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that was really very moving
re the number of prescriptions for methylphenidate – I think there are a couple of factors in play, namely more awareness and misdiagnosis.
the symptoms are so close to those experienced by kids with very high IQs that this group of kids is being medicated for being too clever. sometimes a kid (or adult) comes along who has both (like me) and the medication frees the mind, like it does for most people with ADHD and it’s wonderful. for others though, who are misdiagnosed, it’s pathologising normal behaviour, especially when the behaviour is caused by being in an environment that is damaging for the child – namely mainstream schooling that doesn’t accommodate them.
and yes, there are children who are being misdiagnosed due to hurried incomplete diagnostics by busy doctors. i also know a teacher who has 3 children in her class whose children were diagnosed with adhd so their parents could sell the drugs, which the children have never taken because they don’t have it. the children told her they were prompted by parents to behave in certain ways at the clinic.
the testing needs to be rigorous and thorough and with awareness of the needs of high gifted kids alongside it, and people who abuse the system like the parents in that particular area need to be spotted and sidestepped.
i’m guessing the overwhelming majority of new prescriptions are down to the greater understanding of this though.
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