I agree with the parents who think it's a good idea to tell the team - both for medical reasons and for academic and behavioral reasons. However, I don't get what OP is all upset about. The school didn't require her to tell, she just blurted it out because she didn't like being perceived as not a team player, which, if she was withholding information is certainly not an unreasonable perspective on the part of the team.

I disagree. I'm the pp with the niece with anxiety. She does not have ADHD only anxiety which can be just as debilitating by itself. The OP stated her son was being medicated for anxiety not for ADHD which they are not medicating.

In my niece's case, it was vital to let her teachers know she was being medicated for anxiety which affects all aspects of school, social, emotional, and academic. She goes to a child psychologist twice a week and has been going since she was 8 but having her teachers input on her day to day behavior at school is essential in monitoring her.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP - how does it benefit the child if his teachers know he is taking medication for ADHD?

I am a teacher, and also a mom of a child who may or may not be taking medication for ADHD. I'd like to know specifically how you think it would enhance my child's education for his classroom teacher to be privy to his medical information in this case.

Will they teach him differently if the answer is yes or no?

Please be specific in your answer.

Well, one advantage would be to get as-needed feedback on how the medication is working, whether the dosage needs to be adjusted at some point, if they teacher sees any new side effects, etc. Many times, these medications can stop working all of a sudden, or not be quite as effective. A parent needs feedback from the school to help decide if an increase in dosage is warranted, or if a new medication should be tried due to negative side effects.

A parent can get this feedback without telling the school that the child is taking medication.

In fact, it would be better for the teachers NOT to know that a child's dose has been changed or dropped or added. Telling a teacher something has been changed may influence his or her perception that behavior has changed!

I am a private tutor and tutor children with ADHD. I do not ask parents to tell me if their children are medicated for this condition. However, after every session I let the parents know whether the child was able to focus and to what degree. I have no idea what may be impacting a child's lack of attention at a certain session -- could be the child was up till 2 am the night before, or the child ate something he is having a reaction to, or got an exceptional amount of sleep and exercise, or had a change in medication dosage. Whatever the reason - not my concern, but definitely I can provide feedback every day!

If teachers are willing to provide feedback every day on a child's ability to maintain attention and self control (and many do, through the use of a green-yellow-red system or other device) then they should just do so -- they don't need to know whether a child is on medication and actually shouldn't be told as it might influence their opinion of the child's behavior.

I always disclose DS' medications and doses.

If there is a medical issue at school (camp, aftercare) I would want any medical personnel to know exactly what DS had been given for the day as might impact treatment.

Anonymous wrote:I shared the medication with the teacher as I found it extremely beneficial with getting feedback on how the medicine
was working in the classroom. It did not change HOW the teacher taught, but the teaching is just one aspect of life in a classroom.

Exactly. My niece who suffers from anxiety, diagnosed at 7 now 14, has gotten lots of help from her teachers over the years b/c most of the time they are the first ones to notice when her medication is no longer working. Growing kids need more monitoring and adjustments of meds as a rule. There are no benefits from excluding people who see your kids as much as you and at some point you have to believe they also have your child's best interest at heart. If you don't, you need to send your child to another school .

Anonymous wrote:PP - how does it benefit the child if his teachers know he is taking medication for ADHD?

I am a teacher, and also a mom of a child who may or may not be taking medication for ADHD. I'd like to know specifically how you think it would enhance my child's education for his classroom teacher to be privy to his medical information in this case.

Will they teach him differently if the answer is yes or no?

Please be specific in your answer.

I would like to think that a teacher isn’t influenced by a child taking/not taking ADHD medication.

Unlike diabetes or hypertension, ADHD has symptoms that impact not only the child, but all those in the classroom. If a child is taking ADHD medication to control those symptoms, why wouldn’t you inform the person who can best provide you with information on its effectiveness? Just how do you think you’ll know if you have a therapeutic dose or if there needs to be an adjustment? Teachers are your first line responders.

Contrary to what a PP suggested, we do not have a rosy view of schools. Because of the challenges we’ve had with the schools, we had to hire a high priced consultant/advocate who comes with us to every meeting. No, I have no illusions about the schools. But, we have to work with the teachers who are in the best position to give us academic feedback on our kids. Their observations contributed to our decision to use medication. They were the first to notice when my DS started to develop a tic. They noted changes in his behavior that indicated a medication change was required and then helped us find the best time/dose to take by reporting their observations and discussing his schedule with us so we, together, decide when we needed the medication to be at peak effectiveness.

How in the world will you know if the medication is effective and if you’re at a therapeutic dose if you don’t involve the teachers? Why medicate at all if you don’t care how it affects your child’s academic life?

I shared the medication with the teacher as I found it extremely beneficial with getting feedback on how the medicine was working in the classroom. It did not change HOW the teacher taught, but the teaching is just one aspect of life in a classroom.

Anonymous wrote:PP - how does it benefit the child if his teachers know he is taking medication for ADHD?

I am a teacher, and also a mom of a child who may or may not be taking medication for ADHD. I'd like to know specifically how you think it would enhance my child's education for his classroom teacher to be privy to his medical information in this case.

Will they teach him differently if the answer is yes or no?

Please be specific in your answer.

Well, one advantage would be to get as-needed feedback on how the medication is working, whether the dosage needs to be adjusted at some point, if they teacher sees any new side effects, etc. Many times, these medications can stop working all of a sudden, or not be quite as effective. A parent needs feedback from the school to help decide if an increase in dosage is warranted, or if a new medication should be tried due to negative side effects.

Anonymous wrote:I'm a teacher and we are supposed to be a team with the parents and the child. If you came in like this it would make it clear that you were a "difficult case". The question you raise makes it seem like you are ashamed of your child's condition which will translate in teachers who will be less than forthcoming with you. If they feel that you don't disclose information they might regard it to be in the child's best interest to not reach out to communicate with you. Amenable, helpful parents who are real team players make a world of difference in outcome.
I can't phrase this any more gently, but is your shame so great that you can't do what is best for your child so that the whole team can have all of the information?

As a teacher, I'd like to point out the lack of logic in this sentence. If you believe in open communication and the disclosing of information, why would you ever "regard it to be in the child's best interest to not reach out to communicate" with a parent? It seems that what you are pointing out is that teachers may punish students for what they perceive to be the parents' mistakes. personally I strive never to abuse my role as educator in this way and it is disappointing to see another teacher admit to this so cavalierly.

OP, as a teacher and parent, I do believe in the benefits open communication. I know you weren't asking for comments or advice on this matter but I want to admit to my opinion before adding that I think that you should probably realize that, wrong as it is, some people may hold it against your child if you don't play by the accepted rules.

PP - how does it benefit the child if his teachers know he is taking medication for ADHD?

I am a teacher, and also a mom of a child who may or may not be taking medication for ADHD. I'd like to know specifically how you think it would enhance my child's education for his classroom teacher to be privy to his medical information in this case.

Will they teach him differently if the answer is yes or no?

Please be specific in your answer.

IEP meetings can be hard and sounds like you were surprised by the question. I feel it is to your child's benefit to share this info. What is your concern on sharing? Are you afraid that people outside the IEP team will learn about it? Was the meeting pretty positive up to this point?

I've found the more I share, the better things go with the process for my autistic son. Sounds like you have damaged the relationship a bit, I'd try to smooth it over.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a teacher and we are supposed to be a team with the parents and the child. If you came in like this it would make it clear that you were a "difficult case". The question you raise makes it seem like you are ashamed of your child's condition which will translate in teachers who will be less than forthcoming with you. If they feel that you don't disclose information they might regard it to be in the child's best interest to not reach out to communicate with you. Amenable, helpful parents who are real team players make a world of difference in outcome.
I can't phrase this any more gently, but is your shame so great that you can't do what is best for your child so that the whole team can have all of the information?

NP here. Gosh, aren't you clueless. But you do sound like a typical arrogant teacher.

It's not shame. It's a mother's instinct to protect her child.

I posted earlier disagreeing with this teacher's original comment above, but responses like this poster's are equally harmful. Poster, do you honestly think the "typical" teacher is "arrogant"? Good grief.

Should I have also included that I am a mother of two speical needs children? Does that give you a better sense of how important I believe it is to be 100% honest with all of the important people in your children's lives?

Yes it mustbe disclosed, if ds is really in need of adhd treatment and its not lazy parenting

Anonymous wrote:I wonder if the OP would be so reluctant and "private" if her child was suffering from a seizure disorder, Type 1 diabetes, etc. and was on medication for it. I somehow doubt it. Her reluctance comes from her DC's ADHD diagnosis

PP again. (The teacher who doesn't think OP is "difficult," LOL) This analogy is a specious one. Both of these diseases could very easily result in a classroom or school-based life-threatening emergency. While yes, technically it is theoretically possible for there to be a medication-related life-threatening emergency with ADHD medication, the odds of that are so unlikely as to, in my mind, not be a main factor in the decision. One factor, yes, but not a default reason to disclose. It's also theoretically possible for there to be a medication-related life-threatening emergency from Tylenol, for example, or acne medication, or a cough drop--well, you get the point. (As a teacher, I hope the harsh PPs aren't the type of parents to tell me anxiously every time their child has a cough drop--now, THAT would be a difficult parent. ) Moreover, adults certainly don't disclose their medicine-taking to co-workers or superiors, even though they spend as much time in an office as a child does in a classroom, and presumably in a true emergency the adult would need to rely on co-workers the same way a child would on a teacher. No one is saying that the OP absolutely should not tell the teacher, but to carefully consider the decision and possibly decide against it for good reasons, rather than to just assume one should/must, is simply not the egregious action that some make it out to be.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a teacher and we are supposed to be a team with the parents and the child. If you came in like this it would make it clear that you were a "difficult case". The question you raise makes it seem like you are ashamed of your child's condition which will translate in teachers who will be less than forthcoming with you. If they feel that you don't disclose information they might regard it to be in the child's best interest to not reach out to communicate with you. Amenable, helpful parents who are real team players make a world of difference in outcome.
I can't phrase this any more gently, but is your shame so great that you can't do what is best for your child so that the whole team can have all of the information?

NP here. Gosh, aren't you clueless. But you do sound like a typical arrogant teacher.

It's not shame. It's a mother's instinct to protect her child.

I posted earlier disagreeing with this teacher's original comment above, but responses like this poster's are equally harmful. Poster, do you honestly think the "typical" teacher is "arrogant"? Good grief.