Experts are suggesting putting kids with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder on drugs early in order to improve their academic performance, especially in math.
How early? Some say as it could benefit kids as young as six.
According to research published in a recent issue of Pediatrics, giving younger kids with ADHD stimulant medications can improve their grades and test scores.
A study of 12,000 students out of Iceland concluded that getting kids with ADHD started on drugs like Ritalin and Adderoll earlier were less likely to see their grades fall between the fourth and seventh grades.
Interestingly, Iceland has a national database that records all outpatient prescriptions, helping researchers to see which kids were prescribed medications to treat ADHD and at what age they began drug treatment, according to WebMD.
Girls with ADHD who were treated at a young age, showed a more marked improvement than their male counterparts.
“Performance of kids with ADHD tends to decline over time, especially if medication is delayed,” said Helga Zoega, an epidemiologist at the Institute for Translational Epidemiology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, and lead author of the study told ABC News. “Starting medication earlier may halt this decline.”
A majority of kids are diagnosed with ADHD by age 7, she said.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recently broadened its age guidelines for ADHD to children as young as four years-old.
The Acedemy recommends treating children ages four to five with behavior therapy before resorting to drug treatment.
“Most families come to medication as a last resort,” Ruth Hughes, chief executive officer of the nonprofit Children and Adults with Attention- Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, or CHADD told Bloomberg News in October.
(Source: NY Daily News)
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8 Responses
It’s good to get kids into drugs at an early age. Traditionally Jewish kids were into learning instead, but this is the modern age and people have to get used to relying on various “substances” – otherwise they’ll think we are old fashioned. It’s hard to turn someone into a pill popper if you wait until he’s in college.
Probably giving them more attention and repetitive activities such as counting, sorting, and block building would also help them approve their ability without taking the drugs. More early intervention on the part of parents and less out of the home child rearing, technology babysitting, and sedentary activity would probably also give such children better outlets for their hyper activity and less need for medication. More activity in a child’s lifestyle will lead to a healthier child.
My son has been on ADHD medication for a few years now. It has been a life saver. He can concentrate in class, and can achieve far more than when he is not on the medication. His self esteem has also improved because he realizes that he is just as smart as the other children. He no longer calls himself “stupid” or “sped”.
If your child needs Ritalin (or the equivalent), do not be put off by self-righteous fools who talk about “pill popping” or who criticize your parenting. If your child had ADD/ADHD, you will be harming him if you don’t properly medicate him.
I wish my son had started on Ritalin at age 6.
I have a friend who’s child was on Ritalin for years. they couldn’t stop praising the “Pill”. That was until the child became a teen and the negative effects kick in. The teen went into a depression….
Candy taste good until the teeth fall out. taking pills may help in the short run, but in the long run it may have many side and negative effects that are difficult to get rid of.
You can win the battle but loose the war. Be Careful!!!
Of course one should always be aware of side effects with any medication. The side effects that we have observed with ADHD medication are loss of appetite and difficulty falling asleep. He is now a teenager, and b”H he is thriving mentally, emotionally, and physically – at least in part due to ADD medication.
We manage his apetite by not giving our son medication on non-school days. His physician also monitors his weight.
We manage the sleep problem by giving the medication (time release in our case) first thing in the morning so that it wears off by bedtime.
Do not let the scaremongers stop you from helping your child reach his/her potential.
Well put!
@Y2R Ditto for management on medication. @aries-For those who don’t have a child with ADHD and have advice about how to handle it: In a perfect world, where every teacher could tolerate ADHD behaviors with limitless patience, and parents could stay home more, and therapists would take insurance (many don’t)so the children could work on their coping skills, social skills and impulsivity, then perhaps a child would succeed without medication. But what system is currently geared toward producing the success of a child with these attributes? Our currrent society rarely allows these behaviors any tolerance. Bottom line is that these children need to succeed in the reality we live in -school, learning, jobs. Medicine does help them do that and helps them to feel good about themselves when they are able to do well. The side effects are a trade off and the children are definately aware of that.Cognitive Behavioral therapy along with the medication helps for those that can access this service. It’s true that technology babysitting doesn’t improve symptoms(not good for all children regardless). With ADHD it’s just worse because of an propensity to focus on it to exclusion of all else. As to “home-rearing”:many parents today are not in a position to be stay at home moms and dads. Exercise: All of our children need it and would benefit. How many kids do you know that are overweight and heading to a trajectory of adult onset diabetes in childhood? Clearly, we can all benefit from a less sedentary lifestyle and the only question is, how does one fit it into the rigorous schedule our children engaged in?
Every parent dealing with ADHD has thought through the decision repeatedly before and during the child was taking medication. It’s not the default whatever you may think. It’s very difficult to see a child experience any side effects and every parent needs to weigh the risk to benefit ratio to determine what they think is best for the particular child. May Hashem help us to help our children succeed.
its nice everyone is posting their opinions.
im AGAINST EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM.
the fact is as someone who was on ritalin, addherall.. and onwards
its an excuse for the parent to avoid parenting and to worship the pills effects as opposed to really getting to know and engaging your childs strengths weaknesses quirks, and idiosyncrasies.
your child is a behavioral machine who the quintissential question is did you take your pill today or did you not? thats what matters towards academic and behavioral success.
the child himself starts to be confused who am i? what my parents are telling me by weighing the day i had with the pill taking, is that person who i was today is not real. the thoughts i have are not valid. the feelings that i feel or have felt today are not legitimate unless i popped a pill.
how can that be?
should i identify myself as truly a potential successful human being or am i supposed to be a pill taker in order to function truly.
am i capable of being in control of my own choices and my own ideas. or is the voices of my parents telling me did you take the pill? your behavior and class participation would have been better if you had taken the pill today.
when there are people who need medication in order to psychologically survive. – psychosis, extreme scitzophrenia, manic depression. raging bipolar.
instead you take a perfectly normal kid and make him afraid and question and invalidate himself when truly he is just as qualified to use successes and failures as a way to succeed at life and building his future.
i wish upon you all some degree of honest to g-d shame.
blessings.