[Rathji]

Originally Posted by photon

That's pretty ignorant, ADHD isn't just hyperactivity, it's very real and has a very real and significant negative impact on the kids who really do have it.



Sometimes it can take trying 5-10 different medications and a constant communication between the teachers, parents, and pediatrician to find the one that treats the ADHD but doesn't turn the kid into a "zombie".



ADHD is far more than just outspoken and energetic. For a real case of ADHD, there's significant safety issues, social issues, and much more. And medication is only one small aspect of an overall approach. Everything from discipline to education to social skills all have to be done differently to be effective, and it requires a lot more work and planning.

The whole goal of medication and all the other things that should be being done in concert with the medication is to let the kid grow up as who they are without the huge negative aspects, not to change the kid.

If you are in a room trying to talk to one person, and everyone else in the room is yelling so loud you can't hear the person you are talking to, is asking everyone else to stop yelling changing you? No, it's just asking everyone else to stop yelling so that you can hold the conversation with the person. The right medication at the right dose, that's all it does.



Obviously bad parents are obviously bad, if they try and dope their kids up that's not good. But I've met hundreds of different parents with kids with ADD/ADHD and none of them do this. They agonize over medication and spend huge amounts of time to find the right one that has a positive effect without any negative. These parents that dope up their kids probably exist, but so what? They're not the norm of caring parents and child care providers, and it's certainly not the goal of the health care system, or anyone reasonable.

Awesome post.

Something I thought I would point out as well, many FAS disorders also manifest with very similar symptoms to ADHD, but with very different reactions to the medications. That makes the challenges of dosing even harder if you don't know for sure one way or another. Normally, that isn't much of an issue but sometimes drinking during pregnancy is not noticed/remembered if it occurs early enough, but it can also be problematic in situations where the mother won't admit to drinking - Most doctors can't (or simply wont) diagnose and treat FASD without an admission to drinking during pregnancy.