The Homework Pill

Dr. Lawrence Diller has written a piece in the Huffington Post about using medications for homework relief. The Homework Pill mentions stimulants, such as Adderall, that "get people to stick with tasks they find boring or difficult. Impulsive hyperactive children often become more methodical and deliberate, which appears as 'calming' them down" when using stimulants for school-related tasks.

He describes a"classic" study [that] was published in 1980 designed to prove that amphetamine "worked" on normal children too. The study concluded that the stimulant improved the under-average performance of the hyperactive children to an average level, while the performance of the normal children increased to 'supranormal' or above-average levels.

I have personal experience with this. When my 16 year-old was in 4th grade, he was diagnosed with ADHD. He was really ADD - distractible much of the time during school (and while doing homework) and not so much hyperactive. (Although, every now and then he'll go a little nutty (like we all do) and put the "H" in ADHD.)   So, school has always been a bit of a challenge for him.

When my son was in 4th grade, I was married to a physician who prescribed medication everyday, and had no problem with the idea of entertaining the use of medication for treatment for my son. We tried several different stimulant medications for him. What I found was that he turned a bit zombie-like. I'd watch him stare out the window while we were driving in the car. Previously, he would have been chatty in the car. I also noticed his grades improved. He improved by at least one letter grade in the subjects that were the most difficult for him.

After 4 months of experimenting with different meds, I ultimately decided it wasn't worth it. I wanted my alert, distractible and sometimes silly, wonderful, unpredictable kid back. Another reason to stop the medication was he suffered from some serious side effects that I hated - loss of appetite (on an already thin frame) and daily head aches. No matter how much we tweaked the dosage, he would always have these two side effects.

I am not anti medication. I take meds myself for a variety of issues. But, I decided medication was not worth it for my son. He now gets extra help at school and I have gone completely hands off when it comes to monitoring his homework. Once I stopped being the hovering helicopter parent that monitored his daily homework and tests, he took ownership of his work and is getting very decent grades. One subject here and there will throw him for a loop and when that happens, I don't reach for the pills, but instead get him the outside help he needs to feel successful in that subject.

BTW, The best book I read on ADHD was Driven to Distraction. See my sidebar on this blog for more books on ADHD. And read the Dr. Diller article on homework and medication. He states that most kids (especially teens) will struggle with motivation at some point in their schooling and we would do well to just "admit these are normal kids struggling to adjust to one of life's universal challenges."

ADHD & Me

T-shirt expression:
“Some people say I have ADD, but they just don’t understand. Oh look, a chicken!”

ADHD is short for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, but many shorten it to ADD especially when it refers to someone who has been diagnosed with it, but isn’t hyperactive.

One of my sons was diagnosed with ADD when he was in 4th grade. I suspected something was up when he was in 2nd grade and he began having troubles academically, especially on tests. After the initial shock of learning my son had a “disorder” I actually began to feel relieved that I could put my finger on some of the exact things that he/we were struggling with. At school he is a round peg trying to fit into a square hole.

My favorite book on the subject is “Driven to Distraction” by Hallowell and Ratey.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw_0_5?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=driven+to+distraction&sprefix=drive

On pages 209-214 the authors list 100 questions to ask yourself if you feel that you or someone you know may have ADD. “The more questions that are answered yes, the more likely it is that ADD may be present.”

Here are some questions from the list of 100:

2. Do you have a family history of drug or alcohol abuse, depression, or manic-depressive illness?
3. Are you moody?
6. Do you tap your feet, fidget a lot?
9. Do you have a hard time relaxing?
14. Even if you are easily distracted, do you find that there are times when your power of concentration is laser-beam intense?
22. Do you change the radio station in your car frequently?
27. Are you always on the go, even when you don’t want to be?
28. More than most people, do you hate waiting in line?
30. Do you have a hair-trigger temper?
33. Do you feel like exploding inside when someone has trouble getting to the point?
37. Are you particularly intuitive?
44. Would you consider yourself an addictive personality?
52. Are you restless without action in your life?
53. Do you have a hard time reading a book all the way through?
66. Are you a maverick?
73. Do you work best in short spurts?
76. Do you find you often get depressed after a success?
81. Were you ever the class clown?
89. Did you have frequent ear infections as a child?
92. Are you particularly insecure?
95. Do you love to travel?
98. Do you get the gist of things very quickly?

To medicate or not to medicate, that is the question…

I’m not against medicating for ADD. But parents and students always have to weigh the advantages versus the disadvantages for making that choice. My son currently doesn’t take medication, but he has taken it in the past. When he was on ADD meds his grades did improve and he was able to focus better in school. The meds, however, gave him headaches and loss of appetite. So, we decided to stop them. His grades declined when he stopped, but his physical health improved, so that was worth the trade off for us. I’m not saying he’ll never go back on the ADD meds, but for now, this is the right decision.

Our local newspaper just ran a front page story on the rampant use of ADD medication on college campuses and the illegal selling of these drugs. See the link:

“More Students Using 'Academic Steroids' Despite Risks, Ethical Questions”:
http://www.contracostatimes.com/search/ci_12655334?source=email

And a friend just also sent me this link which is also related to this story.

“A Misuser’s Guide to Adderall”
By LAWRENCE H. DILLER
http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=527968

Please also check out the books listed on the right side of this blog under the heading “ADHD” – they have been helpful to me and my family.