The modern day neurophysiologist and neuropsychologist look at the brain from a very different perspective. They love frontal lobe function assessments. Just to remind you, frontal lobe is the (CEO) Chief Executive Officer that usually has the final say before an action is carried out. The neuropsychologists contend that the frontal lobe is often weakened in its response to stimuli in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (Adhd) kids. At present, this is more an academic pursuit than a diagnostic method.
It is tragic that neuropsychologist are not aware of many of the trigger factors of Adhd. If they were, the connections would be immediately obvious. By the end of our discussions, you as a parent will have the upper hand. So don’t worry, just read on and be happy!
Other tests include attention and persistence. These assessments are usually done to make the diagnosis and then quantify the response to medication. So although these assessment are not important as a diagnostic analysis, they will determine the amount of medication that goes into your child.
Hardly appropriate if you ask me. I go back to my procrastination example. If everyone was diagnosed with procrastination and there was a drug that compelled you to do things and its effectiveness was measured by a test of procrastination…what do you think would happen?
First of all, the treatment is just covering up the symptom, it hasn’t addressed the underlying issue and worst of all it most likely has side effects. One of the biggest problems with AD-HD medication is that they do work!
No, I didn’t type that wrongly, they do, they ‘dumb’ down the child so that they do not go hyperactive but do their grades improve much above where they should be? Beware of the Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder medication trap, it might be a worthwhile short term solution, a Band-Aid if you like but nothing more.
So you need to be aware of the attention and persistence assessment. Make sure you don’t get sucked into the ADHD medication trap. The attention test is called The Paired Associate Learning Test and the persistence analysis is called Continuous Performance Test.
So form now on if anyone tells your about the tests and tries you convince or perhaps coerce you into medicating your child, simply smile and kindly refuse. If they persist, ask them to bet money that the treatment will cure your child and watch as their mouths fall to the ground. You always have a choice. Although sometimes the professionals make it seem like you don’t.
Newer developments are on the way with equally fancy names like neurometrics, Brain Electrical Activity Mapping and other specialized brain wave analyses. These new concepts are exciting but again are useful only as pointer.
Let me recap a few things. After seeing many Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (Adhd) children it is transparently clear that no two are exactly the same. Despite this, the medical profession seems to believe that a drug would work for all Attention Deficit Disorder With/out Hyperactivity kids (another hole in logic but let’s not go there).
The good news is that if you take very careful notice of what happens to your child and you are aware of the different factors involved that may trigger off an Attention Deficit Disorder response then you will be in good standing to stop Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (Adhd) from taking over your life.
The take away message is simple, use common sense. Sometimes too much science makes a simple job complex. That is what science is about, turning the obvious and simple into the complex and obscure.
For instance, if our task was to tell the difference between a wild wolf and a friendly German Shepherd, we could create a series of checklists, investigations and measurements. But at the end of the day, even without these measurements few of us would be confused if one ran in front of us.
In real life, your experience with the child is worth far more than all the medical investigations combined. Remember diagnosis is only the start, it is what happens after that which really matters!
Treatment Of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
Step 4: History and Observation
After seeing many Attention Deficit Disorder (Add) young adolescents it becomes apparent that no two are exactly the same. Despite this, if one takes a careful history which is tuned to ADD, there are usually telltale signs.
* About 1/3 of AD/D young kids will have been normal infants who become toddle tornadoes the minute they started walking.
* At preschool about ½ stood out in their inability to sit and settle at story time. Some upset other kids.
* For many AD/D kids, the first school report used the words, ‘disruptive, distractible, goes walkabout’
* There is a dramatic difference between academic success in the one-to-one situation versus unsupervised study.
* Most are restless and as you talk to them they fidget and their eyes flit.
* Their behavior in a group is often embarrassing and when playing with one other young adolescent they are overpowering and bossy.
* Their compulsivity makes them both verbally and physically accident prone
* As you talk to the parents you quickly sense their frustration, stress and confusion. (this is different to the feeling that you get from the parents of a defiant and poorly managed adolescent)
* In the office young, impulsive, overactive young children are easy to diagnose. The moment they walk in the door, the doctor will by reflex reach out to protect their property.
* In the office older kids present less dramatically. Most squirm, fidget and fiddle. Their talk often gets side-tracked or they become lost in mid sentence. Asking questions often gets the answer, ‘Good’ Their eyes and minds are all over the place.
* We estimate that over 90% of Attention Deficit Disorder With or Without Hyperactivity young adolescents can be identified as such by a properly tuned history. Sometimes ADD will not be obvious in the doctor’s office and then the diagnosis is made by listening carefully to the parents. When this happens, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is diagnosed in the same was as many other medical conditions. The doctors believe what the parents tell them so listen carefully.
It is much more difficult to diagnose kids who present with pure inattention and subtle problems of learning. In this situation tests and pointers are of special value. When major family dysfunction and the heavy behaviours of Oppositional defiant disorder or conduct disorder cloud the picture, diagnosis may become exceptionally difficult but this is very very rarely the case.
With experience it gets easier but for our purposes you need only make that diagnosis once and that should be easy as pie.
Doesn’t that change the whole Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder picture?
I'll be working on the next few articles soon. In the meantime if you need any further assistance, please drop me an email at questions [@] adhdgift.com
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