Here's the text of a letter I emailed to http://www.guardian.co.uk in response to this article.

I read with interest the article on Ritalin ("Doctors urged to stop use of Ritalin for under fives", The Guardian 24/9/2008, UK News P4).

My son is 8 and is diagnosed with ADHD (along with Aspergers Syndrome). He receives Ritalin on prescription.

Aware of the side effects, my wife and I resisted this prescription for a long time. In the end, under pressure from Alex's inability to handle lessons at school we accpeted it.

We have previously tried a number of different therapies to help Alex handle his condition - cranial massage, relaxation techniques, dietary intervention, enzyme supplements. We have attended a number of (superb) training courses organised by the National Autistic Society. None of these were provided by the NHS. All the therapies have been condemned as worthless by our paediatrician.

In my experience, the NHS does not provide any alternatives. Alex has never been offered psychological support. There is no NHS training for parents. Ritalin and it's alternatives are the only thing the NHS has ever offered us. Is it any wonder that prescription rates are soaring?

The new guidelines will simply make it harder for us to access the one therapy they do provide, without doing anything to fund the extra support parents likes us are so desperately in need of. The NHS has washed it's hands of these children. Shame on them.