"Before fixing a problem, figure out what it is." -Today's Washington Post

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: I found it really surprising that he says a lot of parents come to his office after report card time, say their child can't focus, and ask about medication.

It makes sense if your kid is doing 4 hours a night of homework and getting D's ... Something might be amiss.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I work with families. Most children (and parents) I see are sleep-deprived. Also, poor nutrition, even though money is no object.

This doesn't surprise me. There was a thread (I think in Older Kids) about bedtimes. My elementary/middle school kids are in bed by 8:00. People were shocked by that and thought I was ridiculous. Whatever.

You are a really good self-disciplined parent to pull that off.

Solid sleep is 90% of everything. Without plenty of sleep, the poor kids don't even have a fair chance at having a successful day. Most of the behavior problems I see, stem from sleep-deprivation.

The stimulant drugs wake them up, and voila... the kids calm down and sit still and focus. Amazing how that works.

This is really uninformed and inaccurate and obviously written by someone that knows nothing about ADHD.
And, fwiw, my kid with ADHD gets a solid 11 hours of sleep a night. He's exhausted from putting in three times as much effort every day as every kid around him, for half the results, in keeping his body and impulses under control. The stimulant drugs allow ADHD kids to focus by providing the extra stimulation/input that their brains need in order to function normally--unmedicated kids try to achieve this effect (pretty much unsuccessfully) by keeping their bodies in near-constant movement.

This whole "problem" -- to the extent there is one -- is a result of the fact that there's no objective test for ADHD. It's not like a test for diabetes, where they can test your blood. It's pretty clear from the recent research that kids with ADHD have markedly different brain activity patterns than kids without ADHD, but unfortunately, they haven't got this ready for prime time as a diagnostic tool. So, instead, you're stuck with dumb questionnaires that ask you whether your kid loses their temper more often than "regular", less often than regular, or about the same as regular. Which is basically an unanswerable question. The clear cut cases are pretty easy -- I've got one of those. But I've also got a less clear-cut case and it keeps me up at night not knowing if the second child also has this condition, and could be helped by the medication, or whether there's something else going on.
I'd like it if all these people complaining about over-medication would put their focus on developing a real diagnostic test.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I work with families. Most children (and parents) I see are sleep-deprived. Also, poor nutrition, even though money is no object.

This doesn't surprise me. There was a thread (I think in Older Kids) about bedtimes. My elementary/middle school kids are in bed by 8:00. People were shocked by that and thought I was ridiculous. Whatever.

You are a really good self-disciplined parent to pull that off.

Solid sleep is 90% of everything. Without plenty of sleep, the poor kids don't even have a fair chance at having a successful day. Most of the behavior problems I see, stem from sleep-deprivation.

The stimulant drugs wake them up, and voila... the kids calm down and sit still and focus. Amazing how that works.

This is really uninformed and inaccurate and obviously written by someone that knows nothing about ADHD.
And, fwiw, my kid with ADHD gets a solid 11 hours of sleep a night. He's exhausted from putting in three times as much effort every day as every kid around him, for half the results, in keeping his body and impulses under control. The stimulant drugs allow ADHD kids to focus by providing the extra stimulation/input that their brains need in order to function normally--unmedicated kids try to achieve this effect (pretty much unsuccessfully) by keeping their bodies in near-constant movement.

This whole "problem" -- to the extent there is one -- is a result of the fact that there's no objective test for ADHD. It's not like a test for diabetes, where they can test your blood. It's pretty clear from the recent research that kids with ADHD have markedly different brain activity patterns than kids without ADHD, but unfortunately, they haven't got this ready for prime time as a diagnostic tool. So, instead, you're stuck with dumb questionnaires that ask you whether your kid loses their temper more often than "regular", less often than regular, or about the same as regular. Which is basically an unanswerable question. The clear cut cases are pretty easy -- I've got one of those. But I've also got a less clear-cut case and it keeps me up at night not knowing if the second child also has this condition, and could be helped by the medication, or whether there's something else going on.
I'd like it if all these people complaining about over-medication would put their focus on developing a real diagnostic test.

At about what age did you first notice the uncontrollable impulses? What were the symptoms?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: I found it really surprising that he says a lot of parents come to his office after report card time, say their child can't focus, and ask about medication.

use
It makes sense if your kid is doing 4 hours a night of homework and getting D's ... Something might be amiss.

Yes, It sounds like such a kid needs an evaluation because something is amiss. But to go to the ped and just ask for meds without an eval? No.