Originally published in The Dyslexic Reader,
Issue 6 Copyright (c) Summer 1996-year DDAI.
Why A Drug Free Program?
By Brian K. Grimes, Director, Reading Research Council
We are often asked whether a person can do the Davis Orientation Counseling Program while taking prescribed medications such as Ritalin or Prozac. These medications are sometimes prescribed for conditions such as ADD, ADHD and depression.
The answer to this question is that we prefer the program not be done while medications are being taken. Of course, we always ask our clients to seek the advice and permission of their doctor before discontinuing any medication.
Some medicines (particularly those that affect the central nervous system) hamper a person’s ability to use creative thought, or to visualize or picture things using imagination. This becomes significant when doing Orientation Counseling as well as the Fine Tuning sections of our program. During these times, individuals are using multi-dimensional thought and perceptual abilities that are quite natural for them. Psychoactive drugs will inhibit the individual from using these talents.
One of the main goals of Orientation Counseling is to enable a person to correct their perceptions and control their attention on their own without the use of medication. A person under the influence of medication cannot experience the contrast and improvement that voluntary control of orientation has on their learning ability as well as their creativity.
This doesn’t man that it is impossible for a medicated person to do the Davis procedures. We simply prefer to reduce any possibility of the person being unable to perform these tasks and thereby not gaining the full benefits of our program.
In many, cases, our clients have traveled a great distance. Should they arrive only to be unable to do parts of the program successfully because of drugs in their system, it is unfair both to the clients and to the counselors charged with taking them through the program successfully.
Thus, our policy is to ask the individual to refrain from using drugs for at least a week before starting Orientation Counseling whenever possible. Medications such as antibiotics and aspirin, when necessary to treat physical illness, are of course acceptable. Medicines such as antihistamines, codeine-based cough syrups, Ritalin, antidepressants (Prozac, Zoloft, etc.) should be avoided.
If you have any questions regarding a medication, call us and ask about it, then consult with your doctor.