by Josette Maurer

Created on: January 20, 2009

As the mother of a son who struggled in school for three years with failing grades and discipline problems before being diagnosed with ADHD I can offer first hand insight on the experience, how to respond, and also suggest an alternative approach to eradicating the disorder from your child's life altogether.

Think outside the box when it comes to ADD/ADHD. The ADD/ADHD industry, as I like to call it, is comprised of doctors and pharmaceutical companies who will slap a diagnosis on a child at lightening speed, and prescription medication is most often the golden answer. But I dare to say that most children diagnosed do not truly suffer from the disorder, making medication the worst possible solution. Yes, there are definitely children who live with chemical imbalances and demonstrate ADD/ADHD symptoms, but I challenge parents to do their due diligence before engaging in traditional long term ADD/ADHD treatment.

First do your own research on the condition. Have you read up on the disorder yourself or have you taken the words of doctors, your child's stressed-out teacher, and pharmaceutical ads at face value? In short, while it's wise to listen to professionals and receive input, do your own research and know about ADD/ADHD like the back of your hand.

Case in point. This past summer my daughter contracted what I believed to be poison ivy. When I took her to the doctor to confirm, she was given a grim diagnosis of MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus). My heart sank and after an aggressive course of antibiotics and other medicines failed I took her back to the doctor still insisting it to be poison ivy. He agreed and all it took was hydro-cortisone and calamine to clear the rash. I never got an apology.

Second, recognize how the chosen path to medication may affect your child's future. The prescription brand administered to my son was an amphetamine that is still on the market. It's a DEA Schedule II drug in the same class as cocaine. Common ADD/ADHD drugs are also widely reported to stunt growth.

Carefully monitor your child's reaction to the prescribed drug. Have they lost their appetite? Are they unable to sleep? These side affects may be considered normal but are they acceptable to you? There's also the hallucination factor. My son was in terror after seeing a floating man and an octopus in his room.

I didn't like what my due diligence uncovered and would not allow my child to continue with hallucinations and lack of sleep for the sake of sitting still

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