Medicating ADHD children

Is it time? Medicating your ADHD child

A lived experience recounting by Billie Muller

As a parent, considering when (or whether) to medicate your neurodivergent child is daunting, particularly when considering stimulants.

Whilst our culture has become a bit more accepting of neurodivergence (if grudgingly), the stigma around ADHD medication is still loud and proud. “You aren’t going to medicate him though… right?” was one of the first things out of the mouths of many friends and family when we shared that our son had been diagnosed with ADHD.

Which is disappointing frankly. Because whilst I’m not a doctor (and can only share my own experience as an AuADHD adult with ADHD kids) I can tell you that for my family –

stimulant medication has been not only necessary, but life-changing!

Is it time?

I’d always known we’d most likely medicate our children (if they both end up formally diagnosed). I’d seen children in families we knew thrive after being medicated, and I remember how hard my own childhood was without access to ADHD treatment.

However like any medication, stimulants have side effects, so I was wondering: WHEN do you know if it’s the right time?

After agonizing over it unhelpfully, I put together the following framework (handy graphic on its way!):

we’d think about how R was doing in various areas of his life
Then give each area a "struggle rating" of – none, low, moderate and high.
If he had high levels of struggle in one area or moderate levels of struggle in two or more areas we’d medicate.

The areas outlined were these - school (academics), school (social/friendships), home life & family relationships and self-esteem/self-talk.

Rufus was showing a low amount of struggle at home and socially at school, but was moderately struggling with the academic side of school which was impacting his self-talk.

I quickly scribbled down the framework, talked to him about how he felt he was going, and once he said “why is everything so hard? Am I a bad kid?” I knew it was time.

But guess what? I was still anxious (the person who takes the same medication daily!).

Talk to the experts

What to ask your paediatrician

Ultimately, your best support is a good working relationship with your child’s paediatrician (or paediatric psychiatrist if your child has other comorbidities/complexities).

A good paediatrician can tell you:

What the latest literature says about medication options (ours assured us that stimulants are the gold standard treatment for children 5 and over)
How and when to take the medication
What usual side effects to expect and how to manage them
How to manage/be aware of any uncommon side effects
How long side effects may last for until your child is used to the medication (many reduce over time)
Whether there are any lifestyle choices that can affect the efficacy of the medication (foods to avoid, sleep, exercise etc).

Is it working?

In our case, we could see the effects of the stimulants straight away. His teacher reported that he was more easily able to complete his work at school (writing in particular was something he was struggling with). He went from struggling to write 1-2 sentences, to completing full paragraphs.

However, I know from my own experience that you can develop a tolerance to stimulant medication and sometimes it needs to be increased/changed.

So I wanted a way to accurately measure whether his meds are working, and whether the dosage is right.

I chose a short ADHD screening assessment commonly used in schools – the Vanderbilt screener. There is a teacher version, and a home version.

We complete a Vanderbilt roughly every 6 months – I do one, and I ask his teacher to do one. It gives an accurate snapshot of how he’s doing at school and home and specifically outlines certain behaviours.

Labelling the behaviours and whether they are seeing them can support teachers not sure what to look for.

Using these screeners helped us tell for sure if the medication is making a difference at school (when we aren't around!) and to check for any changes/patterns in behaviour.

Vanderbilt Screeners

I'll upload these shortly - come back!

NeuroTactics

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All content AND MeDIA CREATED AND PUBLISHED BY NEUROTACTICS is FOR INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY. IT IS NOT INTENDED TO BE A SUBSTITUTE FOR PROFESSIONAL MEDICAL ADVICE AND SHOULD NOT BE RELIED ON FOR DECISION MAKING. THE LIVED EXPERIENCES SHARED ON THIS SITE MAY PROVIDE INFORMATION AND VALIDATION, BUT ALWAYS SEEK THE GUIDANCE OF YOUR DOCTOR OR QUALIFIED HEALTH PROFESSIONAL REGARDING YOUR HEALTH OR ANY MEDICAL CONDITIONS.

NeuroTactics @HOME

Is it time? Medicating your ADHD child

A lived experience recounting by Billie Muller

Read on for: - The framework we used to decide if medication was needed, - Questions to ask your paediatrician, - A reliable way to track if ADHD meds are working for your child.

Is it time?

Talk to the experts

What to ask your paediatrician

Is it working?

Vanderbilt Screeners

NeuroTactics @HOME

Is it time? Medicating your ADHD child

A lived experience recounting by Billie Muller

Read on for: - The framework we used to decide if medication was needed, - Questions to ask your paediatrician, - A reliable way to track if ADHD meds are working for your child.

Is it time?

Talk to the experts

What to ask your paediatrician

Is it working?

Vanderbilt Screeners

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