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Alana Poole

Connie Douglas

ENG 112

4 May 2017

Persuasive Essay

Have you ever thought about what makes parents, good parents? Does being a good

parent mean going to any length to make sure your child is as successful as they can be, or does

it mean taking every precaution possible because your childs health and safety is the top

priority? The reason for asking is because society tends to see parents who allow their childrens

ADHD to be treated with medications as bad parents. However, this essay is meant to persuade

society and skeptical parents of ADHD children to support the treatment of ADHD in children

and young adults with medications.

Society and skeptical parents have given ADHD medications such a bad reputation, but

why? The answer is because of the side effects, tolerance, and potential addiction to the

medications, which is their opposition, but there is no other form of ADHD treatment that has the

amount of successful evidence that medication treatments have. Medication treatments also have

a bigger impact and Dr. Cathryn Galanter supports this in her article titled Limited Support for

the Efficacy of Nonpharmacological Treatments for the Core Symptoms of ADHD by stating

that Pharmacological treatment is very effective for the core symptoms of ADHD.
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Treating ADHD by medication might not be the best fit for every single child or young

adult but it is significantly more effective in broader age groups than other forms of ADHD

treatment, such as behavior and parent training. That is because non-medication treatments

normally target treating younger children and usually are ineffective on teenagers and young

adults. Susanna Visser, the author of the article titled Vital Signs: National and State-Specific

Patterns of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Treatment Among Insured Children Aged 2-

5 Years - United States, 2008-2014 state that Behavior therapy might require more time for

achievement of full impact on child behavior and might require more resources. So, non-

medication treatments are a slow and gradual process which do not guarantee significant

improvement in a childs behavior or ADHD symptoms, but medication treatments show

improvement within the first day of taking the medication with the correct dosage.

Overall, parents should not be criticized for choosing to treat their child or young adults

ADHD with medication because it is the most efficient and effective form of treatment. When it

comes to medical treatments the pros definitely outnumber the cons and it should be supported

by all doctors, educators, and parents.

Works Cited
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Galanter, Cathryn A. "Limited Support for the Efficacy of Nonpharmacological

Treatments for the Core Symptoms of ADHD." The American Journal of Psychiatry,

vol. 170, no. 3, 2013, pp. 241-244 Research Library,

http://ezproxy.cpcc.edu/login?

url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1368605636?accountid =10008.

Visser, Susanna N., DrP.H., et al. Vital Signs: National and State-Specific Patterns of

Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Treatment among Insured Children Aged

2-5 Years - United States, 2008-2014. U.S. Center for Disease Control, Atlanta,

2016, Research Library, http://ezproxy.cpcc.edu/login?

url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1789796306?accountid =10008.