As a teacher, I need to be open to all points of view. This includes listening to people who are both for and against giving children medication for AD/HD. I don’t like the idea of medication. I’m thankful that, from a legal perspective, I should never recommend medication to parents. And when I’m a father it will be a dark day when I have to make this decision should it come up for my own children.
As far as the world psychiatric community is concerned, AD/HD exists. It’s classified in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), making it just as real as schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s, or OCD. Part of my wariness about AD/HD was that it wasn’t a real disease. But the people who belong to these medical bodies don’t just have doctorate degrees: they are the best and brightest mental-health professionals in our society
Everything I’ve read also indicates that medication is the last resort. Teachers don’t scatter pills on the desk of a student and order them to take a couple. There is a long process of assessment that culminates in a specific recommendation from a trained mental-health professional. The parents then make the final decision. There is evidence that the use of medication has been overprescribed but that doesn’t mean that it should never be prescribed. It just means that we need better assessment policies.
Google searches will reveal a depressing amount of articles touting alternative cures for AD/HD that don't stand up to critical reading. The headlines blare that eating fish, getting coaching, vigorous exercise, and an assortment of other activities would help with AD/HD. I support all of these activities and strongly believe that exercise and healthy eating are crucial components to a happy life. But after careful reading, these articles admit their recommendations will only slightly modify AD/HD symptoms. At the end of the day the kids still need medication
It’s my opinion that medication is a last resort. But it is an option. And it’s certainly better than having the student drop out of school.
Sometimes drugs are the only way. Our brains don’t always produce the chemicals we need. I don’t know any society that doesn’t have pills or herbal remedies that modify the brain’s chemistry to help someone who is sick. I’m sure that anyone who’s been through surgery was very pleased to have been given anaesthesia. It doesn’t really matter if its synthesized morphine or a salve made directly from a poppy.
AD/HD is a controversial subject. But unlike some of our other present-day moral tetherballs (abortion, creationism, euthanasia, same-sex marriages) this controversy is about interpreting scientific findings. This is not a debate where faith enters into the picture. A knee-jerk reaction against medication won’t help anyone.
The American Academy of Paediatrics recommends use of stimulant medication and behaviour therapy, but simultaneously recommends close monitoring of treatment outcomes and failures. The position of the Canadian Paediatric Society is that “the use of stimulant medication is quite safe, with severe medical side effects being very rare.” The Canadian Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Resource Alliance recommends medication as “a vital step in the treatment of ADHD”. In fact, there isn’t a professional body anywhere in the world that I could find that didn’t recommend medication as part of a multi-modal treatment.
The success rate for students who are given medication and are subsequently monitored is 90%. There is no other treatment that comes close. I think every good teacher wants to find a cure-all for AD/HD that will eliminate a daily pill.
But we don’t have that yet.