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Attention Deficit Disorder - Source to Solution
In the 1970's children and youth with learning disabilities often had visual perception problems. They had trouble with making letters, often turned the symbols backwards and upside down, did not space between words and, in general, had difficulty in reading. By the 1980's perception problems were on the wane because of strong kindergarten and pre-school programs that improved spatial understanding. The participants in the 80's tended to have difficulty with listening skills. They did not follow directions, seemed to be distracted when having to listen at story-time, and their memory skills were impacted by auditory issues. It was assumed that they also had experienced ear infections and allergies. In fact, eighty percent of the adults we saw in our clinics reported a history of ear infections during their first three to five years and often had severe allergies.
But the next twenty years, another complaint was added from teachers and parents . Their children and youth did not sit still, could not concentrate and had difficulty in learning because they did not attend to the teaching or instructions in the classroom . Although there were suggestions that this condition would change during adolescence the problem remained . The strong response that was echoed among the business and medical professionals and into their homes was to "try medication". In fact, many children who had difficulty in sitting still, could sit still with a stimulant medication. For others, nothing seemed to work.
Adults were concerned about using medication and many sought alternative choices. The syndrome of attention disorder was the primary concern for participants through the 90's and grew even greater into the new century. The primary response was to look for the medication which would quell the symptoms and allow the individual to focus effectively.
In those twenty years, one important myth was eliminated; ADD did not disappear in adolescence and it did not disappear in adulthood. The basic symptoms remained but just looked different. Instead of Johnny getting up and walking around the classroom teasing and annoying other children, John the adult ran his own business and used his energy to greet the customers. He belonged to many groups and volunteered his energy to run the booth at sales conferences. If Johnny had difficulty in spelling and reading, John used a computer and had office personnel to do his book-work. He had learned to accommodate his energetic distractions.
Sources...
The source of the attention issues did not disappear. The impact of inattention or impulsivity did not diminish. The adult just had more choices in managing attention, organization, and focus.
So what are the sources for attention disorder? Some are genetic, some are food related, some are learned responses, and some are reactions to medications/head-injury/toxins. The question then follows; are all to be treated the same? Are there different solutions for the child with a head- injury who is inattentive and the child who is having a sugar reaction? Of course, the answer is obviously yes.
Solutions...
History, observation, and assessment instruments provide us with the information to identify the source of the attention disorder. A typical assessment instrument is a continuous response task such as the Test of Variables of Attention (TOVA) developed by Dr. Lawrence Greenberg. There are a variety of these types of tests but this will serve as a good example for measurement and identification of the learners attention skills. This task can be used for individuals from childhood through adulthood. The participant is asked to watch a computer screen for a target to appear. The target is identified as a box that flashes above the mid-point of the computer screen. It must be distinguished from a non-target, which is a box flashing below the mid-point of the screen.
A participant with inattention issues will become bored with the task during the first eleven-minute half when there are few targets and many non-targets. He will look away and miss a target or appear to space out . When the task changes to many targets and few non-targets during the second half of the task, his interest will return, at least for a while or sometimes for the remainder of the task.
Impulsivity is measured by the responses that a participant makes to non-targets. Sometimes there are anticipatory moves where he just can not wait for the stimulus to appear and presses the trigger in anticipation. Other participants have their difficulty during the second half when there are many targets and they become accustomed to pressing the trigger and do not stop when a non-target appears. Both inattention and impulsivity are important characteristics of ADD.
Response speed is measured very effectively during this assessment process. It is likely the most telling of the attention attributes to help in understanding source and solution. A rapid speed of response is associated with strong intelligence. But control of the rapid speed is often an issues for participants. They find it very difficult to slow down their response enough to balance their accuracy with their speed.
A delay in response speed is often seen in participants with food related sensitivities. Slow response speed impacts on learning, listening, and reading in school. It makes decoding very difficult. It needs to be identified. It does not respond well to stimulant medication which often makes the response speed even slower. Read about both child and adult issues with attention and appropriate solutions in Learning Victories available through http://www.edu-therapeutics.com.
The ultimate solution for treating attention issues is the identification of what type of attention issues the participant is experiencing and then addressing those specific characteristics with appropriate interventions. Among the many successful choices are: medical interventions combined with training to increase attention, exercise programs, modification of diet nutrients, therapeutic exercises to increase attention, or a change in environment and accommodations. There are a variety of solutions when the source of the problem is understood. Understanding the source simplifies the process and increases the effectiveness of interventions.
EDU-Therapeutics is a specialize learning system developed by Dr. Joan Smith over the past 35 years. While it is effective for a variety of learning disabilities, it is especially effective in identifying and remediating ADD. See particularly the training programs Attention to Learn and Attention Training provided on high quality DVDs on http://www.edu-therapeutics.com.
Joan Steffend's Book Video "... and she sparkled"
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