Welcome Justamom! I'm sorry for the long road you've traveled. I find the comments about not medicating just to make the excel academically a bit puzzling. Is excelling academically a bad thing? An unworthy goal? Am I missing something here? What if you had a kid that was failing w/ ADHD. And you could medicate that kid such that the kid was performing on grade level and thus had a better shot at an education and a better start in life...would they ask the same question ie: Are you medicating him just to make him excel academically? A friend medicated her DD who was struggling w/ reading and thus had low self-esteem. Her reading took off, jumped grade levels, self-esteem rose - isn't the purpose of going to school learning to read and getting an education?
To me it's like having a kid w/ asthma who is breathing w/ 50% efficiency. OH well, you're breathing at 50% efficiency, we don't want to medicate him just so he can breathe w/ 100% efficiency and is able to lead a normal life and play sports. 50% is good enough. I've read so many articles about the US's love affair w/ mediocrity and I think it's laughable, but sometimes I have to wonder if they are right.
sorry...I'll get off the soapbox now.
