Mum horrified after teacher asks to medicate her five-year-old son
A horrified mum has said her child's school wanted her to medicate her five-year-old boy.
Though Sarah Blake, from Australia, said nothing is wrong with her 'busy, curious and active' son.
The mother of the young boy was allegedly told by his primary school teacher to get 'him assessed' after they accused him of being a 'problem child'.
Advert
As tutors would continue to flag their issues at parent-teacher meetings, it was then suggested to Sarah that her son get attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medication, despite him not being diagnosed with the condition.
"When we asked questions about specific details, stories would change, and we would get mixed messages," Sarah wrote in her column for news.com.au.
"The school’s story didn’t align with what we were hearing from him, and we knew how he behaved at home. There was a stark contrast."
After spending 'a small fortune on speech therapy, occupational therapy and paediatricians', medics concluded that 'at that stage medication wasn’t the first response'.
"Instead, they identified a range of environmental changes and interventions to support his needs," the mum added.
Sarah wanted to investigate this further, so she asked 'the teachers for more information'.
"What the circumstances were leading up to bad behaviour, what the triggers were," she said.
"Often, the behaviour was a direct consequence of something specific, like a relief teacher not following the agreed behaviour management policy, thereby creating confusion and inconsistency, or a specialist teacher framing activities in a way that created confusion and overwhelm.
"Sometimes it was another child behaving inappropriately thereby triggering the response in ours."
After feeling 'enormous guilt' for her son being singled out in class, the mum decided to try and move him to a new 'local catchment school', where he is now thriving.
Sarah said: "His new school and teacher have been incredible.
"They let him be him, celebrate his diversity and worked with him to discover how he learns the best.
"Academically, he has worked so hard, and having started the year on a learning plan, we found out this month that it isn’t needed anymore.
"He is happy, learning and engaging, thriving even with the challenges of rules and structure.
"He is pushing himself and showing kindness for everyone.
"He has been celebrated with his very first merit certificate and was so proud of himself.
"We are so proud of him and so grateful for his new teacher and new school."
According to the NHS, 'for children with ADHD, although there's no cure, it can be managed with appropriate educational support, advice and support for parents and affected children, alongside medicine, if necessary'.
Anish Vij