I'm not against it wholesale. I am sure there are cases where it is legitimate. I think there are also cases where it could be avoided. I read somewhere recently that kids who are the youngest in their grade are far more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD. This tells me that it is being overdiagnosed in cases where it is just a  matter of maturity. If it were my child, I would try other things before medication. We have the luxury of homeschooling so we have a lot more flexibility in that. I know one family that would make their son move a pile of bricks from one side of the yard to  the other every day before he did math. An hour of physical activity settled him down for half an hour of seat work. My own 6yo has problems sitting still. If we play a board game his top half is at the table and his legs are dancing underneath. I think he also has problems with auditory processing. It seems like it takes him longer to understand what you are saying than my other kids. In a noisy environment he is hopeless. Because we hoemschool, he has not been diagnosed with anything but I wonder if they would if he were in school.  

I'm against it.  Stimulants haven't been adequately tested in kids long-term.  We don't even understand how they work- the mechanism of action is contrary to that in adults for no known reason.  (Stimulants speed up adults, but slow down kids).  I do not have any kids who have been diagnosed with ADHD, but then I personally wouldn't take my child to be evaluated.  (My oldest son probably would be diagnosed with Asperger's if I had him tested.) I have a couple of kids who at times have manifested most of the DSM-IV guidelines for ADHD.  Most kids do at one time or another.  I do believe ADHD can be a problem for some kids, but would rather see parents pursue other options such as routine, exercise, sleep, training, bio-feedback, etc. 

I taught a class on children's health that was required at the local university for all teacher's to take.  I have quite a collection of peer reviewed articles on ADHD and ADHD treatment.  I have also taught pharmacotherapeutics and am familiar with the class of drugs used to treat ADHD.

I would strongly caution parents against medicating their kids for ADHD, but I understand that the public school system puts a tremendous amount of pressure on the parents.

Celee

So glad this question was asked today and not 2 years ago. I am okay with medication BUT and a big BUT I think there is a lot that can be done before and during medicine. Alot is harder to do in a traditional classroom. I do not think people know that if you can do things like having them chew gum or set on a excercise ball or running laps several times a day or doing school at noon instead of 7am are all options. when my son went to kindergarden (his only year in school). his teacher was determined he was ADHD. So I had him tested. the counselor and myself all said he did not have it, the teacher evidentually came back and said he did not. I think some times we forget they are children and need to be active. I guess my final thoughts are I am pro and con for medicine

I am really against it.  So much can be done with diet, activity, and supplements.  Vit b6 can work just as effectively as riddilan.  Because I work in the area of nutritional supplements and study on a CCN I am able to see studies and meet drs that feel the same way.  Just recently I was speaking with a psychotherapist and he said he really doesn't like having children on meds.  The half life of them is about 6 months and then you are having to up the dose or find something else.  Removing things from the diets such as hfcs and nitrites can be huge in behaviour as well as sometimes taking dairy out.

A friend of mine that used to work in the schools before she got her kids said it would upset her so much when they would send an eval form for a kid to her for add/adhd and then never follow up with her to see how they were doing later.

Another friend of mine, her son is on meds for adhd b/c he can't sit still.  In my honest oppinion a lot of his problem could be corrected through parenting, there isn't any going on in the home.  He is pretty much allowed to do what he wants, including not coming to the table for supper.  My cousins little girl was diagnosed and put on meds at the age of 6!

Our society wants kids to sit down and be quiet.  Not all children can do that right away, the need to be taught.  A great book/dvd called How am I Smart goes through the different smarts there are.  One of them is called body smart.  A body smart person can think better if he/she is moving, tapping fingers, wiggling legs, ect.  If we learn how to work with the different types of smarts we could eliminate drugs.  Unfortunately the school settings aren't geared for that.  My boys would never survive in a traditional school setting.

My 2nd child we think has aspergers, we have not had him diagnosed b/c we are not sure that's really neccessary at this point.  We have learned how to work with him and a label isn't going to change anything so why do it.

Also when you use meds it makes the need for nutrition that much higher.  Most of the times the medication interfers with nutrition, which inturn makes the problem worse.  Plus then you have to deal with all the side effects. 

I am not saying it is never needed, but most of the time I think it is over used and add/adhd is really over diagnosed.