Reply To: New Approach to Old Symptoms

[blackdog]

Well, I would like to give that friend of yours a piece of my mind. Especially about the autism. Early intervention is critical for children with autism. The earlier the better. It makes all the difference. And if your ADHD son has improved on the medication and isn’t having any negative effects from it then it was obviously a good choice. And it doesn’t necessarily mean he will always have to be on medication. He may find his symptoms are not as bad when he gets older and be able to manage without it.

I wouldn’t write your friend off completely though. Everyone has an opinion but few people have any real knowledge of ADHD and Autism and it is that lack of knowledge that makes them say stupid things like that.

And I can’t believe that I just said that. I sound all grown up and rational and stuff. What happened? 😯

I recently stuck my foot in my mouth (where it can usually be found) when I mentioned medication to my sister-in-law. I had assumed that her son with ADHD is taking medication. I didn’t know that she is against it. According to her all he needs is someone standing beside him making sure he is doing his school work. That’s great, but what’s he going to do in the real world where he doesn’t have someone to hold his hand every minute? And considering that he is doing very poorly in school right now I would say that strategy isn’t working. (well, I wouldn’t say it, but I’m thinking it)

I am in favour of trying to go medication free whenever possible though. It is, in my opinion, healthier in the long run. But it comes down to quality of life. If the medication is going to significantly improve chances of being happy and successful, and the positives outweigh the negatives, then it makes sense to use it.

I got tired of spinning my wheels, of working hard to get nowhere, of being depressed and miserable all the time. So I started taking medication. It’s too soon to tell if it is really going to make a difference, but at least I feel better, which at this point in time is enough to make it worthwhile.

That is an interesting idea, keeping it from your husband to see if he notices a difference. It is very helpful to have that outside perspective to judge things by, since it is so hard for us to judge for ourselves. But I hope you can count on him to be supportive if/when he does find out.

 

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