>>We stopped with agreement from her, taking Ritalin. That is such a terrible drug

It's terrible for some people; others tolerate it well enough for a long time that they don't need any other treatment; for others it's a not-too-bad temporary measure to calm the whole situation down when starting some longer-term strategy. You're suggesting it should be banned, based on a sample of one? A parent of an ADHD kid is likely to end up messianically for or against it, depending on what happened with theirs; someone who sees how hundreds of kids react to it will be less likely to go to extremes.

I suppose you are going to tell me that Autistic children can be cured now?

Only very rarely (taking "cured" to mean "nobody could tell they were any different unless they asked"). But a great many can be helped by appropriate intervention, and the earlier it's done the more likely it is to be successful. (GF/CF diet in particular; waste of time trying years after onset). Getting from total muteness and faecal incontinence to complete sentences and normal toilet use is not cure, but it makes a big difference. <<

Jack

I find your comments very patronising, especially as you have no idea of the hard work that has gone into the development of both our daughters.

We took our daughter off Ritalin, after consulting specialists and looking into the effects of the drug. Our daughters teacher begged us to take her off it and our dentist who was a friend, told us to get her off it, becuase of the severe side effects. So Jack I am not stupid enough to take an action like that based on my own decisions.

Autism is a disorder of neural development that is characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. These signs all begin before a child is three years old.[

As regards our Autistic daughter, we have been working with her since she was 3 and was statemented at 3 and a half, and is now 14. I and my wife have worked very closely with the specialists and I have done a lot of Home teaching based on what the specialist were doing and today, she is in mainstream with support. She can talk the hind leg off a donkey. She can read very well. She, through a lot of hard work in her early days, can use the computer proficiently and much better than most older people. Thats becuase we and the specialists have put a lot of hard work in over the years.
However the down side is, that she has no friends becuase of her impaired social interaction, is unable to improvise and freaks out if forced to, gets upset very easily when routines aren't met, etc etc etc.

We as parents have taken out responsibilities very seriously and have always worked very closely with the specialists and the schools and are currently drawing up a 2 year plan to improve as much as possible her basic skills, so that we can as much as possible get to the point where we can make her self dependant as soon as possible for her sake. Wether that works , remains to be seen, but it won't be for the lack of hard work on many peoples parts.


Please realise that their are parents out there who have literally give up their lives to support our special needs children and for you to make such glib comments, is not appreciated.