>Disruptive in the sense of wandering around in class, kicking/pulling hair/spitting on other kids, suddenly yelling or crying, sure that's disruptive.
> But doling out ritalin because a kid whispers to others or clowns around a bit or asks silly questions or pea-shoots a few other kids or is generally listless in his seat is not appropriate.

I agree with you here. A kid who fidgets a little, talks to his neighbor or occasionally cracks wise just needs a good glare from the teacher. But a kid who's unable to sit still, for whom more than 2 minutes on any task is too much, and who prevents the rest of the class from working needs treatment of some sort. In some cases, that's ritalin or another drug.

We know several kids (three boys who are children of friends come to mind immediately) who had serious school issues until ADD/ADHD was diagnosed and treated. All three are doing well now, one in college, one a senior in high school and headed to college in the fall and the third a junior in high school.

I also know a VFP guru who realized as an adult that he's ADD, and can trace a lot of the big mistakes in his life to the ADD.

Tamar