Toddlers are now getting Ritalin and Adderall drugs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One of the major points of that study was that toddlers on Medicaid are being prescribed significantly more ADHD meds than those not on Medicaid. This study was limited to Georgia, so it is unclear whether this practice is nationwide.

Is that because children on Medicaid don't get other treatment? Or because a family history of ADHD may lead to parents' unemployment and hence Medicaid?

Originally ADD was a rich family's diagnosis.
Now it's equally opportunity.

Chemical imbalance is still largely a rich family's diagnosis.
But it'll trickle down to everyone. Watch.
No one will need to go to jail anymore.
Just mental health services and compassion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One of the major points of that study was that toddlers on Medicaid are being prescribed significantly more ADHD meds than those not on Medicaid. This study was limited to Georgia, so it is unclear whether this practice is nationwide.

Where do we learn about local stats? These drugs seem to be thrown at both rich and poor kids. For poor families, other options are too expensive. For rich families, other options are too much of a hassle. For insurance, drugs are the most cost effective, and for doctors to. Not to mention big pharma. Parent training is arduous. Especially with all the defensiveness we see.

I wish people understood it's NOT about blame. It's about taking responsibility for our errors, and correcting them. It's damn hard work. The hardest work there is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One of the major points of that study was that toddlers on Medicaid are being prescribed significantly more ADHD meds than those not on Medicaid. This study was limited to Georgia, so it is unclear whether this practice is nationwide.

Is that because children on Medicaid don't get other treatment? Or because a family history of ADHD may lead to parents' unemployment and hence Medicaid?

Originally ADD was a rich family's diagnosis.
Now it's equally opportunity.

Chemical imbalance is still largely a rich family's diagnosis.
But it'll trickle down to everyone. Watch.
No one will need to go to jail anymore.
Just mental health services and compassion.

How did you come to this conclusion? 'Convenient Theories For You' monthly?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If we want caregivers/teachers of young "special needs" children to have some training, please explain why we don't expect that parents should get some training to (BEFORE resorting to drugs)?

The NY Times article in the Special Needs forum says parents often fail to provide the more structured enviornment that these children so desparately require.

Anyone surprised? I'm not.

[Anonymous]

There are many conclusions one could come to about why people on Medicaid are more likely to have their toddlers prescribed these drugs. One thing to remember is that more affluent people have the time and means to get other help - a Ritalin prescription is relatively inexpensive. The kind of help those of you without ADHD kids are envisioning - and remember that ADHD is often comorbid with other difficult to treat conditions like dyspraxia and and high functioning autism - is time-consuming and expensive, rarely paid for by insurance. So quick to judge parents when what's really missing is a good support system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are many conclusions one could come to about why people on Medicaid are more likely to have their toddlers prescribed these drugs. One thing to remember is that more affluent people have the time and means to get other help - a Ritalin prescription is relatively inexpensive. The kind of help those of you without ADHD kids are envisioning - and remember that ADHD is often comorbid with other difficult to treat conditions like dyspraxia and and high functioning autism - is time-consuming and expensive, rarely paid for by insurance. So quick to judge parents when what's really missing is a good support system.

Every single sanctimommy on this thread needs to STFU. Until one of them has had to manage poverty (which is both time consuming and expensive) and the health needs of a SN kid, they know NOTHING about the situation. Judging those parents is insensitive and cruel to the point of being a sociopath.

What are you getting out of this thread, people? Do you feel so bad about your life and your own parenting choices that the only way you can feel better is to kick to the parents of a SN kid on Medicaid?

If you aren't raising that kid in those circumstances, STFU. If you don't have an MD and haven't personally evaluated that child, STFU. If you haven't listened to the advice of that child's doctors and weighed that advice against your finances and ability to cope, then STFU.

[Anonymous]

It's not only poor children being put on these dangerous drugs. Rich families are doing it to. They can't be bothered with doing the hard work early on. Babies require sensitive nurturing and consistant care from the beginning.

The unintended consequences of absentee parenting are often tragic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are many conclusions one could come to about why people on Medicaid are more likely to have their toddlers prescribed these drugs. One thing to remember is that more affluent people have the time and means to get other help - a Ritalin prescription is relatively inexpensive. The kind of help those of you without ADHD kids are envisioning - and remember that ADHD is often comorbid with other difficult to treat conditions like dyspraxia and and high functioning autism - is time-consuming and expensive, rarely paid for by insurance. So quick to judge parents when what's really missing is a good support system.

Every single sanctimommy on this thread needs to STFU. Until one of them has had to manage poverty (which is both time consuming and expensive) and the health needs of a SN kid, they know NOTHING about the situation. Judging those parents is insensitive and cruel to the point of being a sociopath.

What are you getting out of this thread, people? Do you feel so bad about your life and your own parenting choices that the only way you can feel better is to kick to the parents of a SN kid on Medicaid?

If you aren't raising that kid in those circumstances, STFU. If you don't have an MD and haven't personally evaluated that child, STFU. If you haven't listened to the advice of that child's doctors and weighed that advice against your finances and ability to cope, then STFU.

Yes, but ANYONE can see the end result of putting young children on medication like this. And often, it won't be pretty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are many conclusions one could come to about why people on Medicaid are more likely to have their toddlers prescribed these drugs. One thing to remember is that more affluent people have the time and means to get other help - a Ritalin prescription is relatively inexpensive. The kind of help those of you without ADHD kids are envisioning - and remember that ADHD is often comorbid with other difficult to treat conditions like dyspraxia and and high functioning autism - is time-consuming and expensive, rarely paid for by insurance. So quick to judge parents when what's really missing is a good support system.

Every single sanctimommy on this thread needs to STFU. Until one of them has had to manage poverty (which is both time consuming and expensive) and the health needs of a SN kid, they know NOTHING about the situation. Judging those parents is insensitive and cruel to the point of being a sociopath.

What are you getting out of this thread, people? Do you feel so bad about your life and your own parenting choices that the only way you can feel better is to kick to the parents of a SN kid on Medicaid?

If you aren't raising that kid in those circumstances, STFU. If you don't have an MD and haven't personally evaluated that child, STFU. If you haven't listened to the advice of that child's doctors and weighed that advice against your finances and ability to cope, then STFU.

Yes, but ANYONE can see the end result of putting young children on medication like this. And often, it won't be pretty.

Anyone? I can't. I have no idea what the end result of putting young children on medication is and I have no idea when it is necessary. I think those times are very rare, and I wouldn't do it unless it was an extreme situation, but there is no obvious end result here. You think you know and thats the quintessential DCUM fallacy.

[Anonymous]

Indeed, all drugs are a crap shoot. No guarantees.

But the younger you start with THESE drugs, the higher the risk of interfering with the normal brain development of these little children.

[Anonymous]

There are many conclusions one could come to about why people on Medicaid are more likely to have their toddlers prescribed these drugs. One thing to remember is that more affluent people have the time and means to get other help - a Ritalin prescription is relatively inexpensive. The kind of help those of you without ADHD kids are envisioning - and remember that ADHD is often comorbid with other difficult to treat conditions like dyspraxia and and high functioning autism - is time-consuming and expensive, rarely paid for by insurance. So quick to judge parents when what's really missing is a good support system

I think medication can be extremely helpful for some parents who have tried many other avenues and don't judge them. what is upsetting is doctors prescribing to such young kids before other interventions have been attempted. If the drug industry could fund parenting classes, with babysitting, and family therapy, that would be great.

We do not medicate our child. But I have a job flexible enough that I can take off time to take my kids to appointments. We make enough money that we can pay the out of pocket costs for therapy of all sorts. We have the time and mental and emotional resources to devote to our child, and we have the education to be on top fo research, to be proactive and to try as hard as we can. Even so, it is stressful and our lives are not under other kinds of stress: poverty, crime, addiction, few resources. We can blame parents, we can blame doctors, we can blame the drug industry, but unfortuately the issues are deeply entrenched social and economic ones.

[Anonymous]

Most of my well-to-do friends are medicating their very young children. It's the easiest option.

[Anonymous]

We medicated our child for tics and OCD that were way beyond our ability to manage. They were so bizarre I expect very few parents would have an idea how to manage. The meds seems to work until they didn't and they upped the dose and the side effects became unbearable too. It turned out that the meds in fact wee not working--taking them just coincided with a waning period.

This was many years ago and absolutely nothing was offered us except meds. No one talked about behavior modification, parenting classes, etc For all I know they still may not be talking about such things with regard to a child such as ours.

I began doing research and found exposure and response prevention therapy reportedly had some success. This saved out lives, but we had to stick to it twice a week for a year and a half and regular daily homework. This was not convenient for us and it was fairly costly. The homework is awful and takes a toll on the child parent relationship.

I don't know about others, but for us the decision to do meds was an easy one. The illness had wreaked such havoc on our household I would have accepted without question any solution a doctor offered us. But in retrospect, in our case, meds were not the best choice. We just didn't know it at the time and neither did the doctors; we had to figure this out for ourselves.

But if meds could have helped the problem and spared us the difficult child parent interactions the homework demanded, I would seriously consider the med route.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We medicated our child for tics and OCD that were way beyond our ability to manage. They were so bizarre I expect very few parents would have an idea how to manage. The meds seems to work until they didn't and they upped the dose and the side effects became unbearable too. It turned out that the meds in fact wee not working--taking them just coincided with a waning period.

This was many years ago and absolutely nothing was offered us except meds. No one talked about behavior modification, parenting classes, etc For all I know they still may not be talking about such things with regard to a child such as ours.

I began doing research and found exposure and response prevention therapy reportedly had some success. This saved out lives, but we had to stick to it twice a week for a year and a half and regular daily homework. This was not convenient for us and it was fairly costly. The homework is awful and takes a toll on the child parent relationship.

I don't know about others, but for us the decision to do meds was an easy one. The illness had wreaked such havoc on our household I would have accepted without question any solution a doctor offered us. But in retrospect, in our case, meds were not the best choice. We just didn't know it at the time and neither did the doctors; we had to figure this out for ourselves.

But if meds could have helped the problem and spared us the difficult child parent interactions the homework demanded, I would seriously consider the med route.

Thank you for sharing this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are many conclusions one could come to about why people on Medicaid are more likely to have their toddlers prescribed these drugs. One thing to remember is that more affluent people have the time and means to get other help - a Ritalin prescription is relatively inexpensive. The kind of help those of you without ADHD kids are envisioning - and remember that ADHD is often comorbid with other difficult to treat conditions like dyspraxia and and high functioning autism - is time-consuming and expensive, rarely paid for by insurance. So quick to judge parents when what's really missing is a good support system.

Every single sanctimommy on this thread needs to STFU. Until one of them has had to manage poverty (which is both time consuming and expensive) and the health needs of a SN kid, they know NOTHING about the situation. Judging those parents is insensitive and cruel to the point of being a sociopath.

What are you getting out of this thread, people? Do you feel so bad about your life and your own parenting choices that the only way you can feel better is to kick to the parents of a SN kid on Medicaid?

If you aren't raising that kid in those circumstances, STFU. If you don't have an MD and haven't personally evaluated that child, STFU. If you haven't listened to the advice of that child's doctors and weighed that advice against your finances and ability to cope, then STFU.

Yes, but ANYONE can see the end result of putting young children on medication like this. And often, it won't be pretty.

Anyone? I can't. I have no idea what the end result of putting young children on medication is and I have no idea when it is necessary. I think those times are very rare, and I wouldn't do it unless it was an extreme situation, but there is no obvious end result here. You think you know and thats the quintessential DCUM fallacy.

Thing is, these dangerous drugs are NOT so rare anymore. Hence, the outrage.