Treatment Guidelines for Children with ADHD
January 26, 2021
ADHD and Executive Functioning
February 11, 2021
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) was recognized by the American Psychiatric Association in the late 1960s. The first survey to ask about ADHD took place in 1997, a decade that saw significant changes to diagnoses, recognition, acceptance, and special education laws. Not so widely known in its infancy, ADHD has certainly become a very recognizable disorder, if not common household term now.
In fact, in last week's blog, Dr. Mary Ann Mulcahey shared that “according to a 2016 survey, roughly 10 percent of children in the United States have been diagnosed with ADHD.” In that same year, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) published that 6.1 million children were diagnosed with ADHD, and boys were more frequently diagnosed than girls (12.9 vs. 5.6 percent).
Even though ADHD has become a frequently occurring term, both within education and our own households, it continues to be a deeply misunderstood disorder. One typical misunderstanding is the myth that all children diagnosed with ADHD are hyperactive - that they can’t stop moving or talking. In actuality, understood.org identifies three specific forms of ADHD, and one of those forms, ADHD inattentive presentation, has no impact on activity level at all.
Although the seemingly uncontrollable high activity levels associated with ADHD can be extremely problematic for children and their families, the good news, according to understood.org, is that hyperactivity levels usually lessen as the child gets older. What is perhaps most problematic for children with ADHD are the executive function deficits that are closely tied with ADHD and tend to be more difficult to overcome, even with age. The skills that help us plan, prioritize, and follow through with a task are life-skills that, if not mastered early, can feel nearly insurmountable as a child gets older.
We have such a wealth of information available about ADHD that it is impossible to share in one post. We will continue to focus our posts on this topic, and next week I will take a closer look at how executive functioning is such a major player in the ADHD diagnosis.
Springer School and Center, in partnership with Cincinnati Children's, will be hosting highly-esteemed expert on ADHD Dr. David Anderson from the Child Mind Institute. Dr. Anderson will present virtually on February 11th to parents and families and February 12th to professionals. There is still time to register, so be sure to reserve your spot!
Blogger Lisa Bruns, M.Ed., Special Education, shares her expertise of students with learning disabilities. As a special educator, she has expert knowledge of interventions and accommodations that students may need to succeed in and out of the classroom. If you have questions, please contact Center Director Lisa Bruns at .
