with the non-medicated one is a trial that I am looking forward to going away (or e ven better, returning to meds). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirty ethel rackham Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 Frontline did an excellent program on this a couple years ago: Medicating Kids. It was frightening how many children are basically used as guinea pigs for these drugs. While I am sure that the parents here who have their children on meds have made that decision with a careful study of the risks and benefits, a surprising number of parents don't. I know plenty of parents of ps kids in our town who just accept what a doc (or teacher) tells them without asking questions or doing their own research. There was one family on the Frontline program that just made me ill - they didn't ask questions, never got up off their rear ends to redirect their children and simply agreed when the doc recommended adding a dangerous drug to the cocktail already prescribed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowan25 Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 I used to teach middle school and every year during our inservices, we were reminded of this. You cannot suggest it; you cannot diagnose it. You can only say this is what I'm seeing, perhaps your doctor can help you further. I never understood why teachers thought it was their place to diagnose a child. ADD/ADHD is a medical diagnosis, not an educational one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LUV2EDU Posted April 9, 2009 Author Share Posted April 9, 2009 (edited) Frontline did an excellent program on this a couple years ago: Medicating Kids. It was frightening how many children are basically used as guinea pigs for these drugs. While I am sure that the parents here who have their children on meds have made that decision with a careful study of the risks and benefits, a surprising number of parents don't. I know plenty of parents of ps kids in our town who just accept what a doc (or teacher) tells them without asking questions or doing their own research. There was one family on the Frontline program that just made me ill - they didn't ask questions, never got up off their rear ends to redirect their children and simply agreed when the doc recommended adding a dangerous drug to the cocktail already prescribed. Thanks for the link to Medicating Kids (Frontline). The videos were very informative.:001_smile: Edited April 10, 2009 by LUV2EDU Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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