merkdr

anyone have any thoughts good or bad about putting there child on it, for learning or behavioral problems.

StormBerlin

I'm kinda uneducated about ADD, but I don't think Ritalin is a good idea. Discipline is a good idea. By discipline I don't mean beating your kids, just paying attention to what causes their ADD behaviors and being receptive and countering it. How old is the child?

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Polyphobic

I'm a bit weary of our society's tendency to fix everything with drugs. However, I am no doctor. I would go to your pediatrician (or doctor) and talk to them about it. At the very least, they can referr you to a specialist.

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absorbentishe

My children are not in the position of needing anything, so I can only speak from experience of others that I've dealt with. To me, and this is my opinion so don't flame me for it, the children really don't need the drug. There are instances when it is need, but few and far between. The parents are looking for an easy fix for their lack of parenting, or wanting to deal with the behavior of their child. So the parents go looking for the drug to help them out. I've seen this scenario a lot. With proper parenting, drugs should only be the last resort.

raeanna74

Here are a couple threads on the subject. My sentiments are thoroughly expressed here. Ritalin can be a good thing or a bad thing. I think all avenues of assistance for the child should be explored before medicating them. Once you medicate it's hard for them to go off it.

Medication

ADHD

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onodrim

In my expereince with ADD and ADHD children, they do not need the drug. Yes, they are very difficult to deal with sometimes, and it can be a real struggle. However, with enough persistent discipline and caring, they can and will tone down their behavior and learn to listen. I've also noticed that the kids wo do take the drug become much different once it is in their system, they are so calm sometimes that it's like a vital part of their personality is being repressed. Just my two cents.

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ngdawg

My son is ADD and it was suggested that he be put on Ritalin-I insisted NOT to. Behavior therapy worked great for both of us as it taught him how to understand himself and it helped me to learn how to react to his behaviors. Many people I know have had kids on Ritalin-in the 80's and 90's it was the thing to do-now these kids are troubled young adults and they have been in jail or drug users or both. They were never taught to deal with their 'differentness'-it was merely suppressed by a chemical. Also, for what it is worth, it seems to me from dealing with my own child and working with kids that ADD is overused in analyzing a child's (particularly boys) behavior. While my son fit the criteria in a checklist given by the therapist, he was in no way as seriously off-balance in his actions or attitude as some of the kids I dealt with. And, while I could see how the children were both with Ritalin and those days they'd 'forget to take it', I feel bad for them and their futures-when they have to deal with life without their little pill.

merkdr

well , thanks folks , i guess i should have started this by explaining......my 11yr. old has struggled with school from about grade 2 on , he`s a good kid, no problems as far as aggressive behavior are concerned.but his ability to stay focused on a task for more than 30 seconds is horrible.after much thought and advice from our family dr. and our pediatrician , we decided to give it a try. we could see the difference the first day.this is the third week , to say the least its quite remarkable the change, and please i`d like to hear more.

ngdawg

I would like to mention one more thing. Look into food allergies. Food additives can cause 'behavorial allergies". My son is allergic to Sodium Nitrates-they caused temper tantrums, belligerence, inattention and occasionally he would 'space out'. We only found this out because, after daily consults with his teacher about his odd behavior and lamenting over it, a coworker who is into holistics mentioned how he liked hotdogs, etc. Then, after a pepperoni kick that lasted 2 weeks, we ran out of it and i didn't buy more....his behavior became normal, so i did a 3 days-on, 3 days-off test on him and that proved the allergy. Some doctors balk at behavorial allergies and you may have to do your own testing and observances, but it's worth it in the long run if it helps your child.

raeanna74

This is good advice. I had a lot of food allergies growing up. My mother found that corn products made it harder for me to concentrate. Also if there was something else I was allergic to that I ate and I wasn't feeling top notch it was harder. For anyone who isn't feeling their best it just makes it harder to concentrate.

There are some physical things that my mom did to help me learn to cope with my distractability. I have put them to good use in working with several of my own students who were LD or ADHD. Put their study desk in a corner of the room (at home or at school) with few pictures and things around. Keeping the child's study area clean, clear of clutter, and other knicknacks is best. Even if it's "educational" posters and things, they should be kept to a minimum. Giving the child something to do with their hands, feet, or even mouth (chewing bubble gum) can help them get their excess energy out. I found that pacing the hallway of our house while reading or memorizing things gave me an outlet for my constant energy and let me concentrate my mental abilities on the work at hand. Red cellophane has shown to help a ADHD child focus on the page they need to be reading. Cut a small piece or place a sheet of it on the page they need to study. Give them child some control over their study time by helping them set a time period for working and giving themselves a time to take a break. Let them - encourage them to take the break even if they are "on a roll". Otherwise they will see the break as optional and won't work as hard because it MIGHT not happen next time. Help the child learn things using as many sensory methods as possible. Get large flip books of poster paper for them to write out things or a small chalkboard or whiteboard. Writing out facts, figures, or dates that they need to learn gives them more avenues of learning. Have them talk out what they are writing as they write it as well . Then they see it, they write it, they speak it, and they hear it. It will stick with them longer. Also the actions of writing and saying it help them expend more of their extra energy. There are LOTS lots more things you can do. These are just some starters.

Children thrive on a regular schedule. Not necessarily an inflexible one but one that helps them know what to expect next. Give you child a schedule they can expect in the morning and in the evening. I may be more work getting it started but once they know what comes next and what is expected they will be able to channel their energy better and things will be easier for all involved. One little key my mother used to help us remember our morning and evening schedules was a list on our hands. Each finger represents one thing that needs to be done. Here is how it goes
The thumb - Wash my face and hands.
Pointer finger - Brush my teeth and hair.
Middle finger - Get dressed (Or get in my pajamas)
Ring finger - Make my bed (pick up my clothes)
Pinky - Do my jobs, we had 3 jobs that we rotated each week (get my school stuff ready - pack my backpack for the next day)

At first my mom traced our hands, wrote the items on each finger, and put it on our doors. When we were younger we got a star for each finger when it was done. Once we learned the pattern we eventually switched to just looking at our own hands and remembering it. My mom could tell us - go do your hands and we would do it all. She didn't have to dictate to us every little thing we needed to do. It gave us a sense of independence since she didn't have to tell us every little thing. You can adapt it to fit your needs but it's a handy easy tool for children to learn what to do. ADHD tend to forget what to do next. Following a chain of commands can sometimes be difficult as they get distracted. With the "hand" they can remind themselves of what else they need to do once they realize they've been distracted. Repitition is the key to learning and they repeat it enough they will remember it. some children just need more repititions.

Good Luck. These things can help whether the child is on medication or not. It can be especially useful when they eventually go off the medication if that comes about.

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AngelicVampire

Ritalin is not bad, however most people who put kids on it fail to realise that they still have to keep working at the discipline aspect themselves (the drug gives them the ability to control the disorder, however it cannot control the behavior on its own).

I have met so many kids that need smacked or disciplined however their parents make the excuse... "He/she is on Ritalin, I canny do anything about it".

bermuDa

just a question, merk... does your son watch a lot of TV, or has he done so in the past?

I'm interested in the correlation between television and the upsurge of ADD/ADHD in the last few decades. Does anything think they might be proportionally related?

As for Ritalin, I'd say consult a specialist first, but as others have said, ritalin will only give your son the means to help him focus on things, it won't fix the problem on its own. and from what I've seen, ritalin can really wire some kids.

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raeanna74

Ritalin is a stimulant. They aren't really sure why it would help kids who already excessively hyper. They have found that if the child is truely ADHD that it acts as a depressant and helps them calm down. It's sortof like it speeds up certain portions of their brain so that they can keep up with themselves. If the child becomes more hyper they obviously shouldn't stay on ritalin.

"Ritalin increases activity in this region in some children with ADHD, and with this change comes improvements in their ability to sit still, pay attention, and complete tasks." WebMD

"Methylphenidate is a mild stimulant to the central nervous system (brain and nerves). The exact way that methylphenidate works is unknown."WebMD

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clavus

Damn straight!

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merkdr

well, again good advice and things to ponder , and yes alot of tv and vid.games. the video games are a true wonder to me , how can a kid that has such a hard time concentrating , play these things by the hour.

AngelicVampire

Lots of changing stimulus, and its entertaining. I know many children with ADHD, they can all concentrate when they are doing what they want to, give them something boring (maths...) then they start playing up. Some cases are real however more and more people are being diagnosed with diseases despite the fact that discipline or other problems are the cause.

I had a friend who could not have sugary sweets or caffine, if he did he would go hyper... every friday night he came to the club, drank 2 litres of Coke and ate a large pack of jelly babies and ran around the room for half an hour, then he could concentrate fine.

Jennteel

I have alot of experience with this subject. My 9 year old son was diagnosed with severe ADHD when he was 4. I refused Ritalin at the time because I heard bad things about it and at that time was against medicating my child. But it got tougher as time went on and we eventually put him on Adderol. He is on a time-released pill so it's just taken once a day. He has done extremly well on it. I won't go into details about his behavior but I will say he has it so bad we have had police involved many many times in the past. I could not funtion as a parent without Adderol and my son cannot function without it.

Grimlok

You are exactly on the right track here, as is a couple of other people in this thread. Behavioral Allergies should be pinpointed by monitoring the intake of your child. Find out what they're eating at school, document what they're eating at home and watch. When your child is focused and doing what he/she's supposed to be doing then note what foods they ate. When they're having trouble focusing, note what food they ate. After a few weeks you should notice a pattern.

Once you find the pattern then start pinpointing the triggers to the unfocused behavior... in any event you're on the right track.

I might also note that the defeciency of some nutrients may contribute also. Make sure to suppliment with natural vitamins and perhaps a "Greens" formula.

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stldickie

If you feel like you have to resort to meds, make sure you see a specialist, not just the kid's pediatrician. Also the med alone does little good without the addition of counseling/behavior modification

tecoyah

Just my opinion here.....With my children, I would only consider drugging them with a substance that permanantly rewires the brain, as a last resort. Recent studies to attempt an explanation as to the reason these drugs work have shown changes in the structure of neural connections. Ritalin clinical trials on children are running right now, and many parents are unwitting participants.

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Esco

Great response. I've heard horror stories about over and under medication and it's nice to see some first-hand feedback.

Mehoni

No ritalin unless the kid actually has ADD/ADHD.

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MSD

Exactly. Rule out other causes, then see a specialist. I go to a Yale-educated psychiatrist who has an amazing reputation, and he checked on other things first, then determined that samll amounts of medication would help. For several years, I switched from medication to medication, each causing their own problems, and slowly weaned off of medication, which acted as a crutch to help me overcome my ADHD. I'm still easily distracted, I'm still impulsive and hyper, but I am able to cope with it using techniques that I learned with the help of medication.

Basically, if ADD is definitely the culprit, medication can help, but won't cure anything. The patient needs to be willing to try to improve and push him/herself and not run off when it seems difficult.

aed0913

Howdy all! First post.

I think a hybrid of the approaches described herein are a great strategy: scientific, holistic, thorough, and open-minded.

I benefitted mightily from Ritalin as a very distracted and under-performing 4th grader. My grades skyrocketed, taking a lot of the "what's going wrong here" pressure off of me and allowing me to relax and figure out how to deal with my attention issues.

raeanna74's suggestions above are awesome - I've used a number of those tools with great success. If I make a cheat sheet and/or can verbally explain something in detail (even if nobody is listening) I know it and it sticks with me quite well. I may have to check out that red cellophane trick...

My problem now is at work - I get so easily distracted and off-task sometimes it drives me crazy. Granted, being an internet fiend certainly doesn't help...

I'll check around for some adult ADD posts, but if anyone happens to know of any right off hand, please PM me or post them here (as long as that's not a forum no-no).

Cheers!

uscmba02

I would also look into excercise before Ritlin. Especially if the kid is watching a lot of TV or playing video games. Overstimulation can cause the body to dump adrenaline and other things into the blood stream ("Fight or Flight") and the only way out is to metabolize it, and excercise helps that.

J.

answerC

Having grown up around a few kids on Ritalin I would suggest you only use it if you have tried everyting else. Even if the drug does work, I feel that it taught many of my friends that drugs were the solution to all their problems and many turned to them as they got older. Knowing what many of them are doing now, I don't think Ritalin helped to make them deal with their ADD, and it hurt them later in life since they had no other coping skills.

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98MustGT

Question: Can he play video games for more than 30 seconds?

JStrider

kinda sounds like my cousin... my cousin couldnt ever concentrate for more then 30 seconds or a minute and his grades were terrible... in 8th grade instead of putting him on ritalin they signed him up for soccer...

the difference has been amazing... hes got a 4.0 in highschool now... on the varsity wrestling and track teams... its amazing how much of a difference just the large amounts of physical activity have calmed him down....

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MSD

Just because he can doesn't mean he doesn't have ADD. A child with the disorder can focus on subjects of interest intently, almost to the point that it seems compulsive. The problem is that anything the child (or adult) doesn't find interesting can and will quickly be put aside as the mind wanders and finds a subject of more interest.

The Phenomenon

I have a friend who was on ritalin when he was still in school, and it created more problems for him.

Because of ritalin he has a SERIOUS stutter, and it takes him in excess of 2 minutes sometime to just say hello.
\
I would NOT recommend it.

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dj_simo

I have ADD and ADHD and can speak from experience. Ritalin is really a bad drug for kids with ADD and/or ADHD because it really does nothing for them. In the cases I have seen, ritalin has only caused major problems for the child. He/she has problems with sitting still, the effects of the ADD/ADHD have been increased, their are mental and physical effects resulting in heart problems and sanity problems. Ritalin is really not worth it. If your child has ADD/ADHD, I would suggest staying away from sugar as this becomes a cause for problem behavior. I hope my information has helped.
-John

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