Pills

I really was frustrated the other day with a radio ad that I heard on Pandora.  I forget the product name but it was a medication for kids whose ADHD symptoms were being seen at home and at school.  This is aggravating for two reasons, those symptoms will show up in all the settings in life and for the love of all that is holy stop making up reasons to sell us pills.  Parents and teachers that work with kids with ADHD know that this is a real struggle that medication helps with, but it requires strategic face to face interactions as well.

I have had a lot of ADHD kids come through my doors over the years.  I have had mixed experiences with parents and teachers alike that have difficulties understanding and adapting to kids with ADHD.  I remember speaking with an angry parent many years ago about their child.  He was facing very serious disciplinary consequences and his parents tried to justify his behavior by linking it to his condition.  I ruined the interaction by abruptly saying, "There is no pill for disrespect."  I shouldn't have said that, but the damage was done.  We got past that and I began trying to learn more about it.

I have always felt that people want to link all bad behaviors to their kids needing medication.  Not just for ADHD, but for lots of perceived conditions.  I hate the idea of their being a magic pill that makes it all better.  If we are doing it right, the road to a diagnosis involves not only the parent and doctor, but the school staff as well.  I have mixed experiences with this also.  I have some families show up out of no where with a bottle of meds for ADHD and other conditions.  We had obviously not been a part of that process so it does confuse us.  Other times we get a battery of rating scales and questionnaires.  This, we like.  Evidence has to be gathered from all aspects of the child's world and we are happy to participate.

What I learned from my very poor statement is that disrespect may be symptomatic of ADHD and ADD.  The lack of executive functional skills frustrates some kids into very poor behavior.  The low tolerance for frustration causes these behaviors too.  The info-graphic below helps illustrate what is really underneath the surface.  The more you learn the more you realize that some kids really need these medicines.  Science has identified the risk factors for ADHD, but a cure is a ways off to non-existent.  One things is for sure, I stopped taking ADHD lightly a long time ago.  So much so I tend to push parents to be mindful and responsible for the meds their kids take.  My sincere hope is that my students are successful and if helping a family understand ADHD better and stay on treatment is what it takes, then I'm all in.