He's been caught, but says he has no regrets.
An Arizona man said he took his son to hide in Florida for three months because he didn't want him to take ADHD medicine.
Jim Kaiser is currently in a custody dispute with his ex-girlfriend, Shelly Griffin, who says their 9-year-old son, Ben, needs the ADHD meds. A judge gave Griffin sole custody when Kaiser refused to go along.
"These drugs in my opinion are child abuse. It's insane to take a perfectly normal kid and wipe him out with drugs just so he can sit still in school," Kaiser tells KPHO.
Kaiser was caught in Florida when he was pulled over for speeding. He is now facing felony charges of custodial interference, and he's not allowed to speak with Ben.
Do you think Kaiser should lose custody ... or should he have the right to withhold ADHD drugs from his son if he doesn't believe in the diagnosis?
filed under: family
Email14 comments so far | Post a comment now >>
I think a father has just as much right as a mother to decide what is best for his child. Way too many kids are put on medicine today who really don’t need it.
- chris
While there are some kids who really do not need meds for ADHD, clearly there are some who do! Was the father involved in th diagnosis and treatment, or did he just decide he knew more than the doctor’s did? Some kids can control the issues associated with ADHD and some cannot and need meds to be able to stop their minds from wandering and be able to absorb their lessons. There are alot of meds that don’t put kids into the kind of state he refers to, so maybe a little cooperation with doctors and teachers is needed..rather than parental kidnapping. More discussion is necessary here.
- ADHD mother
I think that if he disagreed with it, he went about it the wrong way. He should’ve went to his divorce attorney and figured out how to go about halting the medication legally. I believe that if he did so, it would come to light whether or not the child actually has a legitimate need for the medication - something none of us can judge because we don’t know the child, his symptoms, or his situation.
- Anonymous
Thanks for posting this. I’m Jim Kaiser, the father in this story and I’d like to reply to the comments here. To Chris - Thank you. I obviously agree 100% with your comments. To ADHD mother - No, I wasn’t involved in the diagnosis, but it wasn’t from a lack of trying. The court ordered that both parents be involved but Shelly did everything she could to keep me out of the loop. When I was finally able to speak with the doctor (6 months into the treatment), he immediately stopped the prescription and insisted that both of us attend future appointments together. Shelly then continued to drug Ben with amphetamines without a prescription and without being under a doctor’s supervision. This went on for a couple of months. Then she went out and found a new doctor, didn’t involve me in it as she was court ordered to do, and got a new prescription. She knows that no doctor, after speaking with me, would ever give a prescription for these drugs because I was able to show that with some simple lifestyle changes, that these ADHD type of symptoms were totally non-existant. My son was being destroyed mentally, physically, and emotionally with these drugs, and I made the only choice I could to stop the abuse. It wasn’t an easy choice - it was the last thing I wanted to do - but I HAD to do it. To Anonymous - You are correct and I did exactly as you said. I fought this in court for 2 1/2 years before taking matters into my own hands. I had a judge who had never met my son, and who had refused to even interview him, who was hell-bent on seeing him drugged. He kept ordering me to drug him - I stood my ground and kept telling him NO! He warned me that if I refused, that he would take away all my custody and parenting time. I still refused. Taking my son and running away with him to protect him was my “plan B”. It wasn’t something I wanted to do and something I did everything in my power to avoid. But, the family court system pushed things to the point where it was the ONLY option I had left to protect my son. How far would YOU go to protect your children from abuse? TO Everyone -
- Jim Kaiser
Thank you! You often write very interesting articles. You improved my mood.
- Peter
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- Kouba
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- Arsento
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- Bunker
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- Floost
Interesting and informative. But will you write about this one more?
- Arsento
I read a few topics. I respect your work and added blog to favorites.
- Peter
Are you a professional journalist? You write very well.
- Bunker
Thank you! You often write very interesting articles. You improved my mood.
- Floost
Very interesting and amusing subject. I read with great pleasure.
- Floost
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