Ritalin part 2

Some weeks ago, I wrote about the uncertainty I had about giving our youngest son, Joshua, the drug Ritalin. He has been diagnosed ADHD – the hyperactive version. I said then, that I was completely amazed by what the drug was able to do for him. Suddenly, he is able to concentrate. Suddenly, he is able to complete a task which is given to him. And, for us as parents, it is such a great pity that he had missed out on a year and a half of taking the drug, because, I am certain, had he been on it, he would not be facing the possibility of repeating Grade 1 – which he is now. I am certain that on the drug, he will be fine, going forward – repeat or not.

Then there is our eldest son, Gabriel (aged 8). He has always been extremely weak academically. He can dance fabulously. He can draw really well. But ask him to add one number to another and he is completely befuddled. For years now my partner, Leon (who is saddled with most of the homework chores) has been saying that the child just doesn’t get it - with reading, writing and arithmetic. Now the school is saying it as well.

So we had both of the children assessed through a fairly expensive and extensive process, involving an educational psychologist. Her diagnosis was that Gabriel is in real and urgent need of a fairly serious remedial intervention. He is in Grade 2 at the moment - and obviously not coping, despite continuous and dedicated help with his homework and support from both inside and outside school. “Perhaps”, said the psychologist, “Gabriel would also benefit from Ritalin”.

At this point I started to get suspicious. It seemed to me impossible that two such different children, one hyper-active and the other a complete dreamer, could benefit from the same drug. But then I discovered that, actually, they can. It is a drug which has had over sixty years of usage, so there are not many surprises. And indeed, it both can and does help children (and adults) on both sides of the disorder.

So, we are now giving it to Gabriel as well. Within days, I saw a remarkable change in him. It was as if someone had unlocked his tongue! He was talking about all sorts of things – and more surprisingly, talking to me! He has always been Leon’s child. He tolerates me if he has to, but the relationship has never been easy – or in any way over-enthusiastic from his point of view. But suddenly, I am being told stories about this person and that person. About what happened at school and what this friend said and what that one did.

And there is another line of astonishing development. He asks questions about what is happening on the television. He is paging through magazines, prompted by no-one. He seems much more aware of his surroundings than he ever was before. These are, believe me, profound developments! And I can only put them down to the drug.

While our youngest child has experienced a lack of appetite as a side-effect, Gabriel has had no such difficulties. The technology of the pill is extraordinary in itself, in that it releases specific doses throughout the day, for a 12 hour period. So the drug is administered once early in the morning, with no need for a re-dose later on. And all I can say is that it is helping both of them at the moment. And if it becomes clear that they can do without it, or that it isn’t helping anymore, we can simply stop it.

I asked the doctor about why I had heard that the child can be taken off the drug for weekends and school holidays. He said that this was the result of what he called “insecure doctors” who saw that the parents were uncomfortable with the allopathic diagnosis, and who wanted to sort of “give them a bit of comfort”.

“But”, he said, “”if your child was diagnosed with diabetes, would you not give him the drug on certain days?” It was a rhetorical question, of course. And I am sure that it must be very difficult dealing with parents. Because any normal parent really wishes their child is not in need of the medication.

Similarly, I got a flood of suggestions, with the last article, on “natural” remedies. Personally, I believe in drugs. I know they can be dangerous. I know taking them has dangers of its own, but what I have seen so far has been so remarkable and so good, that I have to say I no longer have any doubts. For my children at least.

Living with Ritalin

Ritalin has a very bad name. In most parents, the very word conjures up images of robotic children, chemically manipulated into silence. I have to say, that was my initial prejudice.

It was indeed a prejudice, because I knew virtually nothing about the drug. When confronted with the possibility of using it on one of my children, my immediate reaction to it was, "I am not going to drug my child". But of course, that was a lie, and it was easily exposed. I drug my child when he has a cold. I drug my child when he has an infection of one sort or another. I drug my child when he has a temperature. And I do it without any hesitation. I have even considered (believe me!) drugging him when he didn't need it, but I have restrained myself. I am happy to get him inoculated with anything that might be around. Flu, Measles, mumps and the rest of it. I believe in drugs!

And besides that, I could never be accused to being drug-free myself! I am, a complete sissy with illness. I spurn "natural" remedies. I have tried them - I really have. But besides the dent in my pocket, I have noticed very little other effect. So yes, I am prepared to accept that if I fed him vast quantities of fish oil, there may have some positive result - but I doubt it. I really doubt it.

Joshua, our youngest son, was kept in the orphanage for three months too long. There were some worries about the size of his head and other things - but the end result was that when we got him, he was a child whose lights had almost gone off. He didn't cry. He didn't complain about anything. He just sat and watched, with large, staring eyes. It was so bad that our childminder called her sister and said to her that she really didn't know what we had brought home. Joshua seemed like a seriously damaged child.

And three weeks later, this child woke up. My God did he wake up! He just wouldn't stop. And yes, he was delightful and charming as well, but as he grew and as he went to school, these became his stand-out characteristics: He was over-busy. He seemed never to be able to complete a task. He became worryingly devious and dishonest. The name "Joshua" would be yelled, shouted, screamed 150 times a day, as you would tell him not to do this and not to do that. We initially put it down to an exploring nature.

But, at the same time, his record at school was also not too good. He fought with others. He interfered with other's work. He got himself and those around him into trouble. His lack of concentration meant that his work was not good, though his intelligence was obvious.

We met with his Occupational Therapist and she seemed to me to be going round the houses on the issue of drugs. Eventually I asked her straight out, making it clear that I was not averse to considering them. She said yes. She thought he could be an ideal candidate. And so we started to explore further.

A friend of mine, a long time teacher, told me what it was like to teach ADD and ADHD learners. She said, if she were teaching something at the front of the class, she would immediately be able to recognise a child with attention deficit. If there was a sprinkler outside on the lawn, every flash of light would get his or her attention. If there was an ant on the floor, then that would. If there was a ceiling fan going round - and so on.

The doctor we consulted described it to us in terms of receptors in the brain. He held out his fingers separating them as wide as he could from each other and with the forefinger on his other hand he pointed to the tips. These were the receptors and past them whooshes a vast amount of information. The job of the receptors is to distinguish that information which is necessary to the present task from that which is not - and to discard that which is unnecessary. The ADD or ADHD child cannot do that.

The drug Ritalin has been found to do that task. It usually works, apparently. We were told that if we did not notice an immediate and positive change in the child, then it was the wrong drug for him. You play around with it until you find the correct dosage and then the child will be on it for as long as it is useful. It isn't habit forming and can be stopped at any time.

But there are, usually and unfortunately some significant side-effects. Sleeplessness is one. Joshua now goes to sleep around 11 pm. This stretches one's patience a good three hours past reasonable endurance levels.

And eating. He has dropped weight fairly dramatically. He eats virtually nothing during the day and with no real commitment during the other meals in the morning and at night. This represents a fairly dramatic change in behaviour for him.

But he has also become quieter, more obedient - in every possible way. Far less dishonest and deceitful. Far less scheming. More careful in everything and less damaging and wilfully destructive. But he now has this curious, uncharacteristic quietness about him. If you tell him to hold your hand - that is what he does.

At the same time, we have noticed a high rise in what is sometimes inappropriate emotionality. He will cry over the simplest thing. And it is real tears that flow.

His interactions and play with his brother has been far less fractious. He seems to remember more and retain more and is generally more polite and more concerned about the wellbeing of the other.

But, for me there is something creepy about it all. I cannot stop thinking about Stepford Wives - that group of women who were chemically dealt with, so that all possible irritating feminist rebellion is brought to a halt. Is that what we are doing? Are we chemically manipulating his brain, to suit ourselves? Or to benefit him? For the present, it seems to be doing both.