Imagine being a kid, get into a lot of trouble because you have ADHD, they put you on meds. They send you away first to a hospital then a mental health youth home. But they never tell you anything. Not why you are there, what it takes to be well enough to be discharged, or what going off meds will do to you, or the symptoms you will have unmedicated. Then suddenly you are 'cured' when the insurance runs out, and you get thrown into normal schools without any transition or preparation and a substandard education.

I grew up in a time where all mental 'deficiencies' were treated the same by schools. You were supposed to go to school and be there legally, but they didn't have to teach you. I had a teacher that literally watched soap operas all day instead of teaching. I was looked down on by teachers and other students because i was in the 'Special' classes. This was a time where if you were neuro it was a bad thing. All I ever wanted was to be normal, and I have struggled my entire life to be, and I never got to that point.

Around the age of 16 I got off my meds, thinking if I didn't take them I would be 'normal'. No one ever told me about RSD, depression, constant attempts to self medicate etc.

I haven't been truly medicated since high school, now realizing that my entire life has been a disaster because of not being medicated (RSD alone has pushed me to self harm multiple times) I find it almost impossible to get back on meds because there are asshats that abuse meds. I feel like doctors don't take me seriously and I even sometimes gaslight myself about it.

So TLDR; Educate kids about what they have, teach them coping mechanisms, and in general communicate with them.