I hear what you're saying and would be interested in seeing research studies about these permanent brain changes that you're mentioning. But even if that's true, what is a parent to do, other than feel horrible? If I sent DD to school without meds, I think there's a strong possibility she would not pass the third grade, not to mention she would have the teacher "on her case" literally all day (doing what to her self esteem?). Even if we got her a 504, there would still be penalities. Instead of the focus being on her learning, it would be on her behavior and ability to get things done. She would not only not be doing any work, she would be a disciplinary problem. She may very well be one of those kids who just "gives up" and drops out of school in high school--a strong risk factor for kids with ADHD. But as it stands now, with her meds, she's at the top of her class, the teacher loves her, she's a star student. It's that dramatic. On the day that I sent her in without her patch (because I ran out), and only 1 ritalin pill, she started to decline at 10:30 AM. After that, she got no work done and spent half the day poking the kid who sits next to her. When I picked her up, all the teacher could do was drop exhausted into her seat, sigh and shake her head and say "meds." If meds just helped a kid minimally (or there were severe side effects), then I think parents would have reason to question it more. There are definitely pros and cons to weigh but I think sometimes people are so strongly anti-med, fearing that their child will be permanently damaged, that they fail to see how their child is damaged by NOT being medicated. One of my friends has a 6 year old who is gifted but has ADHD. The mother refuses to try medication. But the child needs a para for most of the school day just to keep him from running around yanking cords out of the wall or pushing down other children. He is constantly in trouble. Part of it IS the system, if a teacher has 25 other children to deal with and the only solution is to plop an unruly distracted ADHD kid into a timeout chair, but there has to be a balance and kids need to be able to sit still, do a reasonable amount of work, and listen long enough to learn. There also should be better ways to diagnose a kid and differentiate between those who are just active and immature (the stereotypical unruly boy) and those who do truly have ADHD.
