Hundreds of parents are deciding to hold off prescription drugs as the first course of treatment in treating ADHD without medication. It seems a lot of schools because of the pressure to perform in test scores and not having the time to deal with a child that does not conform in the usual sense of the word will be labeled a kid with ADHD. Just because a teacher or counselor says your child is ADHD does not mean they are. Make sure they have received a correct diagnosis before being medicated and an alternative therapy may work better for them. Even if after a correct diagnosis treating ADHD without medication is possible.
Controlling ADHD without meds has been growing in popularity because so many parents do not want to medicate their child. Parents do not want the side effects and the
Read More
Most people know that ADHD kids are going to fidget and squirm a lot, at least if they are suffering from the hyperactive sub type. But did you know that this fidgeting actually helps them when have to concentrate? This is the result which Mark Rapport of The University of Central Florida obtained after a very important study with ADHD kids.
Just as we doodle during meetings, ADHD kids will become quite restless when faced with certain tasks. They will tap their feet and maybe swivel in their chairs. Dr. Rapport noticed this was the case where short term memory is required. He gave them a task which was not that easy. They had to remember a series of numbers they had been shown and then put them back in the original order. As the tasks got harder, they started to bounce and swivel around even mo
Read More
Myths about Attention Deficit Disorder abound, and sadly, they are believed by many uninformed individuals. Many of these myths have developed from many years of medical professionals diagnosing mostly hyperactive young boys.
One of the big myths that is very prevalent today is that ADD is the popular diagnosis for this time period: the ‘flavor of the month’, in a manner of speaking. If a child acts up in the classroom, he or she is said to have ADD and requires medication. While there appears to be an explosion of ADD in America, this is due to a variety of factors. One factor that needs to be considered is the evolution of technology and medicine: we continue to learn more and more about every type of disorder, and ADD just happens to be one of them. This does not make it a fad diagnosis. W
Read More
The Wonders of My ADHD Child
‘Hey Mom, don’t you think cockroaches are beautiful in their own way?’
As I hurry down the front steps in the typical school morning rush, my daughter is kneeling on the walkway looking at not only a cockroach, but what I would call Mr. Cockroach! It’s huge, brown, nasty and crawling on my walkway. Its antennae could pick up radio signals. My daughter doesn’t lift her head but asks me again.
’Don’t you think so Mom?’
‘Catie, don’t touch that thing!’
‘I’m not touching it, I’m jus
Read More
I was really shocked to find that when I did a search on Google for ‘Ritalin deaths’, there were 7,500 results! That was when I really thought enough was enough and it was really time to consider less drastic alternatives. Then I started wondering about whether ADHD treatment without medication was really possible. Hence this article.
I was fascinated to read about the University of Buffalo’s Summer Treatment Program For ADHD Children, led by the world ADHD expert Dr. William Pelham. This treats children with ADHD by means of an intensive behavioral program, regardless of whether they are on medication or not.
The results have been remarkable and the program is now repeated in many US cities such as Cleveland, Birmingham and New York. The program consists of teaching social skills, coping
Read More
Your child’s teacher may be the first one to indicate that there could be an ADHD problem with your child. There may be notes about his being disruptive in the classroom and other ADHD signs such as forgetting homework or not doing it all and also talking and chattering in class. It is when these symptoms start to become permanent and have a duration of more than six months that ADHD should be considered as a possibility.
However, the ADHD signs should also be present in other settings. There could be problems at home where he tends to be aggressive and violent with his siblings, chattering and squirming. You may also notice how he or she fumbles with everything. Then there are temper tantrums and aggressive behavior.
One of the ADHD telltale signs is where this strange misbehaviour which is in stark
Read More
When ever we think of peer pressure, we think of the bad peer pressure. We think of children and young people following the example of stronger personality which are not good for them. We do not think of the good peer pressure, which causes the child to excel and reach for their full potential. most of us do not acknowledge that we are constantly subjected to peer pressure and go along with the peer pressure if we believe it is to our advantage such as a new car, larger house or a perfect lawn.
Peer pressure can be good. It can cause us to be better and more successful. Or it can cause us to take action which are not good for us in order to reach a peer pressure goal (examples are lying, cheating or other unhealthy things). You must be the judge. Bigger is not always better. Responding to peer pressure cau
Read More
Have you ever been in a classroom, boardroom, seminar, or some other setting where the keynote speaker starts to talk, and talk, and then talk some more? Most of us would eventually stop paying attention, hoping that this verbal form of Chinese water torture will stop sooner rather than later.
On the other hand if the information is relevant to us, or we find it particularly compelling, then we might hope the speaker continues even after everyone else in the room has dozed off.
The difference between those with ADHD and those without the condition is that those with the condition will lose concentration almost immediately if they don’t find the subject matter compelling. On the other hand if they find the lecture on how ball bearings spin riveting then they may not be able to get enough. In fact they
Read More
It’s a common fact that children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder often have trouble in their relationships, both at home and in making and keeping friends.
Children with ADHD have short attention spans, find it difficult to control their impulses, and are hyperactive. This is now known to be due to medical and genetic factors, but those around them frequently don’t understand and assign blame to the children.
Because of these characteristics, children with ADHD can be disruptive and may embarrass their parents and teachers, bringing punishment on themselves. They are often behaving in a way that they don’t even understand themselves, wishing they could be better behaved but unable to focus and splurting out embarrassing things. They therefore find it hard to fit in socially
Read More
Being a student these days is difficult enough without the added issue of ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). Contrary to what many may think, an ADHD diagnosis does not mean that your child is simply more energetic than others. It means that the child has an actual disorder that needs to be treated if the child is to achieve success academically, professionally, and even socially. Your child might have ADHD and yet not be hyperactive or impulsive at all because ADHD is broken down into three sub-categories, namely inattentive, hyperactive/impulsive, and combined type ADHD. The majority of children diagnosed with the disorder will be diagnosed with the combined type which means that they display the symptoms and behaviors of both inattentive type and hyperactive/impulsive type ADHD. Coping wit
Read More
ADHD Dad | April 6, 2012
