Child given ADHD medication unnecessarily

[beatrice82]

Does anyone have experience of a child being given medicine for ADHD when they don't really have this condition? I think there's been a misdiagnosis because when I spend time with this child in an educational setting, I don't see any ADHD behaviours. His parents are at the end of their tether when them at home though. I would say this is more likely because of lack of boundaries. I wasn't asked what my observations of him in school are, which I find odd as I spend 3 days a week working with this child. I'm sad he's being medicated and hope it doesn't change his personality. Will he be ok? ☹️

@PerfectlyUnsuitable it’s the attitude that ‘I’ve come across several people with ADHD and this kid isn’t like them’.

The most BASIC issue with adhd is that it’s a spectrum condition and that everyone with it is different. That’s what advocacy has been trying to drum into people’s heads. If you’ve seen one person with adhd you’ve seen one person with ADHD.

OP’s attitude is the reason why so many of us are considered lazy, stupid and faking it. Under the guise of ‘wondering’. And we’re not going to silently accept it.

Its good u have mentioned reading up on condition, the problem is there will be 1000s of TAs out there ,who will still hold the stereotypes of ADHD or ASD and will not read up. And the children and parents will suffer

Since you admit you don't know anything about adhd medication, why have you jumped to the conclusions that they will change him, aren't necessary and are being sought unnecessarily by the parents?
Would you follow this line of thought if he'd just been diagnosed with epilepsy or diabetes?

I mean who the hell can work in a school for 6 years and not pick up any of this? ADHD didn’t appear overnight. It has been around for some time and will have been discussed a huge amount in a school setting. Unless you go to school with ear plugs in you should have picked up that this is something you need to learn about. Really worrying that someone who has been working with children for so long wouldn’t have done their own homework.

@beatrice82

Sorry, I should clarify... I've never directly worked with a child who has ADHD but I have come into contact with them many times as a general TA, playground duty, or the odd bit of cover here and there.

Again, why your opinion on this wasn't sought.

I love that you’re so open to learning about this and obviously care about your students. ADDitude is a really good resource with articles and podcasts that are accessible and interesting but also very informative and up to date.

There has been a school of thought that we shouldn’t be medicating children to fit in, but we now have a couple of decades of data showing that those that take meds, have better outcomes because it helps them focus and learn.

At the moment your student could be masking intently and using a massive amount of energy to cope in school. Parents often bear the brunt of this when they get home. At a glance it does look like it’s the parents doing something wrong so I can absolutely see why you would think that.

The brilliant thing about adhd is that it is treatable and medication can transform a persons life.

You maybe have an idea in your head of what ADHD should look like op. Not all children with ADHD are disruptive or get in trouble regularly, ds is a stickler for the rules and never got in trouble at school, he’s always worked best 1:1 with sole adult attention, he’s the same now at almost 16.
But without the sole attention, he drifts off into his own world, can’t stay focussed, rocks back and forth, fidgets and tics, doesn’t take in information. Teachers don’t notice this, yet he falls further and further behind in his education.

@beatrice82

In the last 10 minutes, I've learnt that ADHD behaviours can be masked in various settings.

A diagnosis can be underway for several years.

Medication doesn't affect a person's personality.

Brilliant. Thank you - really useful.

And screw you to all the unkind people who commented. You don't even know me. I'm great at my job and care a great deal about all the pupils I work with.

It's great you've learnt something, but coming in and claiming there's a misdiagnosis and you think it's parenting is obv going to piss people off when you clearly don't know much about it.

If you'd come in and said he's diagnoses ADHD but I'm confused as he's always great at school, can anyone explain it, you'd have got different responses

OP you are getting a bashing here because you are touching a nerve with all of us that have children with conditions like ADHD. These conditions are very real and are much misunderstood and, as you have demonstrated, even teachers and support staff - the very people that should be supporting our children - often have very little idea about them and are quick to jump to the sterotypes that they are as result of bad parenting and that a diagnosis and medication are 'bad'. It's so concerning that people like you that have involvement in a child's care are so ignorant to the realities here. I'm not blaming you for your ignorance, it's just so, so sad that people still believe all the bullshit about ADHD.

@beatrice82

Not sure why I'm getting my head bitten off. I'm using this forum as a safe space to mull this over with people who perhaps have some experience in this area. This isn't a discussion I would have with anyone in RL obviously as I know it's not my position too.

You're getting your head bitten off because you shouldn't even be having these thoughts, it shows that you're overly emotionally invested which is inappropriate and you also clearly have no idea about ADHD or the meds for it. That you think you should have been given the opportunity to comment on this child's case despite your lack of understanding beggars belief. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing, combined with arrogance like yours it can be disastrous. I'm glad someone like you had no input into the forms. Someone more educated and qualified on this subject than you filled in the forms, so you're effectively saying you think this person lied/was somehow wrong in what they wrote, that's so disrespectful.

@beatrice82

The reason you are getting a hard time is because of the presumptive statements you made despite having minimal knowledge of ADHD and worse than zero knowledge (negative ideas) of how the medication works.

You would never had made your opening statements about any other chronic condition of childhood -asthma, diabetes, epilepsy etc.

This is why everyone is angry.

Parents of kids with ADHD get these attitudes all the time, from people who don't actually know any better. Experiencing these stigmatising attitudes is absolutely draining.

You don't get to play on innocent ignorance because you wouldn't have been so presumptuous about other conditions. Hope that makes sense and makes you think again.

ADHD presents in a wide variety of ways. There's the hyperactive/impulsive kids, then the inattentive, then the mixed type. Some do great with 1:1 but their executive function is terrible if given less support. Some mask for the school day but it all falls apart at home.

One of the fundamental biological causes is impaired dopamine transmission in the brain. The medications enhance that dopamine transmission, ideally up to the same level as kids without ADHD. That's it. The drugs are more effective than paracetamol for a headache, blood pressure drugs, cholesterol lowering drugs. They don't "change", sedate or chemically cosh kids or whatever other stereotypes you care to mention.

Would you deny a short-sighted kid their glasses? Because that's much the same as denying a kid with ADHD their medication.

This is completely inappropriate.
An adhd diagnosis is not easy to get, therefore if the child has been diagnosed, there will have been many steps to get there. How do you know the parents have medicated because they can't cope with him at home? Have you spent an extended period of time in their house with them monitoring their interactions with the child?

If you are genuinely concerned then you follow the correct channels and don't come onto a forum.

If they have ended up with a 121 in a school then they must have had issues at school. 121 provision works very well for children with ADHD, it helps them focus.

I'm going to guess the people saying "aww OP you're so kind and caring 🥰🥰🥰" are NT because this is exactly the kind of faux-concerned, patronising, judgey bullshit that most ND people have learned to spot from a MILE off.

I think the OP is being unfairly criticised here. She clearly cares deeply for the child, has his best interests at heart and is worried about him being prescribed strong drugs. Even if she’s wrong about the diagnosis. I don’t think it’s wrong to be concerned and question it.

@DerbyshireMama you know it, sister

@DerbyshireMama

I'm going to guess the people saying "aww OP you're so kind and caring 🥰🥰🥰" are NT because this is exactly the kind of faux-concerned, patronising, judgey bullshit that most ND people have learned to spot from a MILE off.

Exactly - and use emotive language Like ‘strong drugs’ =•=

Hello I’m a concerned citizen and I know more than someone who is trained to do this

Not only that I don’t even have the brains to google it before imposing my sub zero level of knowledge

Indeed. A lot of aggression here. Ask any social worker about the levels of hostility they often encounter when concerns are raised about children. It doesn’t mean people should stop asking.

That was to Spidey66.

@Coronawireless

Indeed. A lot of aggression here. Ask any social worker about the levels of hostility they often encounter when concerns are raised about children. It doesn’t mean people should stop asking.

There’s nothing wrong asking. That’s not what the OP was doing. She was presuming - and only backtracked to an ‘asking’ mode.

There’s nothing wrong with people asking having done their research, instead of an ‘accuse first, research layer’ mentality.

Your 1:1 sounds like my little boy. He's well behaved at school, never told off, very polite and a joy to be around (teachers own words). He also fidgets, finds it difficult to concentrate for long periods and possibly also has aspergers.
He masks incredibly well.
At home he doesn't listen, has meltdowns, is aggressive, struggles to remember what to do, can't follow simple instructions, easily distracted, frustrated, doesn't sleep well and is a handful.
It's like he's two different people.
He had clear and structured boundaries that don't change but its no use.
I'd seriously ask for CPD in this area as you are woefully uneducated and therefore unsuitable for your 1:1s needs.
I also used to be a TA as is my DM working with primary and secondary between us. The best thing I learned was do not judge a family with a child with SEND, they are in a nightmare with no help, and I say that as a mother of a child with SEND.

I have adhd, always have, only diagnosed at the age of 44. I did brilliantly at school, crashed and burned in my late teens and early twenties, made a complete mess of my life. I'm now on meds and happy and can concentrate like others:

You're not a qualified professional. You just have an opinion. No body asked for your opinion, I assume you are a helper rather than a teacher?

There's so much more to this than what you see.

@DerbyshireMama Yes. 100% yes.

@Ohdoleavemealone I’ve been waiting for my DDs assessment since June - that was sent urgently via CAMHS, and now the Paed is requesting more information (yet the form covers everything me, school and CAMHS have already sent), so I’ve no clue how you have managed to get it done so fast and over the phone. It’s not done like that in my PCT.

It took me 33 years to be diagnosed with adhd. Nobody noticed anything wrong with me throughout my years in school. I wasn't naughty, so I never appeared on anybodies radar. No offence but you're only a ta, you've no qualifications to diagnose adhd and everyone presents so differently with it. You need to request to work with another child and maybe you aren't suited to being a ta and working 1 on 1 with sen children if you become this overly invested. It's extremely unprofessional