A man from Northern-Ireland took to the streets this week in protest over a school's treatment of his son, who has been diagnosed with ADHD.

A Feb. 5 article in the Portadown Times provided the following information about Paul McConville's protest:

A dispute between the father of a pupil with learning difficulties and Drumcree College went public last week when Craigavon man Paul McConville protested outside the school gates.

Mr McConville, whose son suffers from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and behavioural problems, took up position last Thursday afternoon, the school's open day. The father of six was carrying a placard and also handed out leaflets to parents of prospective pupils.

The man's 14-year-old son, who is in third year in the learning support class, has been absent from school for a number of months after disputes between the family and Drumcree College over a range of issues concerning the treatment and education of his son. ...

Said Mr McConville, "The school knew my son had behavioural problems when they admitted him in the first place."

Labels: awareness, fathers, ireland, protest

Despite the way it sounds, "hippotherapy" doesn't have anything to do with hippopotamuses. "Hippo" comes from the Greek word meaning "horse," and hippotherapy refers to behavioral therapy techniques that use horses.

The American Hippotherapy Association defines hippotherapy as "a physical, occupational, and speech-language therapy treatment strategy that utilizes equine movement as part of an integrated intervention program to achieve functional outcomes." This is different than therapeutic riding, the AHA notes, as therapeutic riding only focuses upon teaching the child to ride a horse.

The principle of hippotherapy is that the horse's presence helps the child focus attention and learn more effectively. Children who have engaged in hippotherapy have experienced increased social functioning, improved speech and language skills, better balance and improved motor function.

Labels: equine-therapy, hippotherapy

The Centers for Disease Control reports that ADHD diagnoses have increased an average of 3 percent a year since 1997. It is now estimated to be among the costliest of behavioral disorders, and recent research indicates that exposure to lead may be somewhat to blame.

The Association for Psychological Science (APS) reported the following:

Emerging research ... suggests an environmental link for ADHD with some experts believing lead may be a culprit. Lead is a neurotoxin. ... It's found in trace amounts in everything from children’s costume jewelry to imported candies to soil and drinking water. ...

According to psychological scientist Joel Nigg of the Oregon Health & Science University, this universal low-level exposure makes lead an ideal candidate for the disorder's trigger.

Until recently, this was just a theory, but studies have begun to find evidentiary support, the APS reported:

• One study found that children with ADHD did have slightly higher levels of lead in their blood.
  
• The second study found a strong link between elevated blood levels of lead and reporting of ADHD symptoms by parents and teachers.

Labels: causes, environment, lead

A study that will appear in the March issue of Pediatrics has found that foster children who are placed in loving, stable homes have fewer issues with attention and impulsivity.

• The study was conducted through the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York City.
• The study followed 252 children in 95 families for four years.
• Researchers talked with biological parents, foster parents, teachers and the children themselves.
• Most interesting and encouraging to researches was the affect environment had on symptoms related to ADHD – a disorder with proven biological components.

"Children whose parents reported higher parental warmth – how much do the parents like the child, how much affection the parent reports toward the child, how much time they spend together – showed fewer ADHD symptoms," HealthDay News reported, "while children whose parents reported hostility – being annoyed at the child, thinking the child a burden, being angry at the child – showed more ADHD symptoms."

Labels: attention, foster care, impulsivity

A study out of Europe has found a connection between being ambidextrous and having ADHD. Researchers studied nearly 8,000 children and found that ambidextrous 15- and 16-year-olds were twice as likely to have ADHD symptoms.

The adolescents also reported having greater difficulties with language than those who were left- or right-handed. This is in line with earlier studies that have linked mixed-handedness with dyslexia…

Some researchers have suggested that mixed-handedness indicated that the pattern of dominance is not that which is typically seen in most people, i.e. it is less clear that one hemisphere is dominant over the other. [Source: PsychCentral]

Though the study indicated that ambidextrous kids are at greater risk of developing ADHD, researchers cautioned against assuming ADHD is inevitable. Researchers have yet to discover the reason for the link.

Labels: ambidextrous, research

Between 1990 and 1998, more than 5 million children and adults were diagnosed with ADHD. Of those 5 million, some are likely to be gifted children who were misdiagnosed.

Writer Suki Wessling addressed the misdiagnosis of gifted children in a Jan 21 article on examiner.com:

Many parents of gifted children are familiar with Dabrowski’s theory of overexcitability in gifted people. However, teachers, therapists and family doctors are unlikely to have any knowledge or practical training in this area …

"Gifted children, many of who are also asynchronous (developing at different rates in different areas) encounter difficulties conforming to expectations, have behavior problems due to boredom, or otherwise struggle in a school setting," explains [Mike] Gustavson. ...

It's to clear to those who work with the gifted, however, that many of the physicians and mental health professionals prescribing ADHD drugs are probably dealing with, and not recognizing, gifted children.

"One of the things that I'm working with them on this is to try to educate pediatricians and family practitioners and nurse practitioners as well as psychologists," says [author James T. Webb, founder of Supporting the Emotional Needs of the Gifted]. "Other than Wright State University, there just aren't graduate programs that specialize in training psychologists about the gifted."

Labels: gifted children, misdiagnosis

Children who experience social rejection often lack three skills -- the ability to pick up on nonverbal and social cues, the ability to recognize what those cues mean, and the ability to respond to cues appropriately, according to new research published in the Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology.

• Dr. Clark McKown and his colleagues at Rush University Medical Center studied 126 children referred by a psychological clinic and compared them to 158 children who had been chosen randomly from the Chicago school system.
• Many children in the study had difficulty picking up on other children's body language and social cues. For example, they simply did not notice indicators like slumped shoulders and angry faces.
  
• Among those who recognize the cues, many did not know how to respond to these cues or attach meaning to them.

"The number of children who cannot negotiate the steps and who are at risk for social rejection is startling," said Dr. McKown.

Labels: social_skills