Not allowed to play sports | ADHD Information

I never heard of such a thing.  I would maybe check into the disabiltiy act law in case you need to for they should not be discriminated against.  And what do meds have to do with the sport?  Let us know what happens and what you find out.  Can you call and have someone else ask the questions so your voice is not traced.It's certainly not a law (can we all spell "discrimination") but it might be an unwritten policy in your school district. The quarterback on our jr. high team takes adhd meds (which I know because I have tutored him in the past) and he's an integral part of the team.  It stinks so much that we have to advocate almost every part of our children's lives. I would call the district office and ask, check with the athletic director, or call a school board member.

while taking ADHD meds.  Has anyone heard of this?

My mother told me she heard it was a law.  That if the coaches found out the kids were taking meds they would no longer be able to play.  I signed my sons up for football in the fall and my youngest ds shows an interest in a variety of different sports.  I'm worried that this will eventually be a problem we'll have to deal with.  Rob would be very upset if the meds interfered with him playing his sports, as would I.  Can they really prevent a child from playing?

Haha, no way. I play on the olympic development soccer team of my state, various other clubs, and for my High School. I also take or have taken about every adhd drug there is on the shelf. There is no possible way that a player can be excluded from the team if he/she were taking adhd medication FOR treating their adhd. The meds can give you a kind of buzz and increased focus, but that’s only raising the adhd'er to the "normal level" compared to their peers. It allows more dopamine to transfer from neuron to neuron - which adhd'ers lack in. Yeah it may increase heart rate and ladada... however it should not reach the levels of harmfulness unless the adhd'er was taking too much of the medication than is appropriate for them.   

It's not true here. That's a fact.

I wonder if it's a liability/fear based policy.  The stims increase blood pressure and heart rate, making the circulatory system work harder anyways.  Add the increase from sports and it might make the officials leary.  Some of the teen boy's deaths in sports  occurred from sudden heart death, and some of them were on stims at the time.  The risk is so low though, if that were the reasoning behind this school's policy, it wouldn't really make much sense.  Seems if this were the case, they should have the parent sign a waiver releasing liabilty.  Sports are such a wonderful thing for all kids.

Just my rambling thoughts........ 

 

 

I don't really want to start asking questions and start a problem, KWIM.

That's what I said to, "That's Discrimination."  The person my mother was talking to said they had had this problem with their son and the sport he was playing.  As soon as they found out he was taking ADHD meds he could no longer participate because of the risks, racing heart beat, etc.  I really don't know all the fact, I didn't speak first hand with this family.

I didn't really think they could prevent a child from playing sports but I wanted to see if anyone else had experienced this problem.

What about gym class?  Wouldn't they have to seat that out too?

i think sport is really good for an ADHD child and i hope you don't let ignorant people stop your children being kids and do things they should be doing.

please keep us informed

i hope it isn't true... dillon loves baseball ,basketball, and hockey.. we plan to put him in t-ball next year..

It's possible that there was something more than ADHD meds going on with the child which prevent him from playing.  I don't know.

It just worried me that it would be another thing I'd have to fight the school on and I wanted the opinions of the members of this board.

I appreciate all your responses, thanks!

 I noticed in our area, when you sign up for a sport there is a question on the signup form about wether or not your child has add/hd. I think it is none of their business, so I said no. I do not want him getting treated at all different from the other players on the team. His adhd has nothing to do with his ability to play. Isn't it sad, we live in a world like this!?I never heard such bull in my whole life. Where is that writen as a law. My son has played baseball for 3 years. You need to review the source where this is coming from. I watch the news all the time. Nothing was ever said about that. Enjoy football with your son.Neraklook up titles 9 and 10 on google, the are the federal laws that govern this area. My daughter has played on several city and school sponsored boys full contact football teams. A few of them had to be educated on the laws, she was allowed to tryout and has made the team everytime. God luck.Hi i am not sure where you live, but it is not the law at all. my son has been playing sports since he was 5, he is now 12. he has played, baseball, and still plays soccer, and football. All of my sons coaches know he adhd, and this is not a problem, in fact his concerta was just raised to 90mg, and i told his coach, no problems. Tell your son to enjoy football, it's a big commitment, and will take up all of your time, but i know my son loves it

All of my time? That's what I'm afraid of.  He struggles in school and needs extra help and time on his reading etc. I'm working with him now through the summer, not real sure that it will help all that much.  I could not tell him no he couldn't play football, it's all he's talked about for the last yr., this is the first yr he'll be old enough to play.

In the fall, I'll have both my dd's on the high school swim team, my 14 yr dd is in the band and their busy with marching season, competitions, and playing at football games.  And both my ds's will start playing rocket football this yr.  I'm exhausted already!

good luck i am exhausted just reading your post,you are a busy mumIT DOES SOUND LIKE DISCREMINATION TO ME

Hey littlebitcrazy, is your state part of the national pop warner league? If they are all kids have to make a certain grade. my son because of his learning problems doesn't make this, so their is a special form that has to be filled out so he can play football. I would check into it, because in my state all information has to be turned in before they can put the pads on, which is the second week of conditioning. Also don't be surprised if your son doesn't like the helmet, i would struggle with mine to put it on, he said it hurt so bad, but after all the other kids wore it he got used to it! Good Luck

Razzlynne, This is the first of heard of the Pop Warner League.  They've already taken my money so I'm not thinking that's the case here........or are you talking about the high school level?  How old is your son?  My ds's are 10 and 8, so this is a program outside of the school.

Robby is struggling in school, mostly reading, and we were in the middle of educational testing when school ended this year, but I know he's being denied services.  We will have the IEP when school resumes in the fall and I'll have to keep trying to get the school to help him.

As far as the helmet, we have already been through it.  He has been riding his dirtbike for the last 3 yrs.  He had to get use to the helmet or there was no riding.

[QUOTE=scotmama]good luck i am exhausted just reading your post,you are a busy mum[/QUOTE]

Luck, I'll need plenty of that.  I'm not one of these, 'have it all together, well organized moms'.  I'm the mom that will forget the snack, forget what time practice ends, get overscheduled, over stressed, realize at the last min. I have two kids with games in two different towns.  The start of school and fall activities are a very stressful time for me.  This yr having all 4 kids involved with something, I shudder to think about the disasters that are bound to happen.

Hi littlebitcrazy, my son is 12, and national pop warner league is what my town, and about 300 other towns in ma. are part of. The rest of ma. is part of the afl league. For us the age of pop warner is 7 as long as they make weight. But all kids have to have a 70 average to play, my son has learning problems so then he has a form to be filled out, allowing him to play. Have fun and enjoy, it is really fun to watch him play, just not always fun traveling to towns you don't know!