7/10/13.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323368704578593660384362292.html?KEYWORDS=adhd+and+grades
My response:
To use a Motown analogy, stimulant
medications to treat ADHD helps the driver clean off his windshield, and adjust
his brakes and steering wheel. The medicated ADHD driver is able to filter out
external distractions, stay on the road without impulsively taking wrong exits,
and organize his travel to match his goals.
Shirley S. Wang (“ADHD Drugs Don’t
Boost Kids Grades, Studies Find) gives an honest rendering of these studies and
helps to answer the questions this article raises.
Ms. Wang states “…these findings
suggest that medication alone isn’t enough to improve academic performance. The
medicine may help with focus, but it doesn’t help with deciding what to focus
on….Rather, it needs to be coupled with skill training, such as learning how to
organize or prioritize.”
ADHD, like other disorders of mental
life, is not an isolated set of problems but is deeply woven into the
developmental course of the patient.
ADHD is a disorder the patient has (a disorder in the “hard drive”---
the triad of distractibility, restlessness, and impulsivity, sometimes
requiring medicine). ADHD is a disorder the patient is (may reflect genetic temperamental predispositions to emotional
reactivity, and requiring help for the patient to gain insight into his
personality and sensitivities --- to learn his psychological “trick knees)”. ADHD
is a disorder that a patient does
(may be associated with substance abuse, requiring counseling, and family
support to stop excess drinking or taking illegal drugs). ADHD is a disorder of
what the patient encounters --- such
as a disorganized ADHD parent, or a family trauma, requiring the ADHD patient
to seek psychological therapy to fix his software, to reroute faulty directions,
revise faulty attitudes and emotions and learn how to enjoy being alive.
No wonder not all kids get a boost to
their grades from ADHD drugs. A comprehensive treatment plan – more than only
medication – tailored to the unique
child, family, predicaments and life-stories sets the foundation for improved
academic work to follow, among other important, sometimes life-saving,
developmental achievements.
