New research on the biological basis for ADHD

The study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, and the Washington Post published on article on the study here. Thanks to the 2E Newsletter for the link.

Do ADHD meds lead to a lower crime rate?

Hmm. After years of hearing how using ADHD meds leads to a life of crime, now, courtesy of The Economist, we have an article suggesting that the use of ADHD meds may have led to a drop in the violent crime rate. Presented. . .without comment.

New ADHD med approved

The FDA has approved Intuniv for treatment of ADHD in children. An extended-release form of guanfacine, "the way it works is unclear, but the drug is thought to directly (sic) engage receptors in the brain's prefrontal cortex."

"ADHD on the track"

Here is another nice article about sports and ADHD. We have been urging our son to run as a menas of managing his ADHD. Now, he is training for a half-marathon that he will run with me in the fall. He is doing the half-marathon as a fundraiser for the Tourette Syndrome Asociation. I have to admit, however, that recently exercise has had no impact at all on O's distractibility.

What is the long-term impact of using ADHD medications?

Thanks to Carolyn K. for the heads-up about this article from Scientific American Mind.

That old falling-between-the-cracks feeling

Let's get this out of the way first: I have tremendous respect for the Eides and their work.

Now then: When I read the article about ADHD and motivation, I laughed, bitterly. I have always been opposed to the idea of paying children for getting good grades. Now, I sit here and watch my son stalling, whining, and generally refusing to do his incomplete work. Did I offer incentives to get him to complete his work? Oh yes, I did. Current incentives include: a trip to the movie theater to see "Up;" purchase of awesome new binoculars for birding (I offered to split the cost with him 50-50); a stack of biology textbooks that O has been dying to get his hands on. Total cost?? Well, getting him to finish this work and move on would indeed be priceless.

So, I think we all can agree that these are significant incentives. This must mean the work was completed quickly and efficiently, and O is knee-deep in bio books and blissfully happy, right?

Wrong.

Math was completed over one weekend, wherein my husband dragged O, kicking and screaming, through half of a math textbook. The book report took two more weekends and multiple evenings during the week. The economics project, which was due two weeks ago, is proceeding on a similar trajectory. O sat at my computer for eight hours yesterday, and wrote one sentence. I deleted all games from the computer, password-protected my files, and advised the young man that I am able to track his internet wanderings. He insisted that he is motivated, he wants to be done with his work, he cannot wait to read that ornithology textbook, he is absolutely terrified that "Up" will no longer be showing when his work is done. He wrote one sentence.

So, here we are.

We met with O's new therapist this week. I mentioned the Eide's piece on ADHD and motivation. J said well, unfortunately, as is so often the case, the results are less clear-cut when dealing with individuals who have more than just ADHD. It can be complicated to tease out the underlying reasons for certain behaviors. Are they rooted in ADHD, or are they rooted in other disorders?

If I had a dollar for each time I have been told that, unfortunately, the situation is far more complicated when there are multiple co-morbid disorders, I would have enough money to hire someone else to sit beside O and make him finish his work. Until that happens, I guess I will pass the time by reading Gill's Ornithology. It's not like O will be reading it any time soon....

ADHD, incentives and motivation

Recently, the Eide Neurolearning Blog featured an interesting item on motivation in individuals with ADHD. "Rather than ADHD appearing as a fixed deficit in executive function, increasing evidence suggests that children (and adults) with ADHD behaviors are showing impulsivity mainly in non-reward situations." Thus, the solution might be to offer greater incentives to complete tasks. Perhaps we (parents and teachers) might have more patience and understanding for the child who would rather dash outside and play than complete his spelling homework.

Then again. . . .

More ADHD news

A review of the current state of ADHD management.

Taking a look at ADHD

Courtesy of my husband, some articles from Medscape (free registration required) about ADHD:

ADHD Takes a Toll on Family Relationships

ADHD Affects Motor Control in Boys More Than Girls

In ADHD Brain Maturation Follows Normal Pattern, But Is Delayed
Well, I thought this article was interesting. I have maintained for some time that ADHD is a developmental delay -- an opinion that causes some people to bristle.

How Does the Brain Differ in Pediatric Bipolar Disorder vs Severe Irritability and ADHD?
This is an interesting piece in light of the uptick in diagnoses of bipolar disorder. There seems to be some confusion when it comes to distinguishing between very rapid-cycling bipolar disorder and the lack of emotional regulation that can come with severe ADHD.

I am certain that I have posted this story before, but it is worth posting again: Hallucinations, Other Psychotic Symptoms in Children Linked to Use of ADHD Medications

Do food additives cause hyperactivity? This study suggests there might be a link.

Two years and out?

A story in today's Washington Post questions the long-term benefits of ADHD drugs and asks if researchers downplayed the medications' side-effects and the absence of long-term benefits from their use. Noteworthy: the medications' tendency to stunt growth, and the apparent loss of any benefit from these medications after 24 months.

ADHD meds and hallucinations

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090126/hl_nm/us_adhd_drugs

An FDA study suggests that the adverse effects of ADHD medications include hallucinations. One interesting point is that these side-effects were noted in Strattera and Provigil as well as in standard stimulant ADHD medications. Also noteworthy is the comment that Provigil was not approved as an ADHD treatment in children.

At the same time, some of the described adverse effects, such as incessant talking, sound like standard ADHD behavior to me.

The new face of ADHD

Also from The New York Times: That swimmer guy is the new role model for kids with ADHD. Parents and professionals debate whether ADHD should be seen as a positive thing or as a disability. [My take: sometimes one, sometimes the other. Why not just call it a difference and move on, instead of trying to judge it?]

Can "green breaks" help with ADHD?

-- A small study suggests that nature breaks might help children with attention problems. I do not know what to make of this. In our experience, time outdoors does help my ADDDDDHHHHHD child focus and settle -- it's a good thing that he is wild about birding! This increased focus has never, ever resulted in improved schoolwork or even in improved focus on schoolwork. The positive changes last only as long as we are outdoors. At the same time, studying outdoors is impossible, because my son always ends up being hopelessly distracted by everything going on around him.

Read the story from The New York Times here.

Interesting stories from NPR

From today's Morning Edition, "Learning to Thrive with Attention Deficit Disorder," a story about a young woman with ADHD who is learning to adapt to life as a college student. Another piece, "Ten Tips for College Students With Disabilities," accompanies the main story.

Another story from the same Morning Edition series, "Your Health," aired last week: "An Autistic Student's Journey to College."

Helping a child with ADHD excel

An interesting story about a young man with an ADHD diagnosis who has been in the news a lot recently:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/10/sports/olympics/10Rparent.html

The moral of this story is: "Too many adults looked at Ms. Phelps’s boy and saw what he couldn’t do. This week, the world will be tuned to the Beijing Olympics to see what he can do."

On that note, I will be taking time this week to thank those very few adults who look at my son and see what he can do, instead of seeing only problems.

ADHD and iron

Thanks to the folks at 2E Newsletter for bringing this article, about the link between low iron and ADHD-like behaviors, to my attention. I have to say, the article sparked all kinds of questions for me. First, while the doctor/author describes her son's symptoms as resembling pica, my first thought was of the sensory-seeking behaviors associated with sensory integration dysfunction.

It also was interesting, for me, to read about the link between restless legs syndrome, iron and dopamine levels (hi, Mom!). Note this sentence: "Iron has to be available in adequate amounts for your brain to keep its dopamine at a normal level." Which brings me to a third thought that popped into my mind.

My child with severe ADHD also had some pretty serious problems with tolerating iron when he was an infant. I had to discontinue my post-natal iron supplements because the little guy just shrieked all day (and night) long, and practically pooped gravel. Now, I am wondering about iron intolerance and ADHD. I also find myself wondering about the effects of a vegetarian diet on a child with ADHD.

So many questions, so little time and energy. I have the urge to do my own research, but I must confine myself to trying to sort out all of the questions inside my head, all the while chanting "correlation does not equal causality."

Cognitive training for ADHD?

The Homeschool Buyers Coop is offering a group buy on Brainware Safari "Cognitive Skills Game Software." I thought I would look into it, since inattention and impulsivity are serious problems around here.

I also thought it would be interesting to compare Brainware Safari with Cogmed, a cognitive training program for indviduals with ADHD. I found just a few sites that discuss both products:

http://www.sharpbrains.com/blog/2008/06/12/promising-cognitive-training-studies-for-adhd/

http://www.switched.com/2008/06/20/brain-games-booming-with-baby-boomers/

Well, to be honest, the above sites discuss Cogmed, with "Betsy Hill" posting a comment about the benefits of Brainware Safari on each page.

The Fool has shared her family's experience with Cogmed elsewhere; perhaps I can entreat her to post some of her thoughts on Cogmed...??

Alternative treatments for ADHD?

A New York Times article on non-drug treatments for ADHD. It does not say much that is new, but it is nice to see that some research on options such as fish oil is happening.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/17/health/17well.html

Another story for the "Why we homeschool" file

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/may/23/st-lucie-teacher-has-class-vote-whether-5-year-old/

A kindergarten teacher in Florida is getting more attention than she anticipated when she decided to have her students share, publicly, what they did not like about their classmate, and then vote on whether or not he should be allowed to stay in class.

The boy was voted out of class, 14-2.

The child is in the process of being evaluated for special needs and subsequent (we hope!) accommodation, although it is suspected that he has Asperger Syndrome and ADHD. Why that evaluation process, which was begun in February, has not yet been completed is anyone's guess.

This story reminded me of when my son was in Montessori preschool, and the other children were taught that he was "the bad boy." The teachers liked to joke, to me and to other parents, about how they sent my son out of the classroom whenever there were visitors, so he would not reflect badly on the school. Just think, I was paying good money to have people like that care for my child....

Adults and ADHD

A new study suggests ADHD can cost adults twenty workdays per year or more:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080526/ap_on_he_me/attention_deficit_disorder_work

I thought the list of supporters of this study was interesting.