Tim writes about Ritalin:

I've been over visiting my friend to see some of this. The Ritalin-sodden kid arrives like a zombie. When the Ritalin wears off, he's rambunctuous, but all kids are. My friend Paul has had to discipline him a bit to keep him from--as the psychobabbles would say--"acting out." This discipline sets him straight, but it's not something his New Age "supermom" would ever think of doing. Hence the kid throws temper tantrums, acts out, calls her "You fucking asshole" (remember, he's only 8 or so), and so on. So she cranks up his dose of Ritalin and he's zoned out for a while. Frankly, I think telling the kid that if throws a tantrum he'll get punished for it is a whole lot more normal--ever notice that a dog smacks her puppies when they get out of line, or that a cat swats her kittens the same way? It establishes the rules of the game.

It sounds to me like the mom is abusing the drug -- Ritalin is tricky stuff and you can really mess up a kid by overdosing. That's child abuse, IMHO, not some benigh paddling. Alex, our 8 year old son, uses Ritalin. He doesn't need Ritalin to concentrate. He can get caught up in a building project for hours and create a masterpiece. He can focus so thoroughly you can't pry him loose. What Alex *can't* do is get comfortably through a day of grammar school. I sympathise -- I was the same way when I was that age. I had a tough time and I saw Alex having problems similar to mine. So I sic'ed the educational establishment on the problem. Alex ended up with a Ritalin prescription. At least for now. And it's been pretty effective. With Ritalin he finds it much easier to concentrate on drivel, an important skill to make it through school, or sports. The problem is that Ritalin isn't some useful, generically wholesome substance like milk or peanut butter -- you risk more than "acting out" if you're not incredibly careful. Sleep disorders at least. But I don't like the downside of doing nothing, so we're trying it out. I've *never* seen Alex zoned out on Ritalin. Rick.