Posted on 01/09/2008 11:21:34 AM PST by bs9021
ADHD Breakthrough
by: Amanda Busse, January 09, 2008
A new study suggests that Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in children may be a matter of maturity.
According to the study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, ADHD in children is caused when portions of the brain mature at a slower pace than normal. For many, the condition eventually normalizes and nearly 80 percent of children grow out of the disorder, the researchers found.
Researchers used a new image-analysis technique to measure the thickening and thinning of thousands of cortex sites in 223 children with ADHD and 223 children without the disorder for the study. Scientists found that the cortex sites in children with the disorder reached peak thickness three years later, on average, than those in children without the disorder.
“There has been debate about whether ADHD is a delay or deviance from normal brain development,” the lead author of the study, Dr. Philip Shaw, told the Los Angeles Times, “This study comes down strongly in favor of delay.”
The cause for the delay in brain maturation which causes ADHD is unknown, but there is evidence that both genetic and environmental factors influence brain development.
At early ages, environmental factors that influence the inattention and lack of self control associated with ADHD may include certain parenting and teaching techniques, according to another study published in the same month in Developmental Psychology. The study found that self-control and maturity levels were affected by family life and filtered into the classroom setting.
(Excerpt) Read more at campusreportonline.net ...
the old “boys will be boys” theory!
cool.
‘bout time someone talked sense!
We might also consider that children do not get enough sleep these days and are overstimulated in daycare. Of the two, I would say that lack of sleep is a factor in the ADD/ADHD equation.
Another factor is the disconnect between what a kids wear to school and how they are supposed to behave. When there was a dress code even in public schools little boys wore dress shirts and ties, dress pants and dress shoes. Since they dressed for a structured environment, they behaved accordingly. What is a kid to think or do if he’s put in play clothes and then told to sit still? He’s going to go with the idea that he’s on the playground and act accordingly.
Look,
You’re a good parent and she’ll be OK. You’re doing the right things......
When an ADDer is accused of thinking outside of the box, their reaction is “There’s a box!?!?”
Those problems will be gifts....
I thought the “Miracle Cure” was going to be a swift kick in the ass and some strict parenting.....
There is SOMETHING to the Omega 3s and brain development, that is for sure. My non-talking (and not autistic) son started taking high quality fish oil supplements (they are NOT all alike and some risk mercury poisoning so be CHOOSY - go to your health food store and get the best) and within two weeks he began to speak.
Now we all add crushed flax seed to cereal or shakes, and take the fish oil supplements too.
As a matter of fact, we did. The first day on his meds he came home and told his Mother, "MOM! I did ALL of my math! And it was EASY!!!"
We did not come to this as an easy decision. When his teacher first suggested that might be an issue, we took him to our regular family physician who said after not even examining him (and I quote), "He looks normal. But if the school thinks he needs a prescription, I'll write it."
We left and never went back. We found a new pediatrician who in the first visit spent two hours with him. She interviewed us, interviewed his teachers. The diagnosis was a two month process.
We were never "pulling our hair out." As I said upthread his issues weren't bad behavior, but distractability. He was never the squirmy type. It was never a matter of getting him to "calm down."
My daughter responds to caffeine or sugar by actually calming down. My other children bounce off the walls if given sugar or caffeine. It is all about brain chemistry.
Another clue if you kid may have ADHD is: if we give her Benedryl for allergies she goes nuts my other kids sleep all day.
I agree, I have a seventeen year old that has had to deal with it his whole life. Tried meds and got him off quick. We think some of the meds may have affected his growth also. We worked real hard to help him keep up in school and it has paid off too. He does take a herbal supplement that we found that has none of the side effects that the regular meds have but help him stay focused. In fact both are kids take it. Its called mindcare.
Any Discipline Hurts Democrats
The best way I can explain it is imagine hundreds of brightly colored ping pong balls bouncing around your head.
Not only are you distracted, but you’re told to not only line them up (thought sequences) but pick out the blue one and put it behind the yellow one (organization).... or you’ll be punished (anxiety).
SHeesh! And you can’t even get them to stop bouncing! It’s chaos.... Until something outside pulls you away that is as fast and distracting as the ping pong balls (computer games) just an example, that’s all.
BINGO!
My brother would go to sleep after drinking coffee. There are clear markers (to this day, he’ll drink coffee to put himself to sleep).
People who say that ADHD is BS are ignorant, flaming a-holes.
“I have been working with him at home with that Total Transformation program that you hear advertised on the radio, and it does seem to have helped at home - but at school I have been pulled aside 3 times so far by his kindergarten teacher this year, to tell me is not listening to simple directions given in class.”
Maybe it is your kindergarten teacher who lacks patience; why would she be a teacher of immature students (all kindergarten students are immature), if she weren’t willing to give each child the attention he deserves.
Is this a mandated program he is in, or a choice made through convenience?
Each child is different in the same sense that you are not the same as me or those here.
The FDA just caused all the small children’s OTC cold medicines to be pulled from the market because in too many instances, they felt parents were either overdosing or simply using the doping effect some have to better control their babies fussing simply for the parents’ peace of mind.
After this new study of the cortex development, I think that all this business of ADHD should be re-examined in the same light.
ooo shiny....
Golly, and here I was thinking I was being extreme calling them archaic witch-burners ;)
I’m kidding most of the time about this stuff.
You really should ignore threads like this and go bang your head in the door instead. Should have the same affect.
I don’t think we should blame the medical side so much (except that fool psychologists are only pseudo-scientists who keep trying to prove themselves).
The real blame I think is ultimately our Dr. Spock society, where the child must never be crossed. Not only should they never be hit, but really, no consequences should ever be exacted. Just ignore them, right? Or worse, give in.
This applies both to parents and to teachers.
It used to be discipline included physical aspects. Nowadays it’s such a no-no that even “grabbing the arm” of a (ironically) striking-out kid is called “abuse”.
Parents were told physical punishment is never to be used, and of course, they included teachers and admin, who incorporated that in their policies. Never, ever touch a student. Even when they’re “touching” others.
Which further degenerated into “don’t look at them funny”, and just ignore it. Maybe sometimes send them to the office - where again noone can do anything but call a parent.
The kids are spoiled rotten from home and they KNOW the teachers can’t do anything at school. Ask my mom. At least in Special Ed she was allowed to “hug” them to keep them from thrashing or moving. But in regular school - not a thing.
Honestly,
on these threads I’m doing penance for not fighting more for GBB (and actually adding to his torment as a kid). So I’ll fight for the other kids.
I’m screwed up, but I have a life.....and thank god for the meds ;)
Do you have any source on this other than the seller?
“I am very strict and punish at home for bad grades and behavior. Alas, nothing worked. Once my daughter got put on the Daytrana patch she started making all A’s, talking and fidgeting less, and had a longer attention span all the while remaining the happy, precocious, and want to be popstar child she has always been.”
We once had a small Cocker Spaniel who would actually almost go into a fit at the sound of fireworks; after two years of this, we got the vet to prescibe some pills; she slept for 18 hours.
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