re: Parents of the OT - how do you feel about ADD meds for pre-teens?

Simple test. If your child takes speed and it calms him? He needed the med. if he just gets amped and focused? It may not be ADD. He just performs better on amphetamines. Everybody does.

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What say the OT about putting pre-teens on ADD type meds?

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I understand that this is new territory for you but there are much better resources to reach out to for opinions. Call your Dr for child psychiatrist referrals and spend 10 minutes on google looking for support groups to see stories from those with real experience.

Here, you will be flooded with responses from individuals that have very little experience with this condition and/or children at all. Taking advice on something like this from people like that is like taking financial advice from a homeless person.

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Nope. Despises recreational reading.

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Found a goodsized problem. Try to get them interested in some fiction from an author who is a good storyteller, and is easy to read. Their comprehension will soar. Loving reading is key to comprehension.

My "credentials" for what they're worth are; I was reading by 3, was post college reading level by 4th grade, and had a perfect score on the ACT in reading comprehension.

Plus, I have ADHD.

I dont think your kid necessarily needs meds, I think they are just going through the motions when reading.

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But there are definitely people out there that need and GREATLY benefit from the meds.

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I acknowledged that.

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11 year old struggles to structure sentences, that means he needs amphetamines.

Incredible.

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I'm actually mostly against these meds (and especially for my child), but the EX is pushing it. Our child is an average student and makes pretty decent grades - except in Reading class.

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ADHD is a real thing and for kids that truly need meds it helps a lot. Problem is 75% of kids on the meds probably are not truly ADHD. You need to judge your kid for yourself without outside influence pro or con and you'll know if he would benefit or not.

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I agree with this.

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I'm actually mostly against these meds (and especially for my child), but the EX is pushing it. Our child is an average student and makes pretty decent grades - except in Reading class.

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And there you go. There's actually better advice in this thread than most like this and look which response got to you? I was where you were at one time. Let go of your preconceived judgments. They're based on nothing real. Get educated and trust good Dr's.

I had the best 3 semesters of my educational career on add medication.

I tried Adderall, Concerta, etc...

Sophomore and first semester junior year of high school.

Best grades of my life.

I was also completely and totally a different person. I was never hungry and basically a zombie. I had no social desires and no practical thinking skills. I couldn't do anything creative. And I was just going through the motions everyday. I hated every single day of it.

I hate those fricking drugs with a passion. There are a very very small minority of people who actually need them. It's one of the most overdiagnosed problematic issues in this country for kids.

If I had stayed on them I have no doubt I'd have had better grades with the ability to regurgitate textbooks, but I would have develop no logical and critical thinking skills. Just rote memorization and instruction following. That's doesn't help you in the real world.

I instead learned how to deal with my attention problems and channel them into productivity.

Most kids aged 13-20 don't have fully developed brains and are still figuring out life and how to deal with things.

Jamming medications into their system to stunt that learning curve and force concentration is not a good thing imho, fwiw.

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It could be more like dyslexia, dyspraxia, etc. and needs therapy instead

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this is what I saw.

I wasn't diagnosed with ADHD until I was in my 40s. I was just the weird kid. I didn't take meds and made straight A in HS/College/Grad School. Although I really struggled in middle school.

I would definitely try alternatives first, like tutoring. First grade teacher tried to push me to put my daughter on them for behavioral issues. We went to Counseling instead and it worked wonders. I have two friends who put their young sons on them. One died at age 20 of a drug overdose and the other one who is now in his 30's has been in drug rehab several times. I would prefer to teach kids that sometimes there are alternatives to dealing with issues in life, other than with a drug or drugs. Just my opinion.