A:
It has been well-established through hundreds
of studies that the most effective treatment for children over
4 with ADHD is a combination of medication and behavioral therapy.
There are some children who don't have symptoms severe enough
to warrant medication and can get by on behavior modification
alone, but for children with the more serious condition, medical
management is needed. As one parent stated: "If your son
had diabetes, you would give him daily medication without giving
it a second thought. ADHD is a medical issue, not a moral or social
judgment." As another parent explained: "Without their
medication, my children would have been verbally and physically
abusive, subject to hours-long tantrums, distracted by air, hyper
to the point they seem manic. Who can learn like that? And not
just ABCs, but who can learn to attach, to feel empathy, to love,
if your mental system is in such chaos? And when the medication
or therapy or parenting strategy or diet works and you see the
child you love behave like the child you love -- with all their
wit, love, impishness, creativity, and energy but without the
anger, frustration, confusion, and self-hatred -- well, then you're
just very grateful to have your child back and you will believe
in whatever it was that brought them back to you!"
Here is another example of a positive experience with medical
management of ADHD, reported by the parent of an internationally
adopted child: "On the advice of my school and my youngest
son's pediatrician, I waited a year before we made a positive
diagnosis of ADHD and put him on Concerta. Since then, the change
in his behavior and progress in school has been dramatic. He used
to get time outs in school everyday and would often get into fights
on the playground. He is now proud to tell me every day that he
is behaving himself and is doing his school work. He has always
been a very sweet kid, but the change in his self esteem has been
wonderful to behold. I notice less of a change at home, in part
because the medication is worn off before I get home in the evening
and because there are less severe demands on him at home. Still,
it is nice not to have to start each evening talking about what
bad things happened in school and be able to concentrate instead
on what he learned."
Medication doesn't cure ADHD, and as many people have said, "pills
don't teach skills." Stimulant medications shouldn't be used
as an alternative to teaching a child how to behave and learn
in the classroom.
