The Benefits of Concerta: Three Children on ADHD Medication and Life is Great

More than 20 years later, let’s check the success of those plans.

I am still living, so that one worked.

My house is beautiful (since beauty is in the eye of the beholder) and, even better, is warm in the winter, large enough for me to escape to a quiet corner and never much more than tidy. I’d say I was 3/4 successful on that one.

The handsome husband becomes more handsome when he picks up his own dirty socks and makes it home for dinner at least a couple of times a week, so let’s put this almost into the win column.

Lastly, for the couple of beautiful children, I scored brilliantly. We have 6 amazing kids (a couple more than a few) and their talents never seem to amaze me.

I’d say I have the perfect life, but 10 years ago, I felt doubt and fear. I had just given birth to our 4th child whenour 3rd child was diagnosed with autism. Life became complicated.

Thank God I didn’t have time to wallow in a vat of self-pity because I was a fighter. I took classes, read every book ever written and knew as much about this disorder as any doctor.

My beautiful boy entered a full-time program and progressed but his progress was not what it could have been. As is legally required by public schools, their suggestions involved behavior modification techniques and those were only taking us so far. The last book I picked up dealt with pharmacological solutions to different disorders and ailments.

Up until this point, I had vehemently believed that the use of medications was something for the weak-minded and unimaginative or lazy parent. I thought I could create an environment in which my son could thrive and life would be great.

Guess what? Life wasn’t great. He could not find success in any environment and our frustration level was as high as his. He was in 1st grade at school and I was finally ready to consider chemical intervention.

Within 3 days of his first use of Ritalin, my once-unhappy child found his smile. He came off the bus every day with a smile and plenty of rewards for his good behavior. No longer was he frustrated by his own inability to control his impulses. He could last through his lessons and his progress leapt forward dramatically.

When our 4th child started showing some impulse-control issues, one would have thought I had learned something in my journey but I again resisted the meds. We wrote behavior contracts, daily expectation charts, visual schedules, behavior modification plans and on it went.

It didn’t hit home until he was once again excluded from a birthday party that a classmate was having and he said to me, “It’s ok, I couldn’t behave anyway.” At 5 years old, he was so socially isolated and even had the self awareness that it was as if a ton of bricks had landed on my head.

The answer had been staring me in the face and I had ignored it because I felt that I was being a wimp if I gave in to meds. I thought that it was the easy way out, and I never wanted to take the easy way out. I had this feeling that meds were going to be more harmful than helpful, and in so doing, I was condemning my brilliant child to a life of isolation and frustration. I could see the remorse in his eyes after each incident and knew he was powerless to control himself. I needed to understand that my child was physically unable to filter the impulses that popped into his brain. When I finally internalized that it was a neurological “thing” and not that I was unable to “control” him, I knew I was ready for something new.

I was at my wits end, but meds had made such a dramatic difference in our older son that I was ready to give it a try. In 3 days, his teacher called me and asked what had happened. The change was so striking, she could tell right away that we had changed something.

How could I have waited so long? Self-doubt can be a parent’s closest friend, and it was my constant companion during this time. I have since learned to trust the advice of others and have faith in science.

When our youngest started showing the same behaviors, I didn’t hesitate. My pediatrician, a true partner on this journey and my biggest supporter, never even questioned my request, knowing my experience and new-found confidence in trying new things.

All 3 boys are now on different dosages of Concerta, a once-a-day extended release neuro-stimulant for ADD /ADHD. We still have our frustrations and we have many days that don’t go as smoothly as we would like (who doesn’t), but our good days far outnumber our bad days and with appropriate socialization and successful academic progress, they have finally found the happiness any parent wants for her kids.

When my nephew was having problems at school, I felt comfortable sharing with my brother and his wife my experiences. Relying on medication does not mean one is bad parent. Our job is provide our kids with all the necessary tools to find success and happiness. If you haven’t crossed this bridge, you cannot say anything against it (even someone like Tom Cruise) and all I need to know I made the right decision are the smiles on my children’s faces, good grades on report cards and a solid family structure to remind us what is important.