...OUR CHILDREN AND ADHD AMANDA WENTZEL COLUMBIA SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY Abstract ADHD also known as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is a condition that is near to my heart. My 15 year old daughter was diagnosed with ADHD at age 6. We have struggled with this since day one. I have researched ADHD, the protocol for diagnosing ADHD, coping with ADHD and of course treatment methods for ADHD. It has came to my attention that ADHD is becoming diagnosed more frequently and that children are sometimes misdiagnosed with ADHD and subsequently treated for the condition and it may be unnecessary. ADHD is becoming common yet the diagnosing method is pretty vague and the medications for this are sometimes harmful if not needed. There are other forms of treatments and there are also coping skills and lifestyle changes that can be beneficial for those who have ADHD and their families. I researched some of these other methods and the facts on ADHD. I have found some interesting information that I hope will help others that deal with this diagnosis. This paper states actual facts and it is my intention to help others understand ADHD and know the facts surrounding the diagnosis and treatments. People are becoming more and more familiar with ADHD and it seems to be being diagnosed more frequently. First things first, what is ADHD? ADHD is abbreviated for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is diagnosed by symptoms. One of those...
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...ADHD Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurological illness that progresses throughout early years of life and can carry on into adulthood. Even though adult ADHD is more common than initially assumed, not all adolescents who develop these indications will progress with the adult form of the disorder. Adolescent indicators may also become altered throughout the duration of a lifecycle, although others may get expressed in a different way. Corresponding to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, around the normal stage of development of 7 years old a person can be diagnosed with ADHD. Males are twice more possible to get identified with ADHD than females. Grownups may acquire signs and then be evaluated to get diagnosed. ADHD was formerly named hyperkinetic impulse disorder. It didn't exist until the late 1960s that the American Psychiatric Association (APA) officially acknowledged ADHD as a mental illness. The perception of hyperactivity as an illness triggered by roughly more than neurological impairment was brought back up in 1960. In 1960, it was explained that the "Hyperactive Child Syndrome" is an environmentally-based difficulty initiated by inadequate parenting. Concepts indicated that there should be a re-evaluation of the background on ADHD all through each of its topics. As an outcome of re-evaluation, the approved therapeutic name of the illness remained altered to Minimal Brain Dysfunction (MBD). Additionally, in 1965, the American...
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...offered viable information on the several health topics that is offered to the public. With this particular topic on Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity (ADHD) disorder the site offers several informational links to the reader. From being able to know what symptoms a child/adult may be suffering from to know what a treatment may be available. This Web site is available to the general public, doctors, parents and all who may be able to access the website. The Center for Disease Control site offers information on most syptoms of ADHD, steps to a diagnosis and possible treatments for the disorder for parents and children also giving an idea to what the ethos, pathos and logos are on this part of the CDC. The speaker of the website has credible facts that demonstrates is knowledge on ADHD. The speaker offers facts to support its list of symptoms that a child may share. Studies have indicated that two out of ten percent may suffer from this disorder ( Block, R. M., Macdonald, N. P., & Piotrowski, N. P., 2015). A child with ADHD may daydream quite frequently, unable to sit still for long periods, talk out of turn quite frequently. These are just a few of the symptoms that a child may suffer from. A child may also need redirection quite often as well. Deciphering the symptoms would be a beginning step to help a child or adult to diagnosing if this is what they may be suffering from. The pathos on Center for Disease Control (CDC) is very useful to the reader. Deciding on how to diagnose...
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...English Composition 1 September 4th 2013 A deeper look at the CDC article on ADHD The article written by the CDC on ADHD is very informative and eye opening. It forces parents to take a deeper look at the truths of this disorder. It shows the many different signs and symptoms that can better help to diagnose the disorder. It speaks to parents, guardians, and care givers on ways to treat and handle children with ADHD. The article shows how getting proper diagnosing is very important in helping children begin to overcome ADHD. The CDC article is informative on the best treatments and symptoms of ADHD. CDC (also known as the centers for disease control and prevention) saving lives protecting people is their motto. “They conduct critical science and protect people from health threats. They do studies not only in the US but abroad as well”. (CDC home page mission statement) There are many signs and symptoms we need to be aware of when dealing with ADHD. If a child day dreams a lot or has a bad memory, they could possibly have ADHD. Other signs to watch for are being squirmy, talking a lot and having trouble taking turns. Just because you see some of these signs, does not mean the child has ADHD. That is why having the child evaluated by a professional is so important. Children showing some of these signs will often have a tough time in school and at home. Staying focused is a difficult task for children with ADHD. They often have a tough time getting along with other children. Having...
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...Bipolar Disorder Reaction Paper The research intended on looking at bipolar among youth. This was emphasizing how to improve results in understanding the risk amongst the severity and chronically impaired. Bipolarity is hard to detect amongst children and adolescents. Bipolar is a serious brain illness. Bipolar among children are usually detected by mood changing. It is hard to detect whether or not a child can be diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Bipolar symptoms amongst a child are usually more severe than the usual up and down temperament of a child. Bipolar can also be dangerous within youth. In children bipolar disorder can result in hurting themselves and attempting suicide. You have to look at a child’s attention span and consciousness in a situation. A child is always doing, moving, and emotions are always escalating and de-escalating. We all know that anyone can detect bipolar disorder, but being diagnosed with bipolar disorder is usually done later in age. Children can have signs of bipolar disorder, but that’s called early-onset bipolar disorder. The form of bipolar can become sever in later teens and as an adult. There are questions you ask when dealing with a child with bipolar. Can bipolar disorder be hereditary? Can bipolar disorder amongst children result in other issues? There are several things that contribute to bipolar. One being genes, different illnesses run through family that can have a slight percent chance of you getting it. If the...
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...Diagnosing ADHD There is no easy test that can detect ADHD. The process for diagnosing ADHD requires a complete evaluation of the individual. These evaluations are conducted by primary care doctors, pediatricians in the case of children or family practitioners. More severe cases may be referred to specialists who can assist in the evaluation process. A physician will usually perform a physical exam and take a medical history including an individual’s past health history, family history, medicines and allergies. The physician will ask questions about other emotional conditions such as stress, depression and anxiety, which have symptoms that are similar to ADHD. These conditions must be ruled out first. Families and educators play a critical role in the identification of ADHD in children. Parents, educators and other persons close to the child will be required to complete evaluation questionnaires which focus on the child’s behavior. These questionnaires are then evaluated using the “DSM-IV Diagnostic Criteria for Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder” to determine the ADHD diagnosis. (Foley, Carlton & Howell, 1996)...
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...ADHD PSYCH 575 November 5, 2012 Dr. Rex Philpot PhD. ADHD During, childhood one of the most common neuropsychological and behavioral disorders affecting behaviors emerges in children and adults pertains to ADHD (American Psychiatric Association, 1994, pp. 64-65). Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder disrupts the process of learning in children as well as others in the classroom, home, and the workplace. Often, children demonstrating these behaviors are impetuous and reckless thereby disruptive in activities at home, school, and play whereby hindering the child’s or adult’s abilities to learn and perform. This paper will provide an explication of ADHD and the common symptoms along with the rates of managing, and reducing the symptoms implemented in three treatments in methods selected in treating the disorder. Furthermore, an analysis will explicate the neurophysiological underpinnings, and contemporary attitudes of the selected interventions video games, family therapy, and Ritalin. Cause and characteristics of ADHD The symptoms of ADHD affect three to five percent of children in the United States that serves as the leading cause of underachievement as well as school failures (Parksepp, 1998). In the past the disorder incurred numerous labels “such as,” hyperkinetic reaction, hyperactive syndrome, attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity, and a minimal dysfunction of the brain. Males “in contrast,” to females because of underdiagnosing are more likely to endure...
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...Introduction Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has long been a controversial topic due to its’ causes, diagnosis, as well as the treatments. Some critics of this controversy deny the very existence of ADHD as a mental disorder and believe that the physicians along with pharmaceutical industry are conspired with one another just to fill their pockets. While others believe that not only ADHD is a genetic mental disorder but also a disorder that may be caused by the environmental factors like geographical location, parenting and diet. Furthermore, many studies show that ADHD is in fact a mental disorder that affects many children and adults. ADHD is not over diagnosed and needs to be treated, however the treatment should not consist...
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...Armstrong1 Childhood Disorder-P02 4/26/16 Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder(ADHD) ADHD is a common mental disorder that begins in childhood and can continue through adolescence and adulthood. It makes it hard for a child to focus and pay attention. Some children may be hyperactive or have trouble being patient. For children with ADHD, levels of inattention hyperactivity, and impulsive behaviors are greater than for other children in their age group. No one knows for sure what causes ADHD, it probably stems from interactions between genes and environmental or non-genetic factors. It also often run in families. Researchers have found that much of the risk of having ADHD has to do with genes. Many genes are linked to ADHD and each gene plays a small role in the disorder. ADHD is very complex and a genetic test for diagnosing the disorder is not yet available. ADHD has many symptoms. Some symptoms at first may look like normal behaviors for a child, but ADHD makes them worse and occur more often. Children with ADHD have at least six symptoms that start in the first 12 years of their lives. For example, children with ADHD get distracted easily and forgets things often, they switch too quickly from one thing to the next, they have trouble finishing tasks like homework or chores, fidget and squirm a lot, talk nonstop and interrupt people, run around a lot, be very impatient, have trouble controlling their emotions and etc. Armstrong2 Children with ADHD can get better with...
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...Shaleigh Williams INFT 101-B60 LUO March 6, 2013 Summary In the article “Adult learning Disorders: Contemporary Issues” the authors discuss a book that is made of 4 different parts: Development, Neurobiology and Specific Learning Disorders, Diagnosis and Assessment, and Life Outcomes. Throughout the article they break down those different parts into what each one actually means. The article “Adult Learning Theory for the Twenty-First Century” discusses the ways that adult learning and all of its theories change and have changed over time and how drastically they have changed. The first part, Development, discusses different theories for understanding different adult learning disorders. Those chapters talk about how some learning disorders may have sex-related differences among the disorders. It also discusses how certain adults with a variety of learning disabilities might have atypical brain development. If a person that is determining a disability uses a model of an atypical brain development, it could possibly help them better understand a need for a very flexible plan of treatment. The second part, Neurobiology and Specific Learning Disorders, explains a case where a graduate student who is high functioning was having a lot of issues keeping up with the extraneous amounts of reading and work even though he is very intelligent because he was not able to absorb the information. It also discusses the problems that adults with nonverbal learning disabilities, especially...
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...Deficit Disorder, or “ADD,” have been popping up in young kids and teenagers all over the country. What’s causing this? The American Psychiatric Association, often referred to as the “APA,” claims that the disorder has always been this prevalent, but it was only recently discovered, hence the increasing number of diagnoses, but there seems to be more to this “disorder” than meets the eye. As the number of cases continues to grow, many believe that the number of people with ADD is actually unchanging, and is in fact, zero. While the APA would like you to think otherwise, ADD and ADHD are fictitious disorders. The cause for question in this conversation of the reality of Attention Deficit Disorder has many aspects. Of them, are the facts that ADD and ADHD are only recognized as psychiatric disorders in the United States of America, the suspicious timing of the entrance of these disorders into the APA’s psychiatric journal: the DSM, and the pharmaceutical industry’s role in treatment. These factors, some big, some small, build the often criticized argument against the authenticity of ADD and ADHD as mental disorders. The United States has been home to many unique and wonderful things, but rarely is any one country the sole victim of a disease, let alone one psychiatric in nature. Of all the countries in the world, the United States is the only one claiming that people are suffering from ADD and ADHD, using the thought process that “…ADHD is a behavioral disorder common to...
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...Running head: ADULT ADHD Adult Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Theresa D. Tolbert PSY 692 Dr. David Hodges September 19, 2012 After reading about the increase in diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, I wondered how ADHD affects lives of adults who have the disorder but have never received any treatment? I also wonder how ADHD affects adult relationships? This topic was of interest because I believe my sister has ADHD. She is a very bright and caring woman but she just cannot seem to get or keep her life on track. The diagnosis of ADD and ADHD is running rampant. The known signs and symptoms of ADHD can be easily spotted in children but have also been notice in adults. It is not often one hears adults admitting to having ADHD or even claim to have had it in the past. Nadeau stated in an article that ADHD still remains under and misdiagnosed in adults. Many adults are diagnosed with anxiety and depression when ADHD is the actual underlying factor (2005). ADHD involves the inability to concentrate and designate attention to particular tasks or activities when they are not entertaining or enjoyable. For adults, these activities can include planning projects, studying, paying bills, and listening to lectures (Ramsay & Rostain, 2008). ADHD is a chemical imbalance in the management systems portion of the brain. The diagnosis of adult ADHD did not become wide spread until the mid nineteen-nineties. Even now the percentage of adults diagnosed...
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...Today, a vast majority of psychologist call this ADD or ADHD. Now you ask, what is this disability, what causes it and is there any treatment for this disability. Most, because there’s a percentage of psychologist who argue that disability doesn’t even exist. Some even argue it’s from bad parenting or just having an out of control child. Children that experience learning difficulties don’t seem to fit the typical special-education categories. Today, in contrast more than 5 million children have been diagnosed with ADHD in the United States, and the percentage of children who are diagnosed has increased each year over the past decade. As many as 10% of U.S. school children have some type of mental disorder called attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder also known as ADHD. The characteristics of this disorder usually lead to both academic and behavioral problems in school. Children are also more physically active, impulsive and or less attentive than their peers. If a child with ADHD falls more than 2 years back of his or hers peers it will be classified as having a learning disability. ADHD is not legally recognized in the special education category in the United States. It’s more of a psychological disorder that causes children to develop school related problems so severe that qualifies the individual for special education needs. What causes ADHD is still unknown, some mentalists suggest that children with ADHD are neurologically different from their peers. Some researchers...
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...http://web2.infotrac.galegroup.com Adults and Children with ADHD, Cincinnati: Tyrell and Jerem; Press, 1993 Barkley, Russel A. Taking Charge of ADHD: The Complete, Authoritative Guide for Parents. New York: The Gilford Press, 2009. Eli Lilly and Company Strattera. Strattera 10 April, 2005 Wilens, Timothy E. Straight Talk about Psychiatric Medications for Kids New York: The Guilford Press, 1999 Most people have heard of the term Attention Deficit Hyperactive (ADHD) disorder. “Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a neurobiological disorder that interferes with an individual ability to attend to tasks (inattention), inhibits ones behavior (impulsivity), and may interfere with a persons ability to regulate ones activity level (hyper-activity) in developmentally appropriate ways (Barkley 19). The most important job for teachers and parents is to separate fact from fiction, to clarify what we know and dont know. Properly diagnosing ADHD, medication choices, and behavioral interventions are the key focal point. Is medication truly worth the side effects? Diagnosing ADHD As the name implies, ADHD is typically characterized by two distinct sets of symptoms: inattention and hyperactivity / impulsivity. Although these problems usually occur together, one may be present without the other and still qualify for an ADHD diagnosis. Children are diagnosed with ADHD when they have met specific guidelines within these two categories...
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...Neurodevelopmental and Neurocognitive Disorders Paper PSY/410 Marice Lynnette Jones 05/09/2016 Karen Wood The brain is a magnificent organ within the human body. The brain controls everything from our movement, involuntary functions, thoughts and emotions. Due to its fragile nature, the brain is protected very well by thick layer of membrane called dura mater and encased by a skull (Butcher, 2014). The main focus for this paper is to describe one neurodevelopmental disorder and one neurocognitive disorder. The behavioral criteria for each disorder will be discussed along with incidence rates and their causes. Options for treatment based on two different theoretical models will as provide a valuable insight for the disorders. Neurodevelopmental disorders refer to a group of conditions that presents itself during the developmental period. These disorders impair development or the central nervous system causing an effect on emotions, learning ability, self-control and memory. The most common neurodevelopmental disorder is ADHD. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder causes children to have trouble paying attention, control impulsive behavior and overly active. There are no known causes or risk factors, however a recent twin research studies have linked ADHD with genes. Along with genes, possible contributors towards ADHD would be injury to the brain, environmental exposures, alcohol and tobacco use during pregnancy, premature delivery, and low birth weight (CDC, 2016)....
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