I gave my 13yo a choice when he was between 10 &11 because he complained so much about the medicine. He thought it was to prevent him from going "wild" and he didn't need anything to keep him from going wild, lol. I explained to him it was to help him focus. Anyway we decided to keep him off of his meds for the first 6-9 weeks of school. Things went well at first but I started to see the frustration, short-fuse, depression, and everything else creep back in. SO........the two of us decided he would go back on his meds. I try not to give it to him the entire summer (his body needs a break). He is more mature now and he takes it every morning on his own during the school year and at times I will skip a day or so during the week. I think it depends on your child's maturity and it can't hurt to give it a try. I think the key is to make them feel as involved as possible. One day they will have to be responsible for their own healthcare decisions, do i take med or not. ADHD does not go away. I hoped but am convinced now my son wil have it the rest of his life.

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We are in the same situation. My 9ry old is "choosing" when to take his medicine this summer. But he has a very short fuse and really overreacts without the medicine. The other day, I sat him down and drew a simple line chart. I showed him how he reacted when he took his meds, and how he reacted when he was off his medicine. He saw how the line with meds rose slightly, controlled and leveled off, compared to the jagged up and down line of how he reacted without medicine. He understood that he was overreacting. He then sat down on his own and made a list of things he can do to not overreact.

It is too early to tell if this chart has worked, but it was a great way to show him how he reacts, and we can only improve from here.

Good luck!

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