Ugh. I hate this. My son has ADHD, and the public school just couldn't cope with him. He was bored so often, and had no release for his energy because they rarely gave them recess (it got taken away if the class was too noisy, because teachers are idiots). When he was diagnosed, we made the difficult decision to give him medication. It made a big difference to his behaviour in school, to the extent that if he ever forgot to take it, the teacher would call me and have me take it in for him.

Now we're coming to the end of the summer, more than two months where he hasn't taken his medication, and he's been completely within the limits of what we can cope with. But I guess we're not trying to control 30 of them. He's starting at a private (Waldorf) school in a couple of weeks.

Ironically, we can now barely afford it after I just got fired from my job as a software engineer, because my own problems with ADHD were hindering my ability to work quickly.

Now I have to decide whether to start him at his new school with or without his medication. I mean, did it really help him, or was it just helping his teacher? Should I let him be himself, or am I doing him a disservice by not giving it to him? He needs to do well in this school, and students there start with a month-long probationary period.

It's a really tough call.