Ritalin of neurotherapy?

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um, couldn't this apply to anyone with or without ADHD?

Before you start looking for therapies and/or medications you need to get a diagnosis from a creditable doctor who knows what they are talking about. Also remember to do your homework on any doctor your going to see, and don't do a little then say oh well that's enough do a good thorough job. Now if the doctor says well your son has ADHD then talk with your doctor about what path you want to walk down.

Yes, they're just statistically much more likely to happen to someone with ADHD, and less likely the earlier treatment is started.

Same thing with Ritalin side effects. There's more reasons than just Ritalin that someone might lose weight or feel dizzy.

(Long-term outcome studies aren't nearly numerous enough, though. The typical ADHD longitudinal study lasts about 5 years or so; I'd like to see somebody follow ADHD people starting treatment as kids into their forties, but ADHD hasn't even been around that long... Everything points to ADHD correlating with all that stuff, and correlating more strongly the later treatment is started and the stronger the ADHD traits are. However, although ADHD adults are often underachievers with many problems, it may simply be that the successful ones didn't go for a diagnosis--thus the need for more long-term studies.)

Ritalin's not the only way to treat ADHD; but leaving it alone and thinking "he'll grow out of it" is a bad idea. Even if he does grow out of it, he'll lose time in which he falls behind other people in the areas where ADHD causes impairment. You have to do something, and you have to do something that's effective, because an ineffective treatment is worse than useless--it wastes time that you could have been using to do something useful. What works depends on the kid. If you medicate, don't just medicate--you have to teach him what he's been missing out in the meantime because he couldn't control where his attention landed. And remember that this teaching may not be enough, if he can't concentrate well enough to apply what he learns.

Most important, IMO: Parent training. How to stop nagging. How to understand ADHD and what it does. How to set the child up for success instead of setting him up for failure and then getting angry when he fails. Learning it may not actually be reasonable to expect a twelve year old to keep his room clean... learning how to teach him to keep that room clean without the task overwhelming him, or it turning into an argument. Being utterly dependable. Making rules that the child can obey. Maybe even managing your own ADHD traits.

ADHD is part of a family system by the time it's discovered... the ADHD kid and his difficulties have actually changed the entire family dynamic, and not always for the better.

Lately, caffeine puts me to sleep. the more i drank, the more tired I got.

So, what is the main objection to neurotherapy - the cost or that it is ineffective? Personally, I think if it works as effectively as Ritalin in the short-term (and better than it in the long term) then it is worth a shot regardless of cost. I can get neurotherapy evaluation and 10 weeks of daily sessions done for $2,000 (Australian ie, $1,000 US). (The daily sessions are done at home, and the parents are trained in how to setup and use the equipment.) This sort of investment, to hopefully give a liftetime of improvement, seems reasonably small compared to the risk of trying Ritalin and getting the sort of side effects and long-term damage that I have read a lot of people report on this site.

The only flaw in this argument would be if neurotherapy is some kind of quackery, which is what I am trying to determine here, I guess. I have read statistical reports saying that it is at least as effective as Ritalin and successful in 80% of cases. I guess it is a case of "Who do you trust?" If neurotherapy is in fact 80% successful, then I think I'd definitely look at pursuing it.

Side effects are a secondary, typically undesirable effect of a drug or medical treatment. You've improperly and negligently classified life outcomes as side effects. These ADHD outcomes that you've described have limitless causation. Ritalin side effects are controlled by a specific causality. Also, these outcomes that you've mentioned heavily reflect on autistic traits. I was under the impression that the autistic community is trying to accept rather than reiterate these socially viewed detrimental attitudes. I'm sorry to say this, but your coming across that it's imperative to comply to the general collective in order to have a successful life based on the needs set by people who have little to zero tolerance of any dysfunctions.



You would make a great parent.

The outcomes I mentioned aren't things to be accepted; they're problems to be solved. If you can't organize well enough to pay your bills on time, then there needs to be a solution to that problem. When people with ADHD are not properly educated, when they are left to "grow out of it", the results are people who do not live up to their potential--people who are left with the feeling of, "I could be so much more."

I'm not specifically advocating medication. I know it can be useful in some cases and detrimental in others. What I am absolutely sure of, though, is that not doing anything at all is harmful.

Let me re-phrase: "Making rules that the child is capable of obeying." With ADHD, parents often expect more of a child than he can do. Sit for an hour-long church service. Keep a room clean without being asked. Remember your chores. Remember your homework. The rules can be too much. And then, when the kid fails, the parents punish. It's a vicious cycle--often made worse by the fact that the intermittent success characteristic of ADHD makes the parent think, "He did it once; that means he's able to do it," and conclude rebellion. Not so. Parents of ADHD children need to learn that kids need to be set up for success--even if that means the kid gets a sincere thank-you for something as small as putting his shoes in the bin instead of throwing them on the floor. After a few years with unreachable expectations, anyone will become very defeated. Parents need to learn that some jobs are complex and difficult even for a "smart kid" like theirs, and some obligations need to be taught before they can be expected to be fulfilled, some things need lists and breaking down into little parts; and above all the kid needs to learn to organize himself, so that the parents can stop creating structure externally... Does that make sense?

Both problems. If you'll re-read my posts, I'm saying that it is both costly and ineffective, and not "worth a shot" at all. The big risk is that you will waste time that could be used on a more proven educational or medical approach. (I recommend educational as the main tactic, because as I've said more than once already, medication by itself can't teach anybody coping skills.) Worse, you could mistake marginal placebo-effect improvement for actual long-term effects, especially since once you have spent money on something you are much more likely to convince yourself it is effective, and waste more time than just the time needed for the treatment. (Research "choice-supportive bias". This is a universal effect that I have experienced myself: After making a choice, one looks back on the decision and sees the options in such a way as to support the choice one has made.)

My suggestion? Spend that $2000 doing something fun with your child, with no strings attached and no expected behavior... it will do much more good than an unproven, expensive therapy.

http://web.archive.org/web/200104130141 ... /intro.htm

Regarding the placebo-effect improvement, the article with this evaluation is dated 2000. Could it be that the last nine years has seen further development and assessment in neurotherapy, and that further research makes this out of date? If you Google "Ritalin or neurotherapy?" there are a number of research statistics within the last nine years that support the effectiveness of neurotherapy as a viable treatment option for ADHD. For example the following link is dated 2005.

http://www.springerlink.com/content/y497605170267178/