Well, the guy was a schmuck, and she was cool and had a nice singing voice.

Not sure if the singing voice thing applies...

Is it unusual for an 11 year old to be unable to swallow pills?

I had the most horrible time learning to swallow pills when I was ten. What made it worse than it might have been is that I was having to learn with uncoated chloroquine phosphate -- had to take them for malaria prophylaxis in the weeks before we went to Pakistan in 1974, and then once a week for the next six years. They are about the most bitter thing imaginable, and I couldn't swallow them.

The method that finally worked for me was to take a big gulp of water and hold it in my mouth, then tip my head back so that the water stayed put when I opened my mouth again, drop the pill into the middle of the pool, then swallow the gulp of water before the pill hits the back of my mouth.

To this day, it is the only way I can swallow pills.

I take pills the same way as dcp. If they get stuck on my tongue, I usually gag on them.

she was cool and had a nice singing voice.

Not sure if the singing voice thing applies...

Well, I would certainly like a girl who is cool and has a nice singing voice.

Is it unusual for an 11 year old to be unable to swallow pills?

I wasn't able to swallow pills until I was about 14. I still can't swallow vitamins and other big pills. The method that dcp uses is the only way I can swallow pills, too. Though with the kind of pill that's powder inside a capsule, it's easier if you tilt your head forward, because then the pill floats up to the top, right by your throat.

I think I learned how to swallow pills by practicing with Tic-Tacs first.

(Also, when he's first trying it out, watch him while he's doing it until you're sure he can swallow the pills without trouble. The four-year-old son of a friend of my father's recently died from choking on a pill.)

Pills I can take like a pro--liquids not so much. Cough syrup=Hell

My older sister still can't swallow pills any bigger than the round Advil, and Nick has trouble because of a constriction in his esophagus. So, 11 is not too young, imo. I learned early and practiced often, but I think I'm kind of a freak.

Our Ben still has problems swallowing pills, Cindy. He does better with the gel-coated capsules, but powdery tablets are hard. Stephen wet one with his fingertip and rolled it in sugar, and got him to swallow them that way.

Also, the practicing with TicTacs thing Hil mentioned might work.

You can buy a pill cup at most drug stores. It has a little shelf in it, you fill it with water, put the pill on the shelf and then drink it down. Also a friend of mine recently suggested putting the pill Under my tongue and it works like a charm! You never taste the pill and when you take the drink of water the pill surfs the wave right down your throat.

I do fairly well with pills, but lots of people have problems even as adults