Ritalin

[sunny]

Originally posted by Joan
My 2p worth

Methylphenidate (generic name of Ritalin) has a parodixal effect when used in children with ADHD...instead of "stimulating" them centrally, it calms them ... however, a child needs to be classfied as being ADHD by a team of health care professionals before such drastic measures are taken. Quite often children are just very lively and "as busy as bees".....

Hi Joan, the understanding I was given by the pediatrician who used to give talks to the parents with kids on Ritilin, is that it is in fact a stimulant for their brains .... in that a certain part of the childs brain is sluggish/lazy and tends to drift off .... preventing the child from focusing on the subject at hand .... resulting in the child becoming bored and restless and easily distracted ..... ritilin stimulates that part of the brain to 'focus' on the lesson or information being given to the child .... which also results in the child be able to sit still and learn without interrupting other children ..... I remember my son once starting off on a dose too high and when I collected him from school .... he was not happy .... he said to me all day in class .... he had felt like he wanted to get up and just run and run .... thats how he described it ..... the dose was reduced for a while and had the desired effect as he settled on it.