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Channing Tatum is one of the most bankable stars in the biz, but growing up he was a struggling student whose multiple learning disorders made his schooling a challenge and left him with low self-confidence.
"I have never considered myself a very smart person, for a lot of reasons," the 34-year-old Magic Mike XXL star, who was diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia, told The New York Times's T Magazine. "Not having early success on that one path messes with you."

Tatum did poorly as a schoolboy in Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida, and was ultimately prescribed study drugs to keep him focused.

"You get lumped in classes with kids with autism and Down syndrome, and you look around and say, Okay, so this is where I'm at," he said. "Or you get put in the typical classes and you say, All right, I'm obviously not like these kids either. So you're kind of nowhere. You're just different. The system is broken. If we can streamline a multibillion-dollar company, we should be able to help kids who struggle the way I did."

Tatum, who has a 1-year-old daughter, Everly, with his actress wife Jenna Dewan-Tatum, has spent a lot of time thinking about his baby girl's education as well. Last year, he told Vanity Fair that he would never give her study meds if she ends up having learning disabilities.

"I truly believe some people need medication," he told the magazine. "I did not. I did better at school when I was on it, but it made me a zombie. You become obsessive. Dexedrine, Adderall. It's like any other drug. It's like coke, or crystal meth. The more you do, the less it works... I would go through wild bouts of depression, horrible comedowns. I understand why kids kill themselves. I absolutely do. You feel terrible. You feel soul-less. I'd never do it to my child."

In the same interview, he said he works extra hard at his acting career because of his learning disabilities, but that also gives him a special insight into his roles.

"I read so slow," said Tatum, who appears in the upcoming film Foxcatcher. "If I have a script, I'm going to read it five times slower than any other actor, but I'll be able to tell you everything in it."

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I'm not going to ask specific questions, there are various things in this article that can be touched on, so what do you think?

I dont agree that those meds are just like crystal meth or coke. However I do agree that they can make you act differently. My nephew has autism, ADHD, and a few other learning disabilities. The doctors have him on a few medicines and while they do help him focus and stuff, my bil and sil have told me that he acts like a zombie.

They are actually proven to be addictive. When you take any drug that is not natural or has been modified in some way it has the potential to become addictive. Especially when it is something that you take for long periods of times. And with anything, the longer you are on something the more you become immune to it and it just doesn't work as well. That is when physicians start giving you other drugs or higher dosages so that it can give you that extra oomph.

When it comes to these drugs I think that they should only be used as a last resort, some people really do need them to function but unfortunately people tend to push these drugs on children so that they just don't have to deal with unwanted behaviors. If there is another option I would try it before giving Hayden any drugs, drugs will only be as a last resort if he absolutely needs it and I have exhausted all other solutions.

""You get lumped in classes with kids with autism and Down syndrome, and you look around and say, Okay, so this is where I'm at,"

I would also like to say that the statement that he made about autistic and down syndrome students put a sour taste in my mouth. I am sure that it was just a poor choice of wording on his part, sometimes people say stuff without thinking of how it comes out. But to me that statement says that he looks at special needs as people less than he is. For all he knows he very well could be one of those autistics, he has criteria for it and when he was in school high functioning autistics were often diagnosed as ADHD/dislexic instead of autism because little was known about it then. And even if he isn't the fact that he HAS a learning disability should make him more empathetic to others with learning disabilities regardless of the severity.

epiod wrote:

They are actually proven to be addictive.  When you take any drug that is not natural or has been modified in some way it has the potential to become addictive.  Especially when it is something that you take for long periods of times.  And with anything, the longer you are on something the more you become immune to it and it just doesn't work as well.   That is when physicians start giving you other drugs or higher dosages so that it can give you that extra oomph.  

When it comes to these drugs I think that they should only be used as a last resort, some people really do need them to function but unfortunately people tend to push these drugs on children so that they just don't have to deal with unwanted behaviors.  If there is another option I would try it before giving Hayden any drugs, drugs will only be as a last resort if he absolutely needs it and I have exhausted all other solutions.  

""You get lumped in classes with kids with autism and Down syndrome, and you look around and say, Okay, so this is where I'm at,"

I would also like to say that the statement that he made about autistic and down syndrome students put a sour taste in my mouth.  I am sure that it was just a poor choice of wording on his part, sometimes people say stuff without thinking of how it comes out.  But to me that statement says that he looks at special needs as people less than he is.  For all he knows he very well could be one of those autistics, he has criteria for it and when he was in school high functioning autistics were often diagnosed as ADHD/dislexic instead of autism because little was known about it then.  And even if he isn't the fact that he HAS a learning disability should make him more empathetic to others with learning disabilities regardless of the severity.

Ok when you put the drugs that way..i see your point...i think I was thinking of it as another way. I agree that they can become addictive. I was on a medicine for my anxiety/panic attack and I became addicted to it. It was hell weening me off of it and switching to another. So when you put it that way I agree.

I also would not give my children any medicine unless it was the last resort and I had the proper research, ect. As for my bil and sil i can control their parenting choices but I do not agree with him being on all those medicines.

The way he compares is rude as hell. It makes it sound like he is better then children with special needs and having two nephews who are handicapped and special needs this pisses me off cause no body is better then them. Since he has a learning disability that should make him more open and sensitive to others who have it no matter if its mild or severe.

Dalton is on these meds. Rons son was as well as my nephew. Without meds, rons son is very impulsive and cant function. My nephew how ever now needs drugs to self medicate. Well in his eyes. He was misdiagnosed as adhd when he really was bi-polar.
Dalton is alot like my nephew. BUT has both adhd and bi-polar. We see all the signs. I put off meds since he was diagnosed adhd in kindergarten. We did natural meds. Until it affected him in school. Now hes able to function better in school.
We question him often on his meds. We make sure he doesn't feel zombie like. We explain it as foggy. He did tell us one did so it was switched. He is part of the decisions with meds too. Its his body. He knows what they are for.
With that said, if you feel zombie like, they aren't the right fit. Everyone's chemical make up is different.
Im not saying meds are always the way to go. You have to research it. I worry all the time. I question the drs. They know why km worried too. Ive been very open to what my nephew went through.