Parents often ask about summer vacation and stopping medication during the summer. That question is always tricky. I recently saw a statistic (sorry, I cannot remember where, I will keep looking and update when I find it.) that indicated that ADHD kids who go on medication holidays have a high rate of emergency room visits due to burns. That is always the concern with medication holidays. Impulsive kids need to be monitored when they are off their medication. They need to be monitored more closely than other kids particularly in the summer. The medication is not just there to make them behave in the classroom. It is there to help them keep their bodies under control. Yes, the medication does have concerning side effects and it is nice when we can give them a break but the summer is full of danger and lets face it, you want to let them run without yelling at them constantly. So if you and your Doctor decide to give them a medication holiday, make sure you increasing the structure and monitoring when you do.
Medication Holidays for the ADHD child
We desire to let them be
We want to let them run
We want to set them free.
To let their body's grow
To give their hearts a rest.
The years been long and hard
and they probably did do their best.
Just remember that the disorder isn't gone
because the books are put away.
The impulses still run rampant
and it's a long summer day.
It is not just fire,
that fascinates the child
and lurks and lures his whims.
A summer without supervision
can become quite grim.
It is firecrackers and older kids
whom he must impress.
It is bicycles and the neighborhood teen
that drive just a little too fast..
It is all the fun you've ever thought of
and all the fun you didn't.
when you were just a child.
Now that is what I call risk!
So take some time to consider
all the pro's and con's.
Take the time to reconnoiter
What's beyond the closest pond.
Enjoy the heat of summer
Enjoy the rest from school
Enjoy the confidence of supervision
and rest when summers through.
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