Reply #11: I agree. There's a lot of lazy, convenience prescribing.

[aquart]

But I also don't ever want to see disruptive kids in mainstream classrooms. Period.

I don't know what would have happened if I'd been diagnosed as a child. I wouldn't have faked the multiplication table for twenty years? Mostly, I expect I wouldn't have seemed prohibitively high maintenance in so many areas, personal and career. But I don't know.

I like not screaming. I like having an explanation why following instructions always seemed so much harder for me than others. Especially a list of oral ones. I like having strategies to keep from being overwhelmed by something as small as doing dishes. I like being able to explain what's wrong, instead of endless people saying, "You know what's wrong with you? You...."

But I would like doctors and teachers to be very sure of their diagnosis. Telling a child he is defective enough to require medication or any other remedial treatment is NOT a small thing. Nothing I have seen yet tells me anyone is taking that into account.