New York Post
Stop drugging ADHD kids — and start teaching them to use their gifts
By Peter Shankman
May 11, 2016 | 8:45pm
This year, Americans will spend more than $8 billion on members of the stimulant family, in a desperate attempt to keep squirmy school kids with ADHD glued to their chairs — or sometimes, even their kindergarten rugs.
But what if, in an effort to get kids to behave like 55-year-old men, parents and teachers are actually drugging the creativity out of our next generation of leaders?
As a New York City public-school kid who grew up with obvious, but at the time undiagnosed, attention issues, I attribute my success to the fact that I was always too fast, too off the beaten track, too squirmy.
I wasn’t put on medication to “make me like everyone else,” and I consider myself ridiculously fortunate to have had teachers at LaGuardia High School of Music and Performing Arts who recognized my creativity and encouraged me to run with it, instead of convincing my parents to shove a pill down my throat to calm me down.
Fast-forward to today, and I’m a best-selling author, an entrepreneur who’s started and successfully sold three companies and a corporate keynote speaker to companies around the world on customer service and the consumer economy. I know a little bit about keeping people’s attention.
I’m also diagnosed ADHD for over 15 years, and it’s because of my ADHD, not in spite of it, that I’m as successful as I am today.
When I got into the real world, I discovered that my creativity and unbounded energy didn’t fit into a traditional corporate environment, so I went out on my own as an entrepreneur — and it was the best decision I ever made.
According to a recent study, students with ADHD are 2.7 times more likely to have dropped out of school before high-school graduation. Yet the No. 1 way to lower dropout rates is to introduce students to something they’re passionate about — whether it’s sports, music or any subject. The answer isn’t “throw them on meds and hope for the best.”
It’s time to stop looking at ADHD as a negative, and start understanding the positives and incredible benefits of being gifted with a brain that runs a thousand times faster than normal. Teachers need to understand that a student with a faster brain doesn’t automatically equate to “difficult to teach,” but rather, that much more interested and able to learn, if the information is presented in a way that reaches that student.
“Copy down, learn, get tested and forget” isn’t the way to grab the attention of an ADHD student, and often results in what’s perceived as negative behavior, when in fact, it’s a cry for help. ADHD children want to learn, they’re many times more curious and exploratory, but they need to be allowed to take in the information in a different way.
This extends to the workforce, as well. Companies waste billions of dollars each year by firing employees who don’t fit the “standard” mold, when in fact, if given the chance, these employees could be their best workers and corporate ambassadors.
Those with ADHD need a special kind of structure that doesn’t come from being treated like everyone else. The small changes that an employer makes for an ADHD employee could pay the company back 100 times in revenue, if the company’s management just understood how to best manage those employees.
The time is now to address the over-medicating and misunderstanding of our next generation of leaders. Instead of giving them a pill, let’s give them an hour to run around outside. Instead of telling them they need to conform, explain to them that their differences are their greatest gifts.
Do this, and we’ll be giving our children a gift that will benefit all of us for generations to come.
Peter Shankman is the founder of FasterThanNormal.com, a Web site and podcast aimed at redefining the conversation around ADHD
Stop drugging ADHD kids — and start teaching them to use their gifts | New York Post
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Once I got older and got control of myself, they took me off them.
It really helped me (Even though I still tried by best to kill the bullies before I learned to ignore them 
)
I am only trying to make a point -- "let me get right to it"... )
) without being an 'expert' in that particular field. I am not by any means a "master carpenter" or "master plumber" - or even a "master electrician" ( however, I have been told that my "temporary work" is better than the "permanent work" of some "master" electricians 
