brooke Report post Posted November 12, 2007 Panorama is on at the minute its following a young boy with ADHD and questioning if the medication he takes works Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Karen A Report post Posted November 12, 2007 I watched it.Very interesting. New guidance is being produced regarding medication and other intervention for ADHD.I just hope adequate funding is provided so that the best practice can be implemented.Karen. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cmuir Report post Posted November 13, 2007 Hi I thought the programme was biased. The child that was featured had been on medication since he was 4 (he's 14 now) and obviously in his case, the medication wasn't having the desired effect. In his case, he benefited from attending a school for kids with emotional and behaviour problems, unfortunately don't recollect reason but he ended back in mainstream schooling and that's when things fell apart. I also thought the part where the family went to a theme park was covered unfairly - it gave the impression that kids with ADHD and similar get to skip the queue as if it's a reward for being badly behaved. I felt it could have been handled more sympathetically by going into a bit more detail about just how difficult/stressful waiting in queues can be - this isn't a perk! What about the kids that do benefit (because there are lots of them!)??? I do believe that behaviour management and modification programs, as featured last night, mixed in with parenting classes can be beneficial, but I don't believe they resolve everything. In addition, these programs are not widely available and often have very lengthy waiting lists - this obviously needs to be addressed. A lot of these programs (as I'm currently finding out, attending Incredible Years program) are americanised and over-the-top and are very much one size fits all - this clearly isn't the case and a bit of tailoring in terms of culturally and consideration needs to be given into every child's difficulties/strengths/weaknesses. It did give some food for thought though. Caroline. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
carrieq Report post Posted November 13, 2007 Just happened to conicide with the programme that ds meds were changed yesterday as he has been coping really well with his new placement and today his behaviour reverted back to how he was previously. Possibly no link between effects of meds and behaviour but it just highlighted to me the fact that meds probably do play quite a big part in ds quality of life and if he doesn't have that window of opportunity to focus, achieve and raise his self esteem then taking him off meds and putting him into some kind of therapy may be doomed to failure. Like Caroline said it was food for thought. Carrie Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
clintess Report post Posted November 13, 2007 Hi, Not all children with ADHD have behaviour problems.In my sons case he does not. My sons issues are hyperactivity,lack of danger awareness and no fear of danger, Cannot concerntrate,impulsiveness,sleep difficulties. His peaditrition says he is what is known as pure ADHD. My son is extremly bright but cant focus at school so we decided to have him placed on concerta xl to help with his school work as this and next year are extremly important regarding the eleven plus test. He seems alot calmer and focused now but hasnt lost his sparkle. At the moment its working for him but will reassess the situation again in the short term. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Karen A Report post Posted November 13, 2007 Hi cmuir thanks for reminding me about one issue I had with the programme. A 14 year old went to a theme park-busy environment/stimulation plus plus -was asked to sit down for half an hour and do nothing and got frutrated. Forgive me if I am wrong but sounds very understandable to me.I think that bit was designed to create a situation where the teenager would become frustrated. A bit of a set up if you ask me.Karen. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LizK Report post Posted November 13, 2007 Don't think the programme gave an impartial viewpoint surprisingly enough! Not convinced either child had just ADHD, other things going on which might have affected how thye did and things like the boy downing a large bottle of diet coke was hardly going to help his behaviour . The study too needs to be interpreted with caution. It was based in the US where a lot more children are diagnosed with ADHD and ritalin used far more liberally than in this country. An alternative explanation would be not that ritalin was less effective but that a proportion of the children never had ADHD at all but due to parenting issues so of course a behavioural management programme would help in these circumstances. The were various counfounding factors that haven't been mentioned either like the fact that the children on ritalin who were discharged back to primary care did worse than those on ritalin who stayed under the psychiatric service possibly due to poor compliance in the first group. The sad thing is that whether the study is valid or not there simply are not enough behavioural support programmes available for children with ADHD so any amendments to guidelines may well be a moot point Lx Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
