Posts Tagged tips
“Running Out of Gas” in School
About this time of year (if it hasn’t happened already), children with ADHD (ADD) begin to “run out of gas” at school. They are past the high point of Christmas, summer seems a long way off, and they’ve been working at school for over six months. After all, they’re kids. Often, they start to struggle and misbehave, and grades can decline.
This dilemma can become catastrophic for students with ADHD. They have been “running” much harder to keep up than their classmates have, and consequently are much more worn out than they are. An additional problem is the “foundation problem”, which refers to the tiered or sequential nature of education. As children move throughout the course of the school year, and progress from year to year, new concepts and understandings are built on the foundations of the previous ones. ADD often causes children to miss some of the key concepts of subjects. Then, when the teacher moves on to the next concept or set of facts, the child struggles with comprehening the new ideas because they are based on the previous ones, which they didn’t fully understand in the first place. This problem is of cumulative nature, and as school progresses, the lack of understanding increases and becomes overwhelming. Also increasing are the frustration, loss of confidence, and motivation… equally powerful in sabotaging the child’s success at school.
What makes matters worse are that these school programs may influence other areas of life, such as friendships and family life. Furthermore, the parents working with the child becomes exhausted too. This causes further “snow-balling” problems for the child and other members of the family!
The final piece of this dilemma is that at certain times in the education process, the teaching style, responsibility required of the student, or level of thinking required, take a big step up in difficulty. This may occur at fairly standard intervals, such as first, third, and sixth grade, middle school, high school, and college. But, with the increasing diversity in school programs and curriculum, it’s hard to know when these transitions will occur. This is often “the straw that breaks the camel’s back” for children with ADD.
Solution:
The solution is to correct the disorder. Unfortunately, many parents deny the existence of the disorder, or choose to not get help for their child because they fear the side effects and/or rigors of medication. There is, however, an alternative. Neurofeedback is a highly effective, drug-free, safe, non-invasive, and painless procedure in which the student learns to correct the problem. Once training is complete, no further treatment is necessary.
Add comment April 16, 2008
Peace for Parents of ADD Children – Dr. Stephen A. Ferrari
I have written articles in the past that talked primarily about helping children who have ADD lead more successful, happy lives. In this article I would like to address the parents of children with ADD, and try to offer some suggestions on how they might make their lives more peaceful.
The first thing I want to acknowledge and try to alleviate is parental guilt. Many, if not most parents of ADD children feel guilty and somehow responsible for their children’s plight.
ADD, if truly present (as can only be determined by a neurological assessment), is definitively not the result of poor parenting, emotional trauma, or moral failure. It is a neurological condition, and as such, its causes and cure are of a neurological nature, and once again, definitely not one of the above. Parents beat themselves up for this all of the time, and not only is it not helpful, it may in fact worsen the situation and further deteriorate family dynamics.
The following are some guidelines, which if followed, should bring about some peace for beleaguered parents of children who struggle with ADD.
- ADD children will do better with powerful consequences (positive before negative) which are immediate
- Consistency, between parents and over time is very important
- The more structure someone with ADD has, the better they will do
- Feedback must be given more frequently
- Intervention must be at the point of performance
- Expect variability of performance
- Plan ahead and anticipate situations
- Make rules very simple and very clear
- Stop talking! Once instructions are simple and clear, and immediate consequences of behavior are spelled out, stop talking. Continued talking will confuse and distract from the directions given.
Formula for attention from the ADD child:
A (attention from child) = C (degree of consistency) + W (precise, specific wording, the way directions are given to the child)
There is one other way to bring about the maximum amount of peace in dealing with an ADD child,… and that is to correct the condition entirely. The improvement in performance and/or behavior, with the corresponding increase in self-esteem, that come about when a person no longer has to struggle with attention deficit disorder, is wonderful to see.
The aforementioned suggestions, while helpful, can be likened to using a crutch or a cane to help someone walk when they have a broken leg. It’s helpful, but it will never correct the problem.
There is now a treatment available that avoids the side effects, rigors and stigma of medication, while allowing the child to actually retrain the attention mechanisms of their brain, ameliorating the condition. Neurofeedback is a drug free, painless procedure. Once the treatment is complete, no further training is necessary.
To request information on the treatment of Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD, ADHD), Mild to Moderate Autism Spectrum Disorders, Sleep Disorders, Chronic Depression, Chronic Anxiety, and Peak Performance Training contact:
Dr. Stephen A. Ferrari Alta Neuro-Imaging Neurofeedback 1075 Yorba Place Suite 105 Placentia, CA 92870 714.990.6536 Website: www.ocbiofeedback.comAdd comment January 5, 2008
