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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| Feds Reward Parents for Putting Kids on Psychotropic Drugs |
| 2011-01-20 |
| From the Unintended Side Effects Department: SSI has its own set of side effects on children. The benefit was a lot like welfare, better in many ways, but it came with a catch: To qualify, a child had to be disabled. And if the disability was mental or behavioral — something like ADHD — the child pretty much had to be taking psychotropic drugs. Geneva Fielding of Boston was struggling to raise her three sons on her income as a single mother. Her two oldest sons were particularly troublesome. She applied for SSI for them. Neither was on medications; both were rejected. Then last year, school officials persuaded her to let her 10-year-old try a drug for his impulsiveness. Within weeks, his SSI application was approved. “To get the check,’’ Fielding, 34, has concluded with regret, “you’ve got to medicate the child.’’ Once a family gets on SSI, the benefit (around $700 a month) is hard to let go of. |
| Posted by:Anguper Hupomosing9418 |