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Son Is Resisting His ADHD Medication
Q: My ten-year-old is on medication for ADHD, and he's starting to resist taking his medication. My friend says let him be responsible for his own actions and let him take responsibility for his actions. I say no to that because he needs to understand that the medications really help him concentrate.
A: Have you tried calling Children and Adults with Attention Deficit Disorders (CHADD)? They may have a branch near you where you can get some support for your son. The toll-free number for CHADD is 1-800-233-4050. They also have a website at http://www.chadd.org. Branches throughout the country offer a range of services including regular parent support group meetings to meeting opportunities for children, adolescents, and adults with ADHD.
It sounds like your son is at the point where he needs to be given more information about what ADHD is and why this medication is necessary for him. An excellent book for kids his age is Putting on the Brakes: Young People's Guide to Understanding Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder by Patricia O. Quinn and Judith Stern. It has a very nice section about understanding medication that could be helpful to your son.
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For more than 20 years, Eileen Marzola has worked with children and adults with learning disabilities and attention deficit disorders, and with their parents and teachers. She has been a regular education classroom teacher, a consultant teacher/resource teacher, an educational evaluator/diagnostician, and has also taught graduate students at the university level. Marzola is an adjunct assistant professor of education at Teachers College, Columbia University, and Hunter College of the City University of New York. She also maintains a private practice in the evaluation and teaching of children with learning disabilities and attention deficit disorders.
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