Overcoming ADHD | Helping Your Child Become Calm, Engaged, and Focused | Without a Pill
The Autism News | English
By Health News Digest
Every parent has a little anxiety as a new school year approaches. Will my daughter like her teacher? Will my son be able to keep up with his homework? But for parents of a child with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), the stakes can feel much higher.
Diagnoses of ADHD have been steadily increasing over the past decade. The National Institute of Mental Health says that three to five percent of children have it, and many experts believe that the true percentage is closer to ten, with many children going undiagnosed. Often, the first reaction to an ADHD diagnosis is to start children on medications that, while enabling them to focus, can constrict their emotional range, perception, and creativity.
Overcoming ADHD: Helping Your Child Become Calm, Engaged, and Focused—Without a Pill is the answer for parents who want to know if there are treatment options besides Ritalin. Through his thirty-five years of clinical practice, Dr. Stanley Greenspan—one of the country’s foremost child psychiatrists—has developed an intervention program that identifies the roots of ADHD and tailors treatment to the individual. Greenspan’s program is based on the knowledge that ADHD is not a single disorder, but rather a series of problems that share a symptom—inattention. But paying attention is a process that involves receiving and processing information as well as planning and executing actions. Children exhibiting signs of ADHD could be having trouble at any point in this process. The key to intervention is not giving them the latest catch-all medical stimulant, but figuring out where the break-down occurs and reinforcing the associated skills.
Overcoming ADHD gives parents and caregivers the information they need to strengthen the different abilities that contribute to attentiveness, including planning and sequencing actions, modulating responses to sensation, and thinking reflectively. It also explains the importance of family dynamics and a healthy environment in ADHD intervention, providing a comprehensive approach to treating ADHD effectively—and without drugs.
Stanley I. Greenspan, MD, is the author of Engaging Autism: Using the Floortime Approach to Help Children Relate, Communicate, and Think, The Challenging Child: Understanding, Raising, and Enjoying the Five “Difficult” Types of Children, and The Child with Special Needs: Encouraging Intellectual and Emotional Growth—all published by Da Capo Lifelong Books. He is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics at George Washington University Medical School and president of the Interdisciplinary Council on Developmental and Learning Disorders. He lives in Bethesda, Maryland. Jacob Greenspan is Co-Director of the DIR Support Services Center for special-needs children, including those with ADHD.
August 1, 2009 $25.00 Hardcover 198 Pages
Childcare/Psychology ISBN 978-0-7382-1355-2 A Merloyd Lawrence Book
Source: http://www.healthnewsdigest.com/news/Children_s_Health_200/Overcoming_ADHD_-_Helping_Your_Child_Become_Calm_Engaged_and_Focused_Without_a_Pill.shtml
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Janice Adamson
Hmm… read the article… interesting but probably written by someone without ADHD.There are three different sub-types, and the diagnosis can range from mild to severe. Not all of us within my family are on medication, most of us have co-existing disorders and one of my sons has Asperger’s Syndrome in combination with ADHD. If your child’s level of intelligence is high and his ADHD is mild – moderate chances are good that they may develop sufficient coping skills and mechanisms or patterning skills as he/she grows. ADHD is a life-long affliction.People are born with it, and a diagnosis is almost always given prior to age seven, except in cases of the mainly inattentive type w/ no hyperactivity which is much more difficult to diagnose because it is often mistaken for laziness and being unmotivated. As an adult with ADHD with five children, four have varied levels of diagnosed ADHD. Having one child vs a family afflicted is considerably different dynamically.
Sue Cooke
hi janice i agree with you i have a daughter kaitlin who is 6 and has asd and adhd combined and for last 2 years i coped with her lively shall we say behaviour and refused to medication , i finally unfortunatly gave in she is slightly better but i hate every pill i pop in her mouth but if it benefits her qulity of life just like any illness then i guess she has to have it ,, hopefully time will tell how she gets on as with all behavouir probs it is a long road and ind im really scared for her she isnt mild adhd more in middle then iv not met any other child with real bad case
Jennifer Polak
I can’t comment on anyone else’s condition. However, I will say that if Greenspan writes a book, it is worth a read. Remember, you can always take what you need and leave the rest. Because Greenspan tends to use behavioral approaches, there may be some good stuff in there for all of us. I noticed when I have read his autism books that much of the info would be beneficial to a larger audience and other is specific to how our kids process and develop.
Janice Adamson
Good Advice, Jennifer. I am always quick to read a new book if it can in some way benefit my family. I was only pointing out the approach to therapy in regards to this particular article is unrealistic for my family. I take what I can from all I learn and try to apply it in the hopes of some kind of success, if only for short periods of time.I’ve always said that my five were really meant to be only children but never were. More than one has ASD in combination with other disorders. ADHD by itself is much different as all disorders must be treated individually within a person, and it is difficult when there are multiple and various needs.