Last week, I posted a link to a Newsweek article that explored the pros and cons of taking a child with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) off their ADHD medication during the summer while they attend sleep away camp. As a parent of an adopted child with ADHD, this is an issue that I deal with as well, although my son does not attend sleep away camps. At seven years old, I only send him to half-day summer camps. However, the same issue applies.

Parents who were interviewed for the article provided their reasons for taking their children off their ADHD medications for summer camp. Those reasons included wanting to give their child a break from the medication, wanting to enable the child to sleep and eat better (stimulant ADHD medication frequently causes lack of appetite and insomnia), and not wanting their child “labeled” by camp counselors.

Personally, I believe it is a big mistake to send a child with ADHD to summer camp without his ADHD medication. My number one reason, which trumps all other considerations, is safety. Children with ADHD have impulse control issues. Why do we want to send an unmedicated child with impulse control issues to a place where he can easily hurt himself or somebody else through his impulsivity?

Most sleep away summer camps involve water. We do not want the ADHD child doing something impulsive that results in drowning himself or someone else. In addition, children at summer camps are not going to be supervised as closely as they are at home or at school.

In addition, the camp counselors are often high school or college age students rather than professional teachers. This means that the camp counselors are unlikely to have professional training in how to manage a child with ADHD. Heck, I have times after my adopted child’s ADHD medication wears off in which I have a very hard time controlling him as a parent. How can I expect an 18 year old with no experience in working with an ADHD child to handle him?

As far as labeling goes, I am on the opposite side as the parents who do not want their child having a label. I am relieved that my child has a label because that explains why his behavior can be out of control. He is not just some spoiled brat who never heard the word “no” in his life. He has a medical condition that is causing this behavior.

If I sent my adopted child to summer camp without his ADHD medication, he would still be labeled. However, instead of the label being ADHD, it would be “spoiled brat” or something else nowhere near as nice. Bottom line – my son cannot “hide” his ADHD. Whether or not I tell the camp counselors about his label, if he is unmedicated, the label speaks for itself.

Now, I do have to say that if I had to take my adopted child off his ADHD medication for the summer, I would much prefer that somebody else have to spend the day with him. He is very difficult to manage when he is on his “ADHD high,” so I understand why parents of ADHD children would want to do this with somebody else having to deal with the consequences. However, in my opinion, this is not responsible parenting. Responsible parents do not put their children into situations in which they are likely to harm themselves or someone else. It simply is not safe.

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Photo credit: Lynda Bernhardt