Okay somebody sent me a link to an article, will.I.am he’s a singer from the one of the singers from the Black Eyed Peas says that we are ruining the lives of kids with Ritalin. Let me guess he tried it, he didn’t like how it felt, that maybe it was too high?

Thank goodness my mom never gave it to me. He never took it so he doesn’t actually know what it does or what it feels like. Okay.

Affecting creativity. No it doesn’t. You don’t need medication you need patience with kids. Of course you need patience with kids, they’re kids.  His mother could not afford Ritalin but she was also not afraid to say no. Yeah you’re allowed to say no you don’t have to take the medication. You could try it see if it helps and if it doesn’t you can stop.

Oh I hate this I hate this and I love will.i.am i love the black-eyed peas and it’s gonna be a great night tonight, but not for all of the parents who made the tough decision to try medication, have seen it actually makes a huge difference for their child. Maybe their child’s actually invited to birthday parties and is getting passing grades in school and could actually sit and practice their guitar, their instrument or whatever.

Lazy parents? Really? Lazy parents? Will and everybody else, write out the names of 10 parents you know and then put a check-mark beside all the lazy ones who would rather give their child a psychotropic medication then say check their diet and allergies and whether it’s a sleep issue and get a 504 plan and try supplements and maybe tutoring and a special school and that.

ADHD Medication is the last ADHD tool that parents consider. Ask any parent in fact ask any doctor or specialist, family doctor who deals with parents, who have a child who has ADHD. Does Will even have kids? Taking his kids to …wow that’s neat he’s…

So he has kids? and these are tough kids in fact . Oh no he set up a foundation which is helping hundreds of kids I see this is why I love will.i.am!

But he doesn’t have kids. Can you imagine someone who has managed to control their diabetes by diet alone telling everybody else you don’t need insulin you’re just lazy you just like stabbing yourself with needles, your attention seekers! So he never took Ritalin he actually doesn’t know what it does, what it feels like to take it or any of the other stimulant medications. But being in the music business he’s probably tried the most widely-used psycho-stimulant, it’s not hard to get hold of this one you can buy it on the streets in the big cities even small towns from dealers like Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts and the coffee shop. It’s caffeine which affects your ability to focus and filter and stay on task for three to seven hours depending on the dose or size you get. Side effects include problems with heart, sleeplessness insomnia blah blah blah blah.

I’m not a doctor but as someone who first took methylphenidate or Ritalin at age 47 about the same time my twelve-year-old son started taking it I can tell you it didn’t ruin either of us. I can tell you how reluctant I was because I don’t drink, I never smoked

anything, I didn’t do any drugs although all my friends did and I was the guy who had to drag him out of the bushes left or they finished throwing up. okay I took acne medication I’m over it. Know I was not officially diagnosed with ADHD until 47 and so I went through university without knowing, which is why I ended up settling for a three year degree instead of a four years honor.

Very common where as my son who had been diagnosed managed to graduate from a much harder course with great marks and has a job he loves. Not that I don’t mind being a comedian I like it.

I know sorry this isn’t funny yet. As for creativity you ever been to an ad agency or any kind of creative business and seeing the number of people who are drinking caffeine, smoking to get the nicotine stimulant, or even after hours using cocaine. All of which have side effects. I know a lot of people in show business who take an ADHD medication and does it affect their creativity? Well as one put it before I started medication I used to have post it’s everywhere with all kinds of great ideas, but afterwards once I started taking medication, I didn’t smoke nearly as much grass and instead having all these great ideas I had a finished script that I could actually sell that got produced and got on the air. Sorry I’m going to calm down here I apologize to will.i.am to be fair if you’d asked me about ADHD and medication when I was first diagnosed I would have spouted the same lies and myths that everyone else has been told and keeps passing on. You know with boys who can’t control themselves, it’s lazy parents, it’s the Internet it’s TV it’s video games. But then when I was first diagnosed I didn’t know that ADHD was being described back in the 1800s even the 1700s. They didn’t call it attention deficit hyperactivity disorder they just said there are these bad kids who are misbehaving who know what to do and still won’t do it. Who don’t listen, who interrupt her a impatient who bud in who can’t sit still.

Back then they didn’t know about neurotransmitters like dopamine and norepinephrine. So the kids were labeled as bad trouble little devils little Satan’s. Their families were called irresponsible. The parents used to be called lazy. Fun fact little bit of history in the year 1902 doctor George Still finally gave this mindset a name. He called it a defect of moral control. Wow! no judgment no shame there. In 1952 it became minimal brain dysfunction which is actually if you ask me a more accurate name because it’s not that we have a deficit of attention. When we’re interested we can focus. 500 episodes of radio and television I had produced until I started taking Ritalin and then I produce 200 more, but I did it with far less strain and less anxiety and less craziness. By the way if anyone thinks that the parents of kids with ADHD are lazy why don’t you take their kids for a weekend or a week even for reading week and see what it’s like. See how much fun it is for you. See how much fun the child is having. See how happy they are with un-diagnosed or untreated ADHD.

And medication isn’t the only treatment by the way, but you want to do something about it because it’s very hard to be yourself to be your truly creative self and explore who you are as a child or an adult when you have five radio stations playing in your head all the time and three of them are on talk radio and they’re interesting and then there’s music coming at you. Sorry I’m getting

carried away again Will.i.am says his mom couldn’t afford the pills which is fair enough, but I’ve found that taking Ritalin was actually cheaper than the six caffeinated coffee in two or three chocolate bars that I was taking every day self-medicating. Plus my hands didn’t shake like they did with the coffee and I had fewer cavities and I wasn’t fat. Okay wasn’t as fat no wait.

So will.i.am please keep up with the great music, to everyone who has a child with ADHD from a parent who had a child with ADHD of course still has a child with ADHD, but he’s grown up. You’re not lazy you’re doing the best you know how when you know better you do better and if you need help if you need more information check out the videos in our shop on parenting, on going to school on careers on earning a degree with ADHD and so on. So you’re not lazy you may be overwhelmed because you have a child with ADHD and in fact you may have ADHD as well, because it’s about as heritable as height. It runs in families so if your child’s been diagnosed you may have it as well in fact that’s how I first found out that I had this mindset at age 47. I know what you’re thinking he doesn’t look 47 he looks way older than… well kit was a while ago it was

like 20 years ago I mean I mean I’m over 30