I have had reluctance to use methylphenidate(Ritalin) a neuro-stimulant to enhance attention in children who was thought to have attention deficit. Instead, I have often tried to understand the behavioural and cognitive aspirations of such children and explore if directing them to their areas of interests or abilities would give them better motivation to focus on what is necessary for their academic pursuit. I cannot claim of ratios to have been successful fully either !
So many conservative practisers of developmental paediatrics combined Ritalin and cognitive behaviour approach to attain better outcome for children!
What is now forthcoming from an array of evidence is that the is a need to make even more precise diagnosis based on the areas of brain affected by an insult and try developing the functions of those parts of the brain which has the potential for neuro-plasticity.
A boy of 14 years who have been on Ritalin for five years confessed to me that he feels better emotionally and socially when he is off Ritalin during the non-school days!
There is a judicious need to revisit the liberal practice of prescribing Ritalin, because we have other behavioural and cognitive approaches which if found working would bring surprising gain for children in recovering from their attention deficit!
M.C.Mathew(text and photo)
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