Kay, and Janet M....... as you stated Kay the medication is not given to control behavior....... The behavior issue is controlled through therapy and learning how to focus at tasks on hand. I am not talking about giving a pill to make someone behave. I am talking about a CHEMICAL IMBALANCE and medication that can help one focus on there school work, organization ,  learning skills and maintaining balance in there life. Yes as Danny said our children are the raw clay that we must form into well rounded productive and energized individuals. But all clay is made from different ingredients.....some may be softer and some may be hard and hard to work with.......add a little water and continue molding and you have the same results. Some kids just need more water(stimulation provided by medication) Most ADD kids are extremely smart and  want to acheive and be able to use all of there potential...unfortunately some are short circuited due to impulses that do not react in the brain to make them able to do this. This is when meds are used. This has nothing to do with intelligence or behavior THIS IS ABOUT FOCUS! Yes children nationwide are given meds to control behavior / bed wetting/ eating / not eating/ Growing/ not growing. ect. ect. But I do  believe and anyone who has it or has lived or raised a child with it will agree ADD is a disorder.......IT CANNOT BE CHANNELED nor directed with out the willingness of the person to understand they have a disorder . Behavior is another issue all together. To classify them together is easier for society and schools to control the  children being diagnosed. To throw theses medical terms together is the same as saying   CAH and intersexed go hand in hand. Two very different disorders that society want to continue to combine. ADD is not about behavior modification. It is about FOCUS and fixing a brain wave that short circuits. If for one moment I thought my or my childs ADD could be channeled I would have been a willing participate. Who wants to go through life looking for ways to make your  self impulsiveness and your unorganized  life look normal. A very smart person can mask and hide ADD.. but it does not mean they don’t have it.  ITS THERE...... IT IS REAL  and it is painful to know you have the ability to do something and  can’t  motivate or organize the skills you need to achieve it. As children it is much easier to become a class clown and cut up rather than feel or appear stupid or lazy among your peers.  Usually they will accept negative attention because this is how they are treated by teachers , peers and some parents as they are viewed as not applying themselves and society as a whole ends up labeling them as troublemakers , Lazy and worthless .Better  some label than not being notieced at all and after a while they feel they must live up to there title they have been given. SAD but TRUE! Yea ...that was the choice I made as a young child and adult. To feel STUPID for 30 years and not achieve your goals because you were totally convinced you were not capable  this is not a CHOICE one makes. The emotions are REAL and the feelings run deep.  To take medication and see the world as someone who lifted a window shade of life and perceive yourself as someone who can conquer anything life throws her way is not a CHOICE it is medication making the right connection and the willingness of the person to RECOGNIZE  they have a problem and want to deal with it in the most effective way possible. If you don’t know about it read about it and learn! Mediacation for ADD and ADHD has been a debate among teachers and society and users and non users for years. It is another surgery or non surgery issue as to what works for one does not work for all! There is no wrong or right unless YOU are the one that needs the help and society/ medical professionals/ teachers or advocates for non medical techniques(  self control) chooses you should not or do not need it ! This is wrong ! (my opinion) I AM FOR GUIDED PROFESSIONAL DIAGNOSIS AND BEHAVIOR THERAPY (if needed) and USE OF MEDICATION (if needed) NO ONE can tell you HOW TO FIX A CHEMICAL DISORDER. It would be like telling a CAH person they can control the amount of cortisone there adrenal glands make.........DUH? eat the right foods .....proper rest......... better parenting ......read more ... play only with educational toys ect. then your adrenal gland can be stimulated enough to make more cortisone........ain’t gonna happen. Not TODAY or any other day. YOU NEED MEDICATION! Same with ADD&ADHD. True you may not need meds for life as hopefully you have taken the meds when you are young and long enough for good habits to become routine and you have to focus less on concentrating on your task at hand . (life)

To all CAHer’s I apologize for comparing the two disorders as I know they are two different disorders. I only did it too compare how much ADD & ADHD is a chemical disorder and not  managed disorder as some would like to believe. Including myself for years!  I have struggled with Add and my family has struggled with ADD as it is inheritary.

 Sorry for being so long ! Cherry Lane