Medication in childhood.

Caro57 - "society wants to ‘pop a pill’"

From my experience of speaking to parents, I'd say it's more parents that want to pop pills into their children. I have lost count of the number of parents I've spoken to through my work, who have said "I am finding it difficult to manage his/her behaviours, he/she is out of control." So we offer parenting support/ courses to help manage behaviours or implement strategies, and they come back with a myriad of excuses as to why they can't do that, and say "I think he/she needs medication".

The parents who say "my child is autistic/has ADHD" is probably 75% of my contacts. And of those, they are "diagnosed" by the parents themselves - no official diagnoses. Parents do seem to think that bad behaviour by a child is just down to "xyz condition".

As a side note, I saw a feature on the BBC news this morning, about SEND children. I am unsure as to what the D stands for. I thought SEND was the Department that deal with S(pecial) E(ducational) N(eeds) children. So the children are SEN. Is there another "D" word being used to describe the children? Or are the BBC misusing the acronym?

Pippa22 unfortunately one of my AC tells me that parents still don't want their children diagnosed, this means schools can't get the necessary funding for them to be helped.

I think that opinions have changed. Years ago parents did not want their child diagnosed and did whatever necessary to help them to cope with the world. Only the most severely affected received additional support at school and this generally worked. Now parents fight for a diagnosis and all the help that goes with it which can be considerable. I realise that I now need to duck behind the settee but this is my experience and my own opinion. There are huge numbers of affected children, some families with more than one child. Maybe, just maybe different home management could partially be the answer.

I have a son with dyspraxia. When I discussed the observed 'difficulties' of my toddler with my GP I was rebuked and clearly remember the words 'Mother, does he eat well, sleep well and do his bowels move regularly?' 'Yes'. 'Then STOP fussing!' When he was 8 I eventually achieved a specialist appointment. What did he say to me? 'Mother WHY did you not bring this child to me much sooner?. I ask you?! I still feel guilt toward my child and frustration with those in the NHS who let him down. I have a few reasons to be grateful to the service but they're certainly not perfect.

M0nica I am currently employed, as a teacher, working 1:1 with a child who has a diagnosis of autism and ADHD. Nowhere did I suggest that a child with ADHD might be any different in cognitive ability from any other child. In my experience children with ADHD are no different in their range of ability from children without ADHD. Some are v able some are not!
I was trying to point out that children with SEND have always been amongst us but were often harshly treated or ignored. Children with SEND, that would once have been hived of to an " institution" are now in schools alongside non SEND peers.

It seems that, for most things medical, society wants to ‘pop a pill’ as it’s perceived as the quick and easy option rather than seeking other methods of management. Instant gratification rules in so many situations

Autism was a known condition in the 70s as I worked in a residential children's home with autistic children.

Sorry Monica I got that wrong in my ignorance I thought these were all part and parcel just different ways, different levels some having more of one symptom (if that’s the right word probable not) than another but you are right I was leaving the H off
You are quite right with the second point I was I suppose trying to point out the positives I am very, very aware (personal situation) of the awful misunderstanding and inability to accept anyone who isn’t completely and utterly ‘fitting in’ and the horrendous difficulties they can face

Bluebelle, I am sorry to disagree with you but yes it does. ADHD stands for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity disorder. The hyperactivity is physical. Some children suffer from ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) and that is what you refer to. I have all the problems that go with easy distraction, difficulty concentrating, but also hyper-concentration. In addition, my body is always on the move - still.

life can be exciting and different and full on indeed never boring never dull It can be, but it can also be difficult, you can lack friends and life can be completely incomprehensible and lonely. However, once they can get away from needing to be the same as everyone else needing to be a well behaved clone. This is one thing that has never worried me. I realised very young that I didn't 'fit' with other people and just accepted it. However I really resented being told I ought to conform or didn't do so 'just to be difficult'. I couldn't understand why I wasn't accepted for what I was and why everyone was always trying to change me.

ADHD doesn’t always make a child fidgety or on the go sometimes it is just the mind that is constantly figeting, everything however small attracts their attention a small noise on the other side of the classroom a bird flying past the window another child whispering a row away can all capture their attention and give the teacher the reason to shout at them to concentrate Modern schools ways don’t help at all instead of one teacher going to 30 kids as we had now 30 kids have to traipse round the school to go to one teacher half a dozen times a day, no wonder they take five ten minutes to settle, the move has revved everything up
We had nice desks to keep our books in but no these kids have to cart half a suitcase round on their backs Things can be heightened, a crushed up piece of paper can sound like a miniature thunderstorm, someone chewing a sweet can sound like a hundred tree beetles Things are not organised in the brain as it’s constantly being taken in different directions so it takes habit and years of hard work teaching to be organised and to know where all your things are but life can be exciting and different and full on indeed never boring never dull once they can get away from needing to be the same as everyone else needing to be a well behaved clone Many successful people have ADHD or aspergers/autism After all aren’t we all on the line somewhere

PECS Children with ADHD are not, by definition slow learners. Many of them have IQs well above average. But like all quick learners they get bored easily and then get disruptive, because with their minds only half active their bodies take over and they play around, become the class clown etc.

SAs a child I was 'fidgety Phil, who can't sit still.' I was in hospital for some months when I was 7 and by the end of the three months I was in a tall high sided cot, to try to stop me forever getting out of bed and wandering round. I was out of that as well. My medical problem did not require me to be in bed and with little or nothing to occupy me. I could not sit or lie anywhere for a few minutes without needing to get up and move round. My family say nothing has changed.

My daughter has struggled for years to get a diagnosis for my grandchildren. Grandsons 1 and 3 have just recently had medication for their ADHD. Grandson 1 is 10 years old, the teachers at his last school didn't know how to teach him, or deal with his frustrated outbursts. Since having the medicine he is able to focus, and concentrate on work. He's less distracted and learning much more. The tablets he takes are effective for 8 hours after which he is his usual hyper self!?

Combined with punitive parents and vile teachers,it's a wonder I survived.

I, and I guess others on here, have seen the positive difference medication can make to a child correctly diagnosed with ADHD. Medication will not help if the child does not have ADHD.

In the past , as the wonderful Victoria Wood once wrote

"special needs? ... when I was at school, they sat at the back of the class with some raffia."

I remember primary kids in my school getting whacked regularly for not being ale to do the work. We all knew who the less academically able and the 'naughty' kids were. I think we all look back with blinkers sometimes.

Also think that there maybe environmental issues that have increased some conditions. Add to that better understanding and diagnosis.

In addition there are a few less effective parents who try to use a 'diagnosis' as a reason to excuse their ineffective parenting.

oldbatty that is me! I was not diagnosed until I was in my 40s because it was only then starting to be recognised as a specific disorder.

I was seeking help for my son, who was first diagnosed with what was then called 'Organised Body Syndrome' or some such, before it became Dyspraxia. I commented to the therapist that I had most of the problems DS had, she commented, 'I had noticed', so I was then assessed. Both of us were given very specific exercises to address our problems, and although these couldn't resolve our problems completely, they certainly gave some measure of help with specific problems

I am absolutely certain I was/am dyspraxic. I couldn't catch a ball at all ever, constantly dropped things and lost things, terrible fine motor skills and organisation was awful.

Monica that’s wonderful to hear, my sentiments entirely but so many people disagree and use medication as first line They are not nice drugs so much better to teach the child and parents how to manage and keep their own wonderful characters

A diagnosis can be and usually is extremely helpful. Medication may be needed in some situations but as MOnica says, help for the child and her carers is the key thing.

I would add that, despite what so many people say, I would be very uneasy about having a child permanently medicated for a condition like this. I think it far better to seek coping and management techniques for these conditions.

Well, as someone who has dyspraxia and probably ADHD, I can tell you it was no fun being a child in the 1950s and just being seen as an awkward and difficult child who always chose to be different from everybody else and wouldn't sit still.

We were around alright, and constantly in trouble for things we did not understand.

These disorders were not identified when we or our children were growing up. It has only been since about the late 1980's that autism and Asperger syndrome have been diagnosed.
My grandchildren have Autism, Aspergers and ADHD. There are four of them, and all have individual diagnoses. The two boys with ADHD have just recently been prescribed medication to help them focus. It is helping them no end, as they can now concentrate on their school work.
It's maybe different in the US but for my family it has been very beneficial.