Is Ritalin working well? On the fence.

Ritalin worked well when we had my son on it. He is at a stage now where he is off all meds all together. It helped him to focus better and to stay on task better. None of the garbage you are reading here is true. Meds are fine and safe.

My grandson (6) took it for school only and it made the biggest difference in the world. He’s been to many specialists and babysitters have refused from when he could only crawl! He was kicked out of a good day care centre at 2 and a half. In the next day care centre he was reevaluated every month as to whether they would keep him or not until he was 4. A behaviour specialist would go in different times and give suggestions on special ways of dealing with him. He had big time trouble in pre kindergarden, but once kindergarden came and we were told in October that he would fail if he continued as he did (he spent most of his time in the office). He only takes it in the morning and at lunch time, not week ends or holidays. If there is nothing structured going on there is no difference. But his teacher had tears in her eyes the first day he was on it. Totally focussed!!!! I was always totally against it but I feel when it comes to their education you have no choice.

My son started taking Ritalin as a 1st grader. He had been asked to leave a couple of daycares in his early years and had a terrible year of Kindergarden. It was my stubborness which held off on putting him on anything. I hate to think that I robbed him of a pleasant beginning of school. He started high school this week with a load of Honors and Gifted classes. Soon after he started the Ritalin, there was drastic improvement. He went through some tough times because of others knowing he was taking something daily and they chose to make fun of him. I also found out that in 4th grade, they were coming on the intercom and informing him that it was “time to come take his medication”. That stopped as soon as I heard of it.
He switched to Adderall last week. This was mainly so he would be able to skip taking a dose during school. He is doing great so far. He is heavily involved in Kung Fu and is wanting to join the Debate Team. I’m inspired by him and finally went to the Dr. and talked about myself. I’m trying Adderall for myself, though I am planning on asking the Dr. to allow me to give Concerta a try.

I was strongly against putting him on medications, but now I only regret that I didn’t do it sooner. I do wish that I could have had a one dose a day for him back then, but I don’t even know if it was available. I’ve been a single parent since he was 4 and I hate thinking what our world would have been like without the help.

My 12 year old son (ADHD-inattentive) has been on Ritalin or Metadate CD since 3rd grade with great results. On meds, he is able to focus and do well in school.

As always, remember that every child re-acts differently to meds, and always check with your doctor.

My son takes Adderall XR and it works very well for him. He has really has no side effects beyond a mild reduction in appetite. My son is gifted and has learning disabilities in addition to his ADHD. We were lucky that his LD and giftedness were identified in first grade, which resulted in him being placed in a special class for gt/ld children in second grade. There he received much one-on-one instruction, support and remediation in his areas of weakness and challenge in his areas of strength. It was a good placement (generally only 8 kids in his class) with good teachers. Yet, he did not progress.

When he was reevaluated at 10, his suspected ADHD was confirmed and he began taking medication. By the end of the school year he had made amazing progress. The medication was what made it possible for his LDs to really be addressed and his giftedness to be really fostered. By fifth grade he was a straight A student, still in gt/ld classes. Last year, in 6th grade, I sent him to a private school for gifted children, where he also made straight As all year.

I had a lot of concerns about using medication. I feared it would supress my child’s vibrant personality. I feared it might have terrible side effects. None of that happened for us. I just posted some information on the parenting LD children board (I should have posted it here) about a some new research on factors that may influence a child’s response to medication. YOu might find it helpful in making your decision.

Andrea