A new study from Iowa State University found that playing video games and watching television is linked to a child's inability to pay attention.

• Researchers studied 1,323 children and found a link between "teacher-report reported attention problems" and increased exposure to television and video games.
• The children were in middle childhood and late adolescence. When earlier attention problems and gender were statistically controlled, the association between entertainment and attention problems remained significant.
• The authors said that their study does not mean video gaming causes Attention Deficit Disorder.

The study appears in the journal Pediatrics.
 

Labels: video_games, screen-time

Posted By: 4ADHD.com 1 Comment

A study of 13,000 British children found that children with autism tend to be picky eaters suffer from allergies. However, they are about the same height and weight as children without the disorder.

• Parents of autistic children as young as six months old told researchers that their children to longer to eat and refused more new foods.
• By the time the children with autism were ages four and five years old, 37% of their parents told researchers that they were very choosy eaters -- compared to only 14% of parents of children without the disorder.

"Although children with autism spectrum disorders are more difficult to feed and they eat less variety of food, this is not affecting the nutrients of their diet, their height, weight or BMIs," said Dr. Pauline Emmett of the University of Bristol.  "There doesn't seem to be any major cause for concern."

The study appears in the journal Pediatrics.
 

Labels: autism, eating_disorders

Posted By: Jane St. Clair 0 Comments

Teenagers with high-functioning autism such as Asperger Syndrome, are usually able to do the academic work required in college. However, most get stuck on other issues involved in going away to college, such as self-care and daily living, money management, social interaction, adjusting to a new environment, and emotional regulation. They often have a naivety about other peoples' motives and an inability to form friendships with new acquaintances, leaving them vulnerable to bullying and sexual abuse.

ACCLAIM, a summer program at Robert Morris University, was designed to help autistic students learn to adjust to being away from home. For the first time this year, ACCLAIM includes a three-week program for students who want to go away to college.

ACCLAIM stands for Autism College and Community Life Acclimation and Intervention Model. The first program was held at the University of Pittsburgh and designed by the Watson Institute, which focuses on special needs children.  Participants are between 16 to 19 years old, and go over topics such as applying to college, handling stress and peers in a new social setting, and so forth.

Dr. Lori Zychowski,  a  designer of the program, said that former participants have provided many anecdotes about how ACLAIM helped them adjust to college environments.
 

Labels: autism, college

Posted By: 4ADHD.com 0 Comments

When it comes to effective treatment for children with ADHD, there are a multitude of options. Different kids need different treatment programs. Consumer Reports recently surveyed more than 900 parents of kids with ADHD, to find out what’s working for their kids.

“’Eighty-four percent of those in the survey had tried medication and, of those, two-thirds said that it helped a lot,’ said Consumer Reports Dr. Orly Avitzur. But medication alone is not a cure all. The survey found that children like Amanda who were treated with both drug and non-drug therapies had better results than those who used drugs alone.” [Source: KABC-TV (Los Angeles)]

Behavioral therapy, consistent schedules, and special school accommodations are some of the non-drug approaches that have helped kids with ADHD improve and mange their symptoms.

Labels: parenting, treatment

Posted By: Stefanie Hamilton 2 Comments

Parents are sometimes hesitant to have their children evaluated for what look like ADHD symptoms. Kids don’t want the label, out of concern that they’ll be picked on at school.

But those fears may be fading:

“According to a survey quoted on the Consumer Reports Health Blog, parents are no longer embarrassed to admit their children take Ritalin and the like.” [Source: About.com]

Unfortunately, some students actually want to be diagnosed with ADHD because it gives them additional time for exams and other special treatment at school. Despite the selfish reasons that non-ADHD students may want to be diagnosed, the decreased stigma around ADHD is good for those kids who actually have it.
 

Labels: students, parenting, diagnosis

Posted By: Stefanie Hamilton 1 Comment

A Canadian study on ADHD and its effects on sleep has found that children who are diagnosed with the condition have more sleep problems than their non-ADHD counterparts. The study compared duration and depth of sleep between 15 children with ADHD and 23 children without.

“According to the results published in the journal Sleep, those with ADHD averaged significantly less total sleep time (499 min) compared with the control group (533 min). They also had reduced REM sleep (84 min vs. 100 min), and a smaller percentage of REM sleep out of total sleep time (17 percent vs 19 percent).” [Source: Reuters Health]

Dr. Reut Gruber, the study’s lead author, believes the results point to circadian rhythm issues, Circadian rhythm is the body’s “internal clock” and regulates sleep patterns. Gruber believes light therapy may help, and is currently evaluating its benefits.

Labels: sleep

Posted By: Aspen Education Group 1 Comment

As the number of children diagnosed with ADHD continues to increase, so do concerns over the long-term effects of treating those kids with medication. Now, a study out of Upstate Medical University in Syracuse could ease some of those concerns.

“Dr. Faraone and his colleagues measured and weighed 261 kids with and without ADHD that they had been following for at least ten years. Most of the kids with ADHD had spent at least some of that time on stimulants, such as Ritalin and Adderall. At the end of the study, there was no difference in the height or weight of the kids – now mostly adults – who had ADHD and those that didn’t.” [Source: Reuters Health]

Researchers also found no relationship between the kids’ heights and weights and the length of time they’d been taking medication.

Labels: medications, health

Posted By: Stefanie Hamilton 0 Comments

Young children often struggle to control their emotions, mostly because they’re still learning how. But youth with ADHD may struggle more than others.

“Both children and adults with ADHD have greater emotional liability issues than those without ADHD. This means that moods can change very quickly and emotional reactions can easily be provoked. For many of these children the intense reactions may be related to a low tolerance for frustration or even low feelings of self esteem expressed outwardly.” [Source: ADD.About.com]

ADHD children also tend to be impulsive, and some of that impulsivity is expressed emotionally. Frustration or restlessness can simply boil over. Parents are encouraged to work with their kids, helping them talk through and understand their feelings, and suggesting appropriate forms of self-expression.

Labels: behavior, anger

Posted By: Aspen Education Group 0 Comments

A study conducted by a team of doctors from Cincinnati, British Columbia, Vancouver, and North Carolina has found that prenatal exposure to cigarette smoke or lead may contribute to the development of ADHD in children.

“The researchers found that about 8.7 percent of 8- to 15-year-old survey participants met the criteria for having ADHD… Children who were exposed to prenatal cigarette smoke were more than twice as likely to meet the criteria for having ADHD, compared to children who were not exposed to smoke in the womb. Children with high lead levels also were at significantly higher risks of having ADHD than those with moderate and low lead levels.”

Children who were exposed to both cigarette smoke and lead were over eight times more likely to develop ADHD symptoms.
 

Labels: causes, prenatal, tobacco

Posted By: Stefanie Hamilton 1 Comment

The word “deficit” is not always an accurate descriptor of either ADD or ADHD. People who struggle with either disorder don’t lack the ability to pay attention, they struggle to control their attention. Many are able to “hyperfocus” on activities that are stimulating or rewarding.

“It is not unusual for these individuals to become so immersed in a task that they are oblivious to everything else going on around them. You may have experienced this when your child is playing a video game and you try to get his attention. You call to him. No answer. You call louder. No answer. Finally, raising your voice to a shout, you may get a quick, annoyed look!” [Source: About.com]

Hyperfocus can be a good thing. It can help an ADD child focus on a paper for school or finish cleaning his room. The trick is figuring out how to help your child access his ability to hyperfocus. Parents should also set time limits for activities that ADD/ADHD kids use to escape – like playing video games.

Labels: focus

Posted By: 4ADHD.com 1 Comment

It’s not quite August, but parents and children are thinking about school. It’s time to shop for clothes, notebooks, pens, and pencils. Parents should also consider taking their kids in for an eye exam.

“Your child’s eye doctor will perform a thorough evaluation that not only includes testing how clearly they see, but also whether there are any other vision disorders that could get in the way of learning. These other disorders can include uncorrected hyperopia, accommodative insufficiency, and convergence insufficiency or excess.” [Source: The Star Exponent (VA)]

Any one of these disorders can cause headaches or eyestrain, or cause a child to dislike reading and home work. The disorders can cause ADHD-like symptoms such as poor concentration or restlessness. A simple eye exam can pinpoint the cause of these behaviors and ensure that your child isn’t misdiagnosed.

Labels: behavior, schools, visual_skills

Posted By: Aspen Education Group 2 Comments

In August, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will release the results of a study on the safety of ADHD drugs. Though several companies sell ADHD medications, Shire relies more than others heavily on the sale of its ADHD drug, Adderall

“In 2005 Adderall was briefly suspended from sale in Canada because of 20 sudden deaths and 12 strokes among mainly child users. However, the product was later allowed back into the market with a ‘black box warning’ about use by patients with underlying cardiovascular problems.” [Source: The Guardian]

The FDA study of ADHD medication began in 2007 as concern over health risks such as heart attacks and strokes began to increase.

Labels: medications, adderall, studies

Posted By: 4ADHD.com 0 Comments

A number of studies have explored the effects of media and computer games on children. Many have made supposed discoveries that increased ‘screen time’ exacerbates ADHD symptoms. What the studies don’t report is that limited exposure to educational or interactive content, monitored by a parent, can actually be good.

“Unless your family chooses no screen time (a perfectly fine choice, but clearly not feasible for all), the best payoff is choosing TV shows, websites, mobile apps and games that suit your own children’s age, developmental stage, needs, interests and abilities.” [Source: The Huffington Post]

Your kids will only benefit from limited screen time if the time away from TV and media is spent doing something active and/or productive. If you don’t want your child playing video games, get out an old school board game and play with him. If you don’t want him playing Wii Soccer, play the real thing with him outside.

Labels: computers, screen-time

Posted By: Stefanie Hamilton 4 Comments