Condition Dependant Learning......The conditions under which information is learned has an impact on the conditions necessary for the learned information to be recalled. A child on stimulant ADHD medicine will be more attentive and will process information faster and more efficiently. BUT, if its a long term treatment, especially if the child realizes and connects the effects of the ADHD medication to the increased attention/improved learning conditions they experience, then it is VERY likely that the state of mind brought on by the ADHD medication will become a NECESSARY condition for recalling anything that they learned (whether its school, personal ideas, anything really) under the influence of the ADHD medication. Now, its not to say that if they stopped taking it in highschool they would completely forget everything they learned in school previously in life and become utterly non functioning, but without the medication it will be much more difficult to recall things they previously learned (like, needing to write about something from last semesters class and totally drawing a blank) and the "in class" habits they developed while on the ADHD medicine would not be effective without it, and they might forget the habits they had or how/why their study habits worked when they get off the ADHD meds.
This isn't guarenteed to happen and might not be as bad as i say it is if it does happen, but condition dependent learning is a real psychological phenomenon that happens to everyone. if the ADHD meds work well, it might be best to keep them going steady, and emphasize the child learn things more than one way. The more different ways someone learns something, the more able they are to recall it later, and recall it faster.
