In this Podcast on Medicating and Neurodiversity:

✅ Keep a voice-memo medication diary. Skip the written diary. A 30-second voice memo to yourself (or a text to the parent) captures behaviour changes that slow-boil out of memory. “It’s like the frog in water.”

✅ Observe across the whole day, not just class time. Girls especially mask at school. Ask parents about home regulation time, after-school meltdowns and weekend behaviour before drawing conclusions.

✅ Support blood-pressure monitoring at school. Pediatricians may request daily BP checks when starting stimulants. Agree a discreet time (e.g. 11am sick bay) and record the readings for the next appointment.

✅ Use relatable medical analogies with hesitant parents. “If she had leukemia, would you give her medication?” or “Kids get their asthma spray, why not this?” reframes stigma into relief.

✅ Watch for the zombie or lost-humour signal. If the child feels flat, loses their sense of humour or seems “not quite themselves,” flag it. Dosage may need reviewing, not the child.

✅ Respect teen privacy when delivering medication. No classroom drop-offs. No mum knocking on the door. Arrange collection at reception or with the learning support teacher, quietly.

✅ Flag Year 2 as a transition point. Executive function demands spike from Year 2, with more inferred meaning, less direct instruction and longer on-task expectations. ADHD often surfaces here, even when kinder and Year 1 looked fine.

✅ Gather multi-source observation letters. Before a medication review, collect input from school, psychologist, dance teacher, music therapist and anyone else who sees the child at a different point of their day.

✅ Treat behaviour as communication. A child sent to the principal daily is communicating. That is data for the medication conversation, not a character flaw.

Medication! This is always such a hard topic for EVERYONE. So I asked my Facebook community to share their actual experiences of medication; asking what medication, what worked and it long it took to work. I know this is a HARD topic but would love people to share and support others. As a teacher I have seen both the positives and negatives for kids and how it tricky it is to find the right medication for each child.

Naomi Bryce from Wagga Wagga NSW. Mother of Campbell 15 yrs and Gabrielle 13 yrs. Primary Teaching for 21 years, most recently in the areas of K-2. This year taking on a new adventure teaching a newly established Autism class within her school.

Nicki Powell is a parent and educator. She now helps other parent/carers navigate NDIS, Transition and a range of other supports. More info; https://www.nickipowell.com.au/

Chris O’Leary is a fellow parent and over the past 14 years, she has raised her children and step-children (now adolescents) who have a diagnosis of autism and ADHD, supporting them with their social challenges. She first discovered PEERS® when her son asked for help with learning social skills and they completed the PEERS® course, with Chris as his social skills coach. More info; Socialskillsaustralia.com.au

Books Authored by Sue Larkey