…with all this talk about “kiddie-speed”, what about the kids?!
250 000 prescriptions of Dexamphetamine, or so-called ‘Kiddie-speed ‘ were issued to families last year. It’s prescribed to kids with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder or ADHD, with the simple hope that popping a pill will make ADHD go away. But Louise Newman argues this view ignores the wider problems facing each child – from possible abuse or neglect, behavoural problems, bullying at school to poor nutrition. She holds the Chair of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in the Royal New Zealand and Australian College of Psychiatrists. Louise Newman says it’s not that teachers, paediatricians, counsellors or parents don’t care about hyperactive kids, it’s just that there are a massive lack of resources in lower socio-economic areas to deal effectively with this complex issue. Taya Fabijanic also spoke to Jacqui, teacher and mother of son with ADHD.