Re: ADHD/Ritalin from parent pov (long)
Matthew Adkins (msadkins@MTU.EDU)
Mon, 21 Mar 1994 12:50:39 EST
>
> John is now in eighth grade. He has reasonable grades; he's capable
> of straight A's but we spend so much time with Brendan that John
> doesn't get as much attention from us as he deserves.
>
It's probably a little late but here's a suggestion anyway. On
teh matter of homework. In my experience I wish that my teacher's had
started me out with a little bit of work each nite and then increased it
as I got older. This would have gotten me used to doing it. I find
that in college I am still having a hard time disciplining myself to get
homework done. I know it sounds evil but make your sons do at leats 30
minutes of straight work every nite. That will help them build a
"tolerance" to doing tolerance and help them in the future. Believe you
me....
> Which brings us to Brendan who is now 10 years old in fifth grade.
> request for evaluation. Brendan began Ritalin at age 5 in
> kindergarten, younger than the doctors prefer. He is definitely
> hyperactive and will drive you nuts when he's off the medication. We
> think a reasonable course of action would be to prescribe
> tranquilizers for parents during periods when kids like him are not
> taking anything! :-) Brendan is not destructive or verbally
> abusive. He does have trouble relating to his classmates. Some of
> the problem is due to teasing about needing medication. Some is
>
> In general, life with Ritalin is of higher quality than life without
> it. I still don't like it and wish we could improve behavior without
> medication. Unfortunately, we've tried a number of things with
> Brendan; even WITH Ritalin he almost failed 4th grade and is having
> trouble in 5th. The catch is, his IQ is also above normal and
> holding him back would probably make things worse. It's just that he
> doesn't turn in his classwork and doesn't pay attention, so he gets
> poor grades.
> Sounds like me. Again force them to do some work every nite.
Not a lot maybe not even all of the work but it will just get worse
unless your sons have a high level of motivation. (I don't :) )
> As far as timing goes, the boys take 8-hour doses with breakfast. It
> wears off shortly after classes end and they don't get more until the
> next school day. This means that homework will take hours, if it
> gets completed at all. Mostly, it doesn't. We have doctor's
> permission to give Brendan medication as needed, but rarely do this.
> (Examples: attending a wedding, participating in school concert
> during the evening)
>
In my 5 or 6 years on Ritalin I can tell you that I felt much
more better and "normal" when I was on it. The better that Iw as able
to control myself the less upset I would get about the situation. I
prefered to stay on it for the day and I always took some before a
concert or special event.
> In 15 weeks of Cub Scout day camp, he took medication for one week.
> The staff knew what was going on. Some of them were super, some were
> rest of the time, he'll be "natural".
>
I don't know if I would suggest that. I am not a doctor and
only have my own case to go on so I will just use my example. I tried
going to camp without it (when I was younger my big thing was to be able
to control myself without it and I tried a lot but usually went back to
the pills) and it was an evil disaster....As for summer in general
children (even unpopular ones) are outside and around other kids a lot.
Being off of the pill made me easily upset/excitable/rampant which
obviously made other kids torment/shy away/avoid me...... If you do
have your sons off for the summer they should be monitored...(my
opinion). I am not saying keep them on 24 hours a day....just during
the day.....nights were ok for me etc etc...and maybe not even a full
dose.....I would suggest you talk to your doc and see what he/she
says....
But as for Scouting situation (i.e. lots of other boys being
boys) I would suggest them being on it).
P.S. I am not a doctor. I am a college student. I am far superior.
--
Matthew S. Adkins Technician
Michigan Tech University, CS Major MTU Sound & Light Services
Internet: msadkins@major.cs.mtu.edu Internet: msadkins@mtu.edu
"As MTU has no opinions, my opinions "The fastest way to accelerate a
couldn't possibly be theirs." Macintosh is 9.8 m/s^2."
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