ADHD - Attention Deficit Hyperactivity
Disorder
Attention
Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder means that there is difficulty in maintaining
attention and or activity and impulsivity levels. It can lead to a clever child
underachieving academically and behaving poorly, regardless of receiving the
highest standards of parenting.
It
affects between 4-16% of the population depending on what research you read. It
generally reduces in severity with age but still affects adults to varying
degrees.
In
terms of gender, it has been shown that ADHD is more common problem in boys.
Boys are six times more likely to be referred for help than girls. The actual
ratio is probably more like 3:1 since girls are less likely to be diagnosed
since they are less disruptive and suffer more silently than boys. The
difference may also be due to biochemical or genetic reasons.
There
are different types of attention deficit disorder:
-
ADHD-combined
( both inattentive and hyperactive/impulsive)
-
ADHD-predominantly
inattentive
-
ADHD-predominantly
hyperactive/impulsive
The
impulsive, poor self monitoring behaviors result in the child rushing through
work, settling slowly after a break, tapping and fidgeting, calling out in
class, and failing to check work before it is handed to the teacher. The
attention deficit problems affect organization, getting started with work,
listening skills, sustained work input, distractibility, and short term memory.
Many
alternative labels for this condition have been used in the past and some are
still used today:
It
is not an intentional misbehavior that we are seeing but rather a medical
condition. It seems that the brains need to focus is running at such a high
level that it cannot be maintained. We believe that because the cerebellum is
not allowing skills to become rapidly automatic then the thinking brain must
focus much more than is normal. This leads to overload of the brains working
capacity and inability to maintain levels of concentration for long.
The condition arises where there is a delay in neurological development in the
brain. The cerebellum is one of the main brain areas implicated. There is often
an inability to ignore external stimuli, this means that the person is easily
distracted from work, and will find it more difficult to return to the same
task.
A child may be subconsciously continually moving in order to stimulate the
cerebellum to function better. It also helps to improve the timing mechanisms
of the brains function. We know the cerebellum is very much involved in the
timing and sequencing of both movement and thought. This may lead to excessive
fidgeting of the hands and feet. This is not a sign of inattention; in fact it
is often the contrary in these children. They are often concentrating better
when this fidgeting is taking place. This could be why plenty of exercise helps
children with ADHD.
However, fidgeting may be a distraction to other children, if this is so,
strategic seating (not segregation) in the class may be required. If other
children are not distracted then the best policy is to more or less ignore this
fidgeting as it is being done subconsciously.
More
facts
-
Factors
in the child's environment do not cause ADHD, but do affect its severity and
outcome.
-
Some
preschoolers are labelled incorrectly as being “hyperactive”. Although often
these children are just busy and exhibit the normal lack of common sense
associated at this early age.
-
Teachers
of ADHD children state: “This child is distractible, disruptive and needs one
to one supervision to achieve” Teachers can be confused when a clever child
behaves poorly and underachieves.
-
Playground
problems can be common place as the child can easily misread social situations.
Sometimes an ADHD child is described by teachers as: “known by everyone and
liked by none” this can have devastating implications on their self
esteem and behavior.
-
Impulsiveness
can leave the child both physically and verbally accident prone and. They can
frequently trip, fall, act stupidly and constantly put their “feet in their
mouth”. Children can nag and be very demanding from dawn till dusk and the
combination of all these factors can lead to great stress and pressure in
family life.
Diagnosis
The
cut-off point between a normal but difficult temperament and ADHD is clearly
not definable in black and white. For a diagnosis of ADHD, six out of the nine
difficult behaviors should be present from the Diagnostic and statistical
manual of mental disorders 4th edition (DSM IV). At Dore we use
the (DSM IV) to assess whether there is the presence of attention problem,
hyperactivity and impulsivity .
Summary
of key features of ADD
-
Difficulty
in following instructions / completing a task;
-
Easily
distracted;
-
Forgetful;
-
Does
not listen when spoken to;
-
Fidgets
/ restless;
-
Interferes
with other children’s work;
-
Cannot
stop talking / interrupts;
-
Runs
about when inappropriate;
-
Blurts
out answers without being asked;
-
Has
difficulty waiting a turn;
-
Acts
impulsively and never considers actions or thinks through consequences.
-
Can
be disruptive and have poor behavior in school and/or at home
-
Can
be clumsy or have reading and writing problems
How
Can Dore Help
Through
the Dore program great improvements can be seen in many of the above areas as
the child is able to concentrate more and remain alert as the connections
between the cerebellum and the areas concerned with alertness and attention
improve.
Most children with severe ADHD receive one or more stimulant medications.
People often wonder why a child with overactive behavior needs stimulation. In
fact by stimulating certain areas of the brain it actually allows focusing and
maintenance of attention to take place more easily.
However this can only happen when taking medication and wears off quickly when
they are stopped. It does not have any permanent effect.
At Dore we achieve what drug treatments cannot using the natural stimulation of
specific physical stimulatory exercises devised by Dore.
We see 90% of our clients improve their attention abilities and 80% improve
their attention so much that they could no longer be regarded as having ADHD.
This degree of improvement has been found to be sustained even a year after
completing our program and appears to be a permanent effect.
Try our quick and free assessment to see if the program
could help you or call our Client Support Team for more information on
877-855-DORE.