To think son’s school should be making special allowances for his ADHD

Yes this is the difference, if OP's son was having side effects then that would be a different kettle of fish, he just doesn't want to take them.

Not everyone has problematic side effects with the medication.

The OP has not suggested her child has issues with side-effects.

Some children want/need breaks, others do not. DD is seeing her psychiatrist on Thursday and is asking him if she could stop having breaks as she is so much happier and more herself on them than off them.

We have found long breaks in school holidays are not a good idea for DD as when she starts them again she has to deal with the rebound issues in the evenings for a few weeks,

Some medications (especially non stimulant) for ADHD absolutely do need to be taken every day as it's dangerous not to.

If you choose not to take the medication and there are consequences as a result then you need to find other strategies to manage those.

It all comes down to what you personally find works for you and means you can function in your normal life.

Nobody is saying hold the child down and force feed him with them. But if it's a case of 'I just don't fancy it', or the struggle is accepting the diagnosis then that is when the parent needs to step in and make the call and help them deal with their feelings around the diagnosis and life on or off medication.

And stimulants are not anything like MDMA - they're more like amphetamines, a completely different family of drugs.

What people are basically arguing here is - hold down a child (who is scared and upset about a recent diagnosis ) and force him to take a stimulant medicine which does have huge side effects. Just so his hand writing is a bit neater and he fidgets less..

No it is in no way the same as a life saving cancer drug or a diabetes drug.

Many people choose not to take ADHD medication.

Many, many teens and adults I know are proud to have ADHD, so yes to finding and sharing with him inspiring talks, and treating it as a unique and potentially exciting element of his personality rather than something to be ashamed of. Make sure he knows you’re proud of him.

It’s good to take breaks from stimulants, these drugs can affect growth in children due to appetite suppression, so all those talking about how they must never be stopped have no clue. The whole “actions have consequences” is kind of bull - of course the school should be making adjustments without an EHCP!

If you son struggles with handwriting could he also have dysgraphia? It’s not uncommon for people with ADHD to also have that, and it can cause physical pain (and cause writing avoidance), you can ask for a separate diagnostic test for it. The school are being ridiculous taking away the pen as a punishment, what Victorian nonsense is this.

The lack of consideration for the severity of the medication that these ADHD children have to take is terrifying. All the medications for ADHD are strong with significant side effects, but that's ok as it makes the child shut up and lose all sense of their own being?
If a parent said I got some mdma from the local drug dealer for my child as there is yet again another shortage you would all be screaming from the roof tops. These are pretty much the same drugs.
Our child would refuse to take it as it made him a shell of a person, made him desperately suicidal and stopped him eating and sleeping, schools response was that it was easier for them if he was held down and forced to take it. (They are pills btw so very hard to force a person to take)
We refused we are not abusing our child and taking away any right to autonomy and right to life that isn't plagued by a 7 year old trying to hang themselves because of the drugs that society says is better because they are now silent individuals.
Medication is not a necessity for ADHD it isn't life saving like insulin as many posters seem to infer.

They all come full circle 5 times over with a new buzz word. It'll be called something else in 5 years to reinvent it. Nothing goes away they just get renamed and then reintroduced.

Yes outdated and lazy teaching methods. Pen license- seriously!

I have children on ADHD meds and it has been life saving for 2, 1 of whom has tried to take her own life for however even her psych did not order her to take it. Like many I don’t take it myself and I have other dc who don’t. It is down to the individual themselves, how much and when and there are other ways to live with adhd.

DD has ADHD. She needs medication to function on any level. She knows this and yet I would never force her to take the medication and quite often, she refuses.
In DD's case, she refuses because the side effects are awful, but the issue remains the same, without it, she cannot function.
Should she be punished for refusing the medication? I don't think so. It is her right to choose whether to take it, after weighing up the consequences.
The school can and should offer support whether your child takes the meds or not.
Do people on here who are advocating forcing this child to take this medication realise the risks versus benefits of ADHD medication? Sometimes the risks are not worth the benefits, and it's not for a school to make that judgement! They should support with or without the meds. They could easily provide the child with the support he needs at far lesser risk than the meds, so that seems the logical solution to me, rather than pressuring him to take a strong drug that he doesn't always want to take.

Actually I think it is wrong to take away his pen licence, given it's very clearly due to his ADHD - a condition he can't help.

If someone broke their arm would you take away their pen licence because they couldn't write?

Taking ADHD medication especially at first, and especially for children, is no walk in the park either so the solution isn't that simple.

Absolutely this.

Some of the responses regarding forcing controlled drugs on a child beggar belief.

I think some posters are more in need of a psychiatrist than the kids with ADHD.

Yes ours said the same. Better not to take it daily.

It must depend what you're on as we were told its absolutely fine to stop and start. Short acting/half life.

They actually told us it was better to stop and start as it helps maintain sensitivity to the drug.

You don't know why the consequences are in place, there's obviously a reason.

Well, when you have a child who has been unable to get out of bed for two years, or make it through a term of 6th form and dropped out twice before attempting suicide… medication is a fucking awesome option.

ETA… and as a result of medication, she has distinctions in a L3 diploma and a place at a russell group university. So, please, take your sanctimony and shove it. Thanks.

But the consequences are not fair and shouldn’t be in place.

Right. But if he's complaining about the consequences of not taking it then she needs to make sure he takes it.

He is in year 4 so would have been in reception during lockdown.

But the OP hasn't said that he has any side effect issues. Just that he doesn't choose to take them.

Some children do, some don't. We got lucky and DD had no side effects on hers other than reduced appetite during the hours it's working, and some rebound issues when she first goes up a dose than taper off after about 3 weeks.

If he doesn't have issues with the medication and just doesn't fancy it then she needs to treat it like she would any other medication.

If he does, then time for a med review and a look at the other range of options.

The child is seven. Exactly what crucial handwriting lessons did he miss at the age of two? That would have been down to the parents, so lockdown made zero difference to their writing abilities.

But it isn’t though. It’s completely different with different side effects and risks and for something completely different .

If it was a lifesaving medication or something like insulin for diabetes he would absolutely have to take it, so treat it the same as that.

No thats not true. ADHD meds can be helpful but they are not a panacea for those with ADHD and some cant tolerate any of them or any combinations, becoming more hindrance than help.

Some children dont respond to their medication full stop. Some only respond to a very high dose which gives such severe side effects that the cost outweighs the benefit, the child cant really function effectively

This also applies ot adults of course.

You don’t have to take adhd meds.

Wrong, it doesn’t suit everybody and not everybody can take it. Many people with adhd choose to go unmedicated, me being one.