RE: Re: adhd
BY: Zaynab Richmond to Chris Gilliland on Sun Sep 29 1996 18:47:06
 >  CG> Here our school system seems OVEReager to medicate!  :(
 > 
 > I am just wondering, how does the /school system/ do this?  Do they have
 > a doctor on staff?  Do they write letters to the children's doctors, or
 > what?  Here, the school system has /nothing/ to do with a decision to
 > medicate.  Even with Cimeron's very obvious hyperactivity problems, not
 > one school teacher or administrator has ever asked me to get medication
 > for her.  Yet, I hear people in other states saying things like this
 > all the time.  Please, tell me, what is going on out there??
While the school system itself doesn't prescribe meds, they do strongly 
suggest
examination if they suspect ADHD. With my daughter, once she was on the
prescription, if I ran out or just didn't give it to her that day, they would
send her home and tell me to bring her back when she had her meds. The
medication (ritilin at first, then changed to dexadrine) was causing her to
lose weight she didn't have to lose, so I gave it to her as little as 
ossible
- never on days off from school except for occasions like church.
It was their insistance on her being medicated coupled with the fact that the
teacher, good as she was, didn't have time to devote to her individually 
hile
teaching the other 30 or so kids that led me to the decision to homeschool.
 >  CG> Also, while we're on the subject, do parents find it necessary to put
 >  CG> a homeschooled child on meds.?
 > Never heard of it...
I do occasionally, but not often...usually just for church or similar
situations where she needs a little help. Generally, we just deal with the
behavior doing things like refocussing her on the rest of the problem she
started to work on. A timer works wonders. For instance, I set it for five
minutes and tell her she has to finish 3 math problems before it goes off.
The goal is to keep her sitting and working on it.
Sometimes, I think that a straight-jacket and duct tape would work better 
han
meds anyhow ;) (j/k...I think)
                                  ...peace...
                                  Alinda Sue...
--- Skyhawk's Nightmare
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