Treatment For ADHD

As a former elementary school principal, I am quite aware that attention difficulties are just the tip of the iceberg. ADHD children can’t filter out distractions, finish tasks on-time, use their memory optimally, etc. A pill doesn’t teach these skills.

My wife and I opted to use cognitive training for our son, Alex. We used Play Attention (

www.playattention.com) and ADHD Nanny (www.adhdnanny.com). We’ve been very successful with these approaches. We also changed our parenting skills with great success.

It’s just important to know that medicine teaches nothing. Parents and teachers must actively participate to help change a child’s life.

As parents we need to remember that there’s more to do than just medicating over the summer. As a former principal and educator, I’m aware that 1 – 4 months of academic achievement are lost over the summer by the average student. It was far worse than that for our son, Alex. Thus, we began the next year with a big deficit.

We discovered Play Attention

(www.playattention.com) and another website, www.adhdnanny.com. Play Attention works on cognitive skills. When we used it over the summer, we didn’t suffer the academic losses we had experienced before using it. ADHD Nanny let us maintain a consistent schedule. It also kept my wife and I from arguing so much because of our inconsistency!

Yes, I agree heartily with all of your comments. Thanks for letting us know about some useful tools.

Medicine is only part of the equation (albeit an important part) when treating ADHD. Diet, exercise, daily routine, sufficient sleep, and counseling are also important parts of the treatment equation. And yes, summer-time can be a time when all kids, but ADHD kids in particular, regress academically.

I encourage parents to not ignore or minimize this diagnosis (i.e. “ADHD is overly diagnosed” or “Boys will be boys”). I know the decision to medicate a child can be very difficult. It is important to remember that ADHD is a highly debilitating condition that affects not only the academic lives of children and adults, but also their social, spiritual and emotional development as well. People with this condition are often labeled as lazy, unproductive, hyper, stupid, out-of-control, selfish, etc. These labels take a huge toll on self-esteem and can take many years to overcome.

Mayo clinic has very useful information regarding cause, symptoms, and treatment when it comes to ADHD. When faced with this diagnosis, I would recommend doing research (staying with information that has been scientifically tested and has statistical significance) and working closely with teachers, physician, possibly a psychiatrist and mental health workers to give you the best possible team approach to finding the correct solutions for your family.

Treatment for ADHD