What are your thoughts on medicating special needs children in order for them to attend public school?

Answer 1

I am a retired educator & can tell you that the schools where I have taught did not require meds for any special needs student. If a parent believed their child might be ADD or ADHD, then that parent made a request that teachers evaluate the child. All teachers who worked with that child in any way had a strict list to go by. They would observe the child every time they worked with him/her and mark the sheet according to behaviors. At the end of the evaluating time of about 2 weeks, this evaluation would be mailed to the students home for the parent to take to the Dr. The parents & Drs. would decide what to do with that information. None of the teachers I know had time to really play Dr. & decide whether or not a student needed meds. Nor did they want to. Being a teacher takes so much time & energy, they really don't have the urge to take on someone elses job. For other special needs students, it was totaly left up to parents & Drs. My personal feeling is that most special needs children need to be in surroundings that are more geared to their needs. Special schools instead of special classes. These students (through no fault of their own) can be very disruptive in regular classes. Not all are but most & I know as I was a Special Education Teacher & worked with these children.

Answer 2

Children do NOT have to be medicated in order to attend school. Schools push this on parents cause they don't want to deal with them.
This has happened so much that some children have died because parents did what the school told them to do.
There is a federal law called 'child safety medication act of 2000' which prohibits schools from even talking about meds at all to parents.
But, schools do not follow any laws at all cause they know they willl never get in trouble for it.
I tell everyone in this situation to print out this law and take it to the school. That'll shut em up...

Answer 3

Personally I disagree with requiring children to be medicated in order to attend public school. I can understand that it can be difficult for teachers, but medicating a child should be a decision made only by the parents of the child and the child's doctor. Additionally, it is illegal to require children to be medicated in order to attend public schools.

Answer 4

It is something that needs to be decided on an entirely individual basis. Each child is different, each child's needs are different, and each child's reaction to medication is different. I fully believe that some children need the medicaiton to be able to function in school. My best friend's son has ADHD, and he literally cannot function in school without his medication. If he can't function, he can't learn, and he disrupts the learning of others. As for over medicating and over diagnosing ADD/ADHD, that is always a side effect of every "label". Whenever a new diagnosis comes out to describe symptoms of a disorder, suddenly everyone is seeing it everywhere.... not because it is more or less prevalent, but because the attention is on it. Same thing is going on with autism right now... everyone's attention is on it, so it is not surprising that more children are being diagnosed with it. Each child should be considered on an individual basis for medication.

Answer 5

I am a teacher and I'm a stern believer that you know your child and his/her needs for medication better than I do. I have an child with ADHD in my classroom and his mom was very defensive the first day of school saying that she would not medicate him..I was like, Okay...that's fine with me. She was taken aback but I told her that if she wouldn't medicate him that was her right as his parent but that I'd expect her to be my very best friend for the next year. We talk often, and the child is doing great as a result of our team work. Not all children require medication, but many teachers suggest it or at times, demand it because it's easier. However, that's a choice that needs to be made by the parent AND the child, if he/she is old enough to understand the decision being made.

Answer 6

I don't think any children should be medicated idefinitely because we don't know what kind of negaive effects this may have on their development. If they are medicated for a while and taken off the medication, how much has the medicine helped them or hurt them? Years ago, there was a procedure called biofeedback that was used for epileptic patients that avoided excessive use of medication. If that procedure is still being used, I think it should be explored for special needs individuals as an alternative to medication.

Answer 7

As a special ed. teacher and a parent, I'm kind of mixed on this one. Some of the children that I work with have severe cases of obsessive compulsive disorder and psychosis, so the meds. help them maintain an even balance and able to focus in school. On the flip side, my stepdaughter is on medication for supposed ADD (which has yet to be diagnosed by a true psychologist or psychiatrist) which is her mother's way of not having to disciplining her.

Answer 8

1st of all, how old is your child & what it their special need? I have 3 "special needs" kids - 1 is ADD, 1 is ADHD & 1 is Manic-Depressive. They all took medication either consistently or intermittently throughout their school years (1 still does now) in order to function to the best of their abilities. My kids wanted to do their best in school/classes/homework, be good students in class (wanted to participate more in discussions etc), and wanted to be kinder/more considerate to their classmates and friends. They were diagnosed acurately, medicated accordingly, and excelled afterwards happily! What does your child(ren) feel about taking medication for school and why. Have they been on the medication before? if so what does (s)he like and dislike when on and off of it? If not, and you decide to, I would personally start your child on a Saturday so you both have time to adjust to it and how it affects your childs behavior, personality, appetite, intrests, focus/curiosity etc. Both you and your child(ren) should be well educated when taking any kind of medication like this - especially if there's an emergency or medical issue for his first dosage (like allergic reaction or overmedicated zombie) Overall, I have seen great improvement in my children and their positive outlook on school because of their medications, but I truely feel that it's the child's choice ultimately (if they are mature enough and educated/experienced enough about the med etc)since it is their personality/identity/mind/bodies/self-confidence that's being altered with controlled substances.
Best wishes to You & Yours - Good Luck!

Answer 9

The OVER use of Ritalin has made a farce of the entire school system.Everytime a teacher claims a child is "hyperactive",he/she is put on medications.

IF proper precedures were followed concerning who and who doesn't need to be medicated,the need for "special education" would be reduced!

Answer 10

i individually think of that there should not be expenses like that for the period of public colleges yet I additionally sense that if colleges choose extra funds I anticipate to pay somewhat extra in taxes. One concern in school platforms is the utility that the administrations purchase take way too lots funds out of the colleges budgets. There are college platforms that fee a million funds for the utility courses that run each and every thing from absences to grade reporting, to type schedules. the priority is that the agencies shop charging the colleges further and extra funds to repair the "bugs" interior the utility platforms by way of fact they are crap at the start. i think of they could fireplace directors who purchase into stupid funds dropping funds ideas. isn't it unhappy that the folk who're to blame for coaching our young ones are the diverse lowest paid people interior the rustic. And we see our tax funds difficult at paintings going to convicts in prisons so as that they are in a position to get a loose college coaching and watch HBO. Yeah, I have been given off course, SORRY. i'd pay the 20 for my youngster.