Medication in childhood.

Easier for parents to stick a medical self diagnosis on their child that to say that the child is badly handled, spoilt, ignored. Being a good parent is bloody hard work, needs a lot of time spent on caring and talking to little ones and older ones too. Lots of contact and enjoying the children’s company. Sadly a lot of babies and children do not have loving interaction from parents and some parents are too selfish or not grown up enough emotionally themselves to be able to nurture. If you disagree with me, spend a few minutes in any town centre looking at parents with their children and it is easily to spot the parents whose children might well have problems in the future. Many really brilliant parents too and sometimes I approach them and say so.

I worked with my first dyslexic pupil in 1973, his parents worked so hard to get him a diagnosis - real caring parents. Same 30yrs later I remember teaching a lad whose parents went to a London clinic to try out latest research ideas; ditto an autistic lad in mainstream who's about 20 now, who made amazing progress. So why are parents being blamed?

Hopefully64. There is far more to hyperactivity that simply wearing a child out. Hyperactive children can never stay still, for even a second. They are wriggling, jiggling, hopping up and down, just twiddling there fingers, but never still.

My ADHD is mild but despite being an active person. I still wriggle and jiggle when sitting or keep getting up, often to no purpose. My family comment on it to this day. As I write this I am gently swinging my knees from side to side. yet I have just come in after an hour and a half raking leaves and putting them into sacks

I think it there is a bit of over-prescription nowadays, however my brother, born in 1945, had autism and his life (and my parents) was pure hell. Personally, I suffered with chronic depression and attempted suicide 3 times, but with the advent of Prozac I have been settled and able to work through bad times since 1987. It is a case of finding out what the problem is and hoping science has been able to find a way of dealing with it, be it meds or other therapies. I would probably be great without the meds if I had a therapist on tap 24/7.

I do wonder how much it costs to provide 1:1 teaching for these children in mainstream school. It seems a very expensive way to educate one child.

While low functioning forms of autism have been recognised for many decades - high functioning autism and Aspergers syndrome was not recognised before the 1980s. It is also clear that in previous generations MH issues were not spoken about because of the shame involved - until the 1950s/60s there were few medications available and MH problems were dealt with in the asylum unless there was money for private treatment. In addition - in the UK - children with developmental delays and conditions were not entitled to an education until the 1970s - most were admitted to homes unless the family were able to look after them at home 24/7.

I had an elder brother who these days would have been diagnosed with AS and ADHD. He was very academically bright but struggled enormously in social situations and relationships. In those days there was no understanding or help available and people were written off as "odd" or "loners". He started to self medicate (with alcohol) and died as a result of acute alcohol poisoning at 44.

However these days it would all be different as autism is recognised. My own DD is diagnosed with AS, ADHD and anxiety - when she was younger she took medication between the ages of 8 and 15 to help her concentrate - after that she learned coping strategies.

Today the genetic component of autism is recognised- we now have several family members of the next generation diagnosed with AS in three different countries. All have received help and the two that have left school so far have trained for careers.

I did note that the child in my OP who was taking lots of prescribed meds, was extremely intelligent and spoke (when in a calm phase) in a reasoned adult manner in fact Louis commented that he seemed to think he was superior to everyone, even his mother, a highly qualified woman with a PhD and Masters in various subjects, but unable to work as she needed to be at home when Hugh finished school.
I now understand that she needed him to take meducation so that he could attend school and be less disruptive at home.
There were other children featured too.
Hugh, the 10yr old, was in his element when organising the lighting, sound boom and seating for a mock interview that Louis thought might play to his, Hugh's strengths, as indeed it did. Well worth watching although why the family and their DOG had to be on anxiety medication, heaven knows.
A very insightful programme, as are most of his series.

medi*cation

I’m all for necessary medications to help children with properly diagnosed conditions, but let’s not forget that in America, a heavily medicated patient will almost certainly be much more profitable than one who receives just enough drugs to manage their condition.

It is known that pharmaceutical companies are often reluctant to issue new and effective medications, because a patient who can be cured is less profitable than one who is maintained indefinitely on high doses of less effective drugs.

Thank god for our NHS, still nominally a ‘not for profit’ institution. I hope we can hang on to it for another 70 years!

Not all children are at the extreme far edge of problems like AS, ADHD etc, I can see that the extreme end, may need medication, but most of these children can manage in ordinary classrooms with a little help with management skills.

I have dysparaxia and probably ADHD.I got through school, went to university, had a reasonably successful career, and have been married for 50 years. DS has dysparaxia and probably ADD. He is a senior academic, an expert in his field, appears on tv half a dozen times a year because of this and again is in a long marriage. Fortunately neither of his children has either problem.

At his secondary school, his teachers recognised his problems, although not their cause within days. On the first parents evening, they told us what they did to deal with it. Each teacher was different, one wouldn't let him sit near a window, another asked him something at regular intervals, another wouldn't let him have a book on is desk and so on.

What worries me these days is that while it is great that these problems are recognised, we tend to over react to them. Most people have problems to overcome but we develop the resilience to deal with them, now we are victimising and medicating children instead of enabling them to cope with their problems.

There are a lot of unknowns about the long term effects of drugs like Ritalin on children. It might seem like a magic answer for severe ADHD but tolerance level can be increased.
Google Ritalin long term effects, there are lots of links.

ps M0nica very good post. I agree.

HurdyGurdy The D in SEND is for disability. I work in a SEND department where we have students with various physical disabilities as well as students with SEN - special educational needs. There are schools with only SEN students - I've worked in some previously - but the school I work in now has a 'Physically Impaired' unit as well so we are classed as SEND. Some of our students are SEND, some are just SEN and a few are simply physically disabled with no SEN. I hope that clarifies things.

In my experience, as a former Head of a mainstream school with a specialist provision there was never a clear pattern of parental behaviour. Some parents of children with SEND wanted everything possible provided for their child to the point of over entitlement whereas it was sometimes a struggle to support other parents to accept their child did have a SEND and did need some extra help. And then everyone in between, thankfully the majority, were very reasonable parents giving clear info about their child and listening to all options/advice etc. and working in partnership with school and other people who wanted to help and support. it was their children who often thrived the best.

Many years ago kids were treated more harshly if they played up, parents would give them a belting and the school often would use the cane or in my case the nuns would use a strap across the hands.. which then subdued the kids and they would try and behave so not to get belted etc.. todays younger mothers are too lenient and the school teaches them to stand up for themselves because they are special etc etc the kids now can't take criticism (constructive or otherwise) and with society allowing them to have too much freedom and a good thing the kids have nothing much left to look forward too because they have done it all by the time they are in their early teens.. Bring back the old ways and the kids will soon change..

Oh dear, nothing ever changes. As someone who had two of the problems mentioned in this thread and was at school in the 1950s. I can assure you Allykat that bringing back the old days would not make the children with dyspraxia or ADHD, or dyslexia or any of these problems soon change.

What the methods you advocate did, was make for many unhappy, disorientated and confused children, who would be willing to conform, if they could. I speak from bitter experience.

alleycat thankfully we are better educated these days and understand that specific learning difficulties are not an unwillingness to conform but a difference in a child's (or adult's) make up that prevents them learning and behaving in the usual way. Your suggestions are cruel and show very little understanding of child development. I sincerely hope you were never in charge of my child's education.

parents would give them a belting and the school often would use the cane ..........which then subdued the kids and they would try and behave so not to get belted etc.

Sorry, Alleycat not in my experience. I was rarely smacked at home, but I had the ruler across my hands a number of times at school and the only effect it had on me was to make me more truculent and determined to show that I could not be beaten into submission.

Talking to men of my acquaintance and of similar age, this was an even more common reaction among boys.

Bring back the old ways and the kids will soon change

Allykat would you really bring back belting & strapping to 'subdue' children with special needs - or just spouting hackneyed old sayings?

Bluebelle
You have described my grandson: it's called Sensory Processing Disorder.
My daughter and I had to educate his school in this condition, we also had to pay for his diagnosis.
Unfortunately we could tell by the look on his form teachers face that she thought it was mumbo jumbo
Minimoon
I was very aware of autism in the early 1970's

Allycat
Your not a reincarnation of my old teacher are you? who thought that he could make me understand numbers by hitting round the head so hard that my glasses went flying.
Later that day my mother heard about this, stormed into our class, grabbed hold of his shirt front and whacked him round the head.
We heard some years later that this teacher had gone to prison for assault on a child.

I told my dad how Miss Levi had hit my friend on the head because she did not know the answer. Miss Levi left the school at the end of term. My friend Leila did not.