That video raises a bunch of separate issues. I do agree with most of what he says. It does resonate with my own experience, and I do try to make the class I teach more like his ideal. Some schools are more encouraging of those endeavors than others.
It used to be my job to set up monthly psychiatrist appointments at a remote school when kids couldn't get medication otherwise. When it comes to ADHD and medication, I feel like I've seen it all at this point.
I've known kids that functioned so well on medication that their teachers were surprised to find out they had a disability. I've seen a girl whose mother took her off medication over Christmas, and nobody noticed. I've seen a kid write in his journal that he gets angry easily and has trouble paying attention, and seen him much calmer and happier--not zombie-like--when his medication was adjusted. I knew a kid who had been exposed to cocaine in the womb who seemed to be a zombie on medication and was reportedly uncontrollable without. And I've found out kids were on medication that the parents didn't tell the school anything about. They certainly aren't required to do so.
I also know a couple of adults with severe ADHD (one used to sprinkle pepper on other people's jello in the college dining hall and once knocked me out of my chair) who were medicated as children and grew up to become significantly more successful than me!
