Reply to New York Times Magazine article questioning adhd commonplaces (including meds)

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Reply to "New York Times Magazine article questioning adhd commonplaces (including meds)"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The fact that the medication does not help academic outcomes is mind blowing to me. Why take it especially with all the side effects?[/quote]

As a special ed teacher, I thought this was common knowledge.  It's what I've heard and read in research since I started teaching decades ago, and it certainly matches what I've seen in my classroom.

ADHD meds can improve grades, because kids don't rush and make impulsive errors so they turn in better work.  But they don't improve understanding or retention of the material.

Academic learning isn't everything at school.  In my experience, (caveat: teachers don't see the same kids over many years so I can only compare kids within the year in which they start meds).  ADHD meds improve peer interactions and classroom behaviors.  For my kid, if impulsivity was interfering with my kid keeping friends, or was causing aggression, or was constantly getting negative feedback which was hurting his self esteem, then I would look at intervention, including but not limited to meds, because those things are devastating to kids.  [/quote]

I had the impulsive/aggressive kid and didn’t medicate him because it would have taken a court order (xDH refused completely). DS did outgrow the aggressive behavior, but I definitely would have tried the meds if it was my choice only. At the same time, now that we are out of that phase, there’s some benefit to the fact that we didn’t have to deal with any side effects. [/quote]

Also …. The behavioral therapy I did was life-changing for me and him. So it’s not like I did nothing. But the behavioral therapy was expensive and required a lot of motivation and engagement on my part - not all parents have that. [/quote]

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