Do drugs make learning easier?

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I took my son out of public school when he was in 3rd grade to home school him, he's currently in the 6th grade. He made all A's in public school. The reason we took him out was because he “struggled” socially and we had no understanding why at that time. Also instead of doing his work at school he brought it all home and we'd spend the rest of the evening doing homework.

For the past 2 1/2 years I've seen symptoms. To my surprise I see how hard it is for him to express himself and how he misinterprets lots of verbal and nonverbal things. Because we are working on those things and I see progress, I’m less concern. My major concern is he how he can, for example, work an algebra problem with ease and then 5 minutes later not know where to start. He gets so frustrated and gives up. He is unable to focus. He says his brain needs time to remember.

My husband is against drugs and I fear the side affects. I need to do what is right for my son. He is trying to accept his difference. He had questioned his mental stability at first which made him depressed and feel less than. His confidence is at it's highest know and I the time is right. Please, any advice? We’ve been on our own until we found this site.

i wouldnt recommend giving him medication unless its really nesscary, but the side-effects could be bad where your son could be lathargic , tired and depressed. but its also best to discuss it with the doctor.

I'm glad you found us!

Meds are the touchiest of subjects. So far we have managed to discuss them and remain polite. I trust this will continue.

There is no drug, or med, for Autism Disorders. However, there are often co-morbid conditions that meds help with. Some conditions are best treated by long term medication and some require short term interventions. Some have very, very serious side effects and need close monitoring. Others are more benine.

The important thing to remember about meds is that it is not a black and white area. Its not a yes we do meds or no we do not. Meds can be tried and dropped if not working, or used only as needed, or used on a short term basis. Very few decisions are final in this area.

If I were you, my first step would be to get a full evaluation by a neuropsychologist. That doctor will write a full report of your son's strenghts and weaknesses, dx (if applicable), and recommidation of meds. At that point you can research the options.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

BeeBee
(PS doing the school work all at home sounds SO familiar!)

We've been so alone in this struggle. Thanks for the advice. BeeBee, relating to the homework makes my eyes water. I feel at home finally.

Vessle,

First off, I have to agree with BeeBee about medication and autism itself. With that said, what you need to do is determine why you want to medicate you child, what you expect to occure when you use medication, and if medication is the best way to achive the results that you want.

As far as the homework issue, I am sure my mother and teachers can give you horror stories about me

NO! NO! NO!

Your kid sounds a lot like me, when I was his age. I couldn't concentrate in school to save my life, and my parents would spend hours, sometimes until midnight doing the pointless busywork assigned to me. In fact, all I did in class was drink cough syrup, draw penises on anything and everything, pick my nose, and engage the few class clowns, and burst out laughing to the point where I would spend most days in the hall or detention. I wasn't a bad kid, but we weren't learning anything other than how to fill out worksheets, colour maps, and do word searches. All decent activities, but not when that's ALL YOU'RE LEARNING. That...and the wonders of globalism.

The work itself is boring and pointless, is designed to dumb down your child.

I was put on ritalin as a kid, and it did nothing but make me sick, irritable, and get me in more trouble.

I was put on amphetamines (adderall/dexedrine) in college, and they did nothing except distract me and make me want more amphetamines, which school doctors are more than happy to give out.

Even Dr. Leon Eisenberg, the so-called "father of ADHD" admitted in his deathbed that ADHD is a made up disorder, used to get a generation of kids hooked on drugs. Uppers for concentration (which makes no sense...at least to me) and downers or antipsychotics to take the edge off.

The reason your kid can't concentrate is because he isn't learning anything of value.

If you give a a young kid amphetamine type drugs, to help him fill out some stupid worksheets, then you'll damage his brain for life.

I agree with homeschooling. Good on you for that. Educational institutions are no place for children. I'm not making a hyperbole or a joke, when I say this.

Teach him practical skills, like how to cook, clean, fix things around the house, use a computer, teach him morals and honor, and self respect. Teach him a trade, or several.

The College degree has become so overinflated, it has lost its value.

I regret not dropping out at 16. Everyone I know who dropped out, is either married, has a house, etc.

I am not bullshitting you here.

I think you have a decent range of posts, above. There are kids for whom drugs seem to have been a lifesaver, and for whom it was a disaster. I've always been extremely hesitant to use them with my children and, in fact, never have.

The main thing I really want to add is this: what does your son think? My son was about the age of yours when we were having a particularly rough time of things and I finally let him know that some people thought I could help him by giving him medicine. Turns out he had a careful and thoughtful opinion on the topic: he didn't want to change what he saw as a key factor that made him, "him." He was proud of the unique way his brain worked. He was willing to make all sorts of compromises and adjustments to get through school and life without trying any option that would mess with his brain. But I've read on here of other children who jump at the idea because what they see is someone finally throwing them a life-line; someone finally recognizing that they don't want to have the things going on in their brain that they have going on. So, I would be curious to see how your son felt about it. While your son is too young to make the final decision, his feelings on the topic WILL tell you a lot about is really going on. I think it is a conversation worth having.

Middle school was rough. I spent a lot of time helping my son get through homework that was simply overwhelming for him. He had no issues with the content; it was the "work" of it. Ultimately, for him, it was a developmental issue: we were asking someone with the executive function of a 6 year old to do the work of a 12 year old. It shouldn't shock anyone that there were problems. All medication would have done for us would have been to attempt to mask that reality.

My son is at a well respected university now and doing extremely well. Since the issues were mostly caused by his developmental delays with executive function, he eventually matured beyond them. Developmental delays are just that: delays.

With homeschooling you have the advantage of not being forced onto a timeline. Use that advantage to remove variables and try to see in its purest form what is bothering your child. Everyone is unique.

Adderall helped my son focus and learn because it interrupted his hyperactivity, impulsivity, and intrusiveness. When he was taking it, he took it willingly because he realized it helped him. When he seemed to do as well off the meds as he did on (hyperactivity, impulsivity, and intrusiveness much lower than initially), we stopped them. 6 years has passed and he is considering whether or not he wants to try them again. He still doesn't have issues with hyperactivity, impulsivity, and intrusiveness, but he is having difficulties focusing for other reasons. He's 15 now, so the decision is his.

I avoided medicating him when he was younger because I was philosophically against medicating kids and I believed that too many kids were over medicated or medicated unnecessarily. The truth of the matter was that I was right. Many kids were being over medicated and many kids were being medicated unnecessarily. My kid was just not one of them. He actually needed them. I finally came to my senses and recognized that my personal opinions might be preventing my son from getting help he needed. I decided to go on a "trial" and not tell his school. When they called me asking what I did because his behavior was "better over night," I knew I did the right thing.

I think this post is rambling and I apologize. My own focus issues are seeping in because I am tired! But I did want to post because I was so adamantly against medicating and am so glad I changed my mind. That does not mean it is the right decision for you or for your son, but I think it is an important perspective to be exposed to.

And whoever said it doesn't need to be a permanent decision is right. If you try it, and nothing improves, you can stop. It's not irrevocable, and if you are considering stimulants the effectiveness is apparent fairly quickly if it is going to help and it is out of the system fairly quickly after you stop.

I, personally, am waiting on getting the all clear for starting medication for ADHD. (They're stringent and run tests on your heart, etc, to make sure stimulants are safe.)

I've worked with children from whom they've taken the edge off the ADHD but significant behavioural intervention has still been necessitated. (Here they don't give people stimulants unless they have ADHD or narcolepsy - even if the symptoms of ADHD are mirrored in ASD but not co-morbid.)

There is good evidence to suggest that medication does improve learning for a great number of people with ADHD but they're also tolerated less well by people with ASD + ADHD.

Medication also usually needs lots of adjustment in children to find the right med at the right dose, especially when you factor in the growth of a child and puberty.

I have significant executive function problems and now, nearing the end of my degree with a grade much lower than I "ought" to have, would like to say that I am doubtful I will catch up. I think this is as good as I'm going to get.

IMO,medications are a last resort, that should only be used when there is no other option. Using them simply to enhance learning is dangerous, in my opinion. All medications come with side effects and risks. All of them. The thing is, that some kids have ADHD symptoms so severe and so life crippling that the risks of stimulants are acceptable, given the benefit of the medication.

Stimulants do not treat ASD. They kind of help us stay in high gear longer, which makes it look like we are making a lot of progress for a while, but there will be a crash eventually if you use them this way. It's pretty much the same thing as wall street executives taking coke. They are their most efficient for a while and then they crash. But people who use stimulants for ADHD treatment can use them relatively safely for longer periods of time - they aren't getting high off of it, they are using it to correct a problem in their neurochemistry.

If you are looking to simply enhance his learning, and you want that in a pill form, I would suggest that you try some of the kid friendly herbs out there. If nothing else, it will provide good placebo affect. I like a line called herbalist and alchemist. They have a Kid's Calmpound blend which is very safe and gentle, and another one for focus - I think it's called kid's Focus? Something like that. Its also very safe, gentle and mild. Just don't go down the road of throwing any old suppliment down his throat. Suppliments don't change ASD either. They provide gentle help to us like any other human being.

This thread started in 2005... I don't think that the OP is still reading the answers.

I was briefly put on Ritalin while in 6th grade, and it did nothing but send me into depression. Although the depression effect was secondary, not primary. How so? My parents' insurance didn't cover psych drugs, so they paid for it out of pocket, and my family was poor at the time. More often than not, I kept forgetting to take it during the school day, and got in deep trouble at home when my parents found out. (I later learned to throw it in the toilet upon finding it on my person at the end of the school day.) I have no idea whether or not Ritalin itself was any help. To this day, I want to track down the teacher that sweet-talked my parents into putting me on Ritalin, and punch her in that bump on her neck she thinks is a head. Why did she do that? She was concerned that I wasn't paying attention in class, and wanted to "help".

The best "drug" for my AS-related depression was something I discovered on my own in 7th grade, through observation and deductive reasoning. It's... (drum roll) alcohol. One sip of vodka or whiskey, which I snuck from my parents' liquor cabinet and replaced with water, lifted me out of depression like a rocket. Well, it was just for a few hours, but back then, it was like finding a buried treasure.