I have been thinking a lot lately about a post that I read awhile back. I am still not sure how to put into words how I feel. I will touch on it a little tonight...
Let me start by touching on what the post was about, it was about parents putting their children on medication for ADHD and ADD. As many of my close friends know, Tom and I have been living with a child with ADHD for almost 16 years. Trust me when I say that we did not come to the decision to put her on medication easily. It was something that we agonized over for a while. We tried behavior modification, we tried so many different things but nothing worked. So we made the decision to put her on medication and I am glad we did. I really do not understand where the stigma comes from. Why do people assume that children who live with this can control it? It is no different than a child living with diabetes or any other disorder that requires medication. Would you look down on parents or criticize them for giving their child insulin? Of course not, you would stand by that parent and help them in any way possible. So why is Adderall so different. Some may say, well a child can not die if they do not get Adderall but if you deny them insulin they will. My answer to that is, have you seen or been around a child that has ADHD and not had their medication? Well I have, and I tell you it is not fun or something that the child can control. I have seen the frustration in my child's eyes when she tells me,"mom I don't know what is going on, it is like I am watching myself but can not control it or stop", it breaks my heart and unless you are a parent that deals with this you have no idea what it is like.
This leads me to my next point. If you have not dealt with a child that lives with ADHD or ADD then what gives you the authority to say anything about it. Yes,I know everyone is entitled to their opinion but they do not have the right to criticize something they have no idea about. For some reason the first argument they run to is putting your child on medication will turn them into a zombie well I am here to tell you my child is anything but a zombie. And the next thing I hear is that parents just don't want to deal with their child so they run to medication to keep them quiet and out of their hair. Again, anyone who knows me and any one else that lives with a child with ADHD knows that just the opposite is true. I love my child and love to spent time with her, if I did not love her I would just let it go and chalk her behavior up to just her being uncontrollable and leave it at that. But I love her too much to give up on her, you as a parent know when their is more going on than just a child being difficult and just as any good parent with a child who lives with diabetes you look for the solution and get your child whatever help they need to be a productive adult.
Like I said at the beginning, I have alot to say about this and I could probably keep going but I am going to leave it at that for now. I am sure I will post more on this in the future because after all this is my life and I am dealing with this on a daily basis and I would not trade it for anythig else!!!
