Archive for the 'ADHD' Category

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New therapy

Here’s a description of a highly touted intervention.

[Method X] is recognized worldwide as a general method to reinforce the body’s protective abilities for people of all ages who suffer from various disorders and pre-illness conditions, i.e. practically healthy people.

[Method X] involves the organized interaction between [therapy agent] and person, with optimal conditions to offer benefits to the person as well as the [therapy agent].

[Method X] can assist in the following tasks:

- Correction of psychological development for people with nervous system disorders
- Development of cognitive activity for people with psycho-neurological disorders
- Development of children’s speech
- Removal of chronic pain
- Reduction of neurological and vegetative-vascular reactions
- Relief from psychosomatic conditions
- Reduction of unintentional movements, tics and spasms
- Rehabilitation of people, victims of violence or other stressful situations
- Psycho-emotional training for specialists whose work is connected with extremely stressful situations
- Leisure and relaxation for healthy people–children and adults

The main component of [Method X] is the psychological effect from the interaction between [the client] and [the therapy assistant] in an unaccustomed environment and the physical therapy effect from [Y and Z] made by these [therapists].

Would you want to use this therapy for yourself or your child?

I would! But, that’s because I know what the therapy is.

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Executive function control

Examining the effects of a training program designed to promote self-regulation, Adele Diamond and colleagues found that “Tools of the Mind” (Tools) improved performance of preschoolers in regular classrooms with regular teachers. Weak self-regulatory and executive function skills are consistently associated with ADHD. In their study, which appeared in Science 30 November 2007, the researchers compared Tools to a balanced-literacy program and found that the preschoolers receiving the Tools program out-performed peers who had been randomly assigned to the control condition on tasks consider to reflect executive function.

Link to the study (subscription required for full text).

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Who has rights?

When should a student’s right to participate in education be denied because his or her behavior is inimical to rights of other students’ to benefit from education? When is one student’s behavior so problemsome that his “right” to be in a classroom is trumped by his peers’ right to participate in an orderly learning environment?

Most educators, I would hazard a guess, want to make it possible for students to participate in a minimally restrictive environment. Although the “least restrictive environment” clause of the US special education law is buried pretty deeply in the structural outline of legal guarantees, it is advocated strongly by many people (educators, parents, attorneys, etc.) concerned about special education. And, many advocates argue that it—the “right” to the “least restrictive environment”—is the ace of trumps.

Is it? When does the balance shift from the access rights of an individual to the access rights of the individual’s peers? When are the interests of an individual to participate in “mainstream” education of lesser importance than the interests of peer students’ access to an environment that is conducive to learning (i.e., not disrupted)?

These and some other matters are the likely subjects of discussion at a forthcoming meeting on classroom disruptions. Suitably scheduled for Hallowe’en, the meeting will be held in Washington (DC, US). here’s the basic info:

Class Disrupted: Disorder and Its Effects on Learning and School Culture

October 31, 2007

Location: Washington, DC

Many teachers and principals struggle to create and maintain positive classroom and school cultures–free of disruption, disrespect, bullying, intimidation, and violence. While public school systems are rightly focused on meeting AYP and the other requirements of No Child Left Behind, they must also address the fact that without order and respect, little learning and progress can be achieved. Student misbehavior that goes unaddressed in the hallways and the classroom undermines instruction, stifles the development of character and social skills, and contributes to teacher burnout. This forum will:

* Examine disorderly conditions in schools, including factors contributing to the problem, looking beyond traditional concerns about safety and violence, to acts of disrespect, disregard for school rules, and disruptive behavior;
* Highlight the consequences of disorder in schools, specifically on learning and culture;
* Present new ideas on how law impacts student discipline at the school level; and
* Share key perspectives on what must be done to help restore respect and order and maintain safe and productive schools.

Date: October 31, 2007
Time: 8:00 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Registration begins at 8:00 a.m.
Lunch will be provided
Location:

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
1779 Massachusetts Ave., N.W.
Washington, D.C.

If you’re interested in this topic, contact RSVP@cgood.org. (or for more information, contact Ali Kliegman at akliegman [at] cgood.org or 212.681.8199 x14.

Flash of the electrons to Elona Hartjes of Teachers At Risk whose post, “Class Disrupted: Disorder and Its Effects on Learning and School Culture” brought this to my attention.

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TECBD 2007

The annual meeting of Teacher Educators for Children with Behavioral Disorders (TECBD), now named after Rob Rutherford who founded it, will be held 15-17 November 2007 in Tempe (AZ, US). Steve Forness, Cheryl George, and John Maag are among the people who’ll be speaking this year.

Every year, EBDBlog has announced the call for papers, so this is nothing new. There is still time to propose a presentation for this year’s meeting. Potential presenters may submit proposals for sessions using the TECBD site.

Link to the Web site for TECBD. Link for proposing presentations.

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Pre-school ADHD

In the fall of 2006 Scott Kollins, Laurence Greenhilll, James Swanson and a host of colleagues described the Preschool ADHD Treatment Study (PATS; funded by the US National Institute of Mental Heath or NIMH) in one of a series of articles in the prestigious Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. In other articles, the research team presented the outcomes of the study: Ratings of ADHD symptoms were lower among children who received doses of between 2.5 and 7.5 mgs of Methylphenidate three times a day and children taking the medication grew more slowly than expected.
Continue reading ‘Pre-school ADHD’

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Onion

Caution: Irreverant humor ahead.

The Onion, which publishes (sometimes scatological or profane) humor about nearly anything, has a parody of the person-in-the-street poll under the headline “202 Chemicals Linked To ADHD, Autism.”

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Troubling mix

Here’s a story about a troubling combination of race, disability, adolescence, sports mentality, and probably other factors that apparently combined to result in—you guessed it—violence. Under the headline “Martin schools sued over beating,” Daphne Duret of the Palm Beach (FL, US) Post reported about a suit being brought by Michele Potts because of a beating she says her son, Henry Daniel Banks, received after a football practice, ostensibly for using a racial slur during the practice.

A Hobe Sound mother sued the Martin County School Board Monday claiming school officials failed to protect her emotionally disabled son, who briefly played football at South Fork High School before several teammates accused him of using a racial slur and beat him up in a locker room.

Michele Potts’ son, Henry Daniel Banks, was a week into his freshman year and an offensive lineman on the junior varsity football team in August 2005, when at least two players followed him into the freshman locker room at the end of practice one afternoon, records show. They beat him so badly they caused permanent damage to his teeth and jaw, knocking two of his teeth into the roof of his mouth, his mother said.

Link to Ms. Duret’s story.

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ADHD medication risks

Wednesday 21 February 2007 the US Federal Drug Administration ordered that medications for treating ADHD must carry warnings about possible risks associated with taking them. The drugs place people taking them at risk for cadiovascular problems and adverse psychiatric reactions. Here are the first paragraphs of the press release:
Continue reading ‘ADHD medication risks’

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Some pediatricians

If one surfs about looking for sites providing comments about pediatricians and about ADHD, Autism, and other childhood disorders, it’s easy to find dozens (scores? hundreds?) of recommendations for vitamins, herbs, exercises, chiropracty, martial arts, and such. It’s a lot harder to identify sources of sensible, scientific information. Here are a few. Please feel free to contribute others by commenting.
Continue reading ‘Some pediatricians’

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Cute temporarily

Over on Mentor Matters, Mrs. Ris has a quick post that captures an almost-forgotten element of teaching students with Emotional and Behavioral Disoders (and, likely, just about any students). One day what a student does can seem nearly endearing and a source of wonder, but an experienced teacher knows that those same behaviors will not be acceptable in the longer run. It’s a good lesson about what it’s like to teach and see children day-in and day-out..

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ADHD peer relations

Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and other Emotional and Behavioral Disorders often have difficulty with social relationships. Their peers may reject them, they may lash out at others, or they may not understand how to modulate their language and behavior to fit into a group. Amori Yee Mikami, a faculty member in the Department of Psychology at the University of Virginia, is addressing the friendship problems of children with ADHD directly.

Continue reading ‘ADHD peer relations’

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Family therapy

Under the title “Troubled Children: Parenting as Therapy for Child’s Mental Disorders” in the New York Times, Benedict Carey has an extended article about parents using behavioral techniques to address the problems experienced by children with ADHD, acting out, Tourettes, and other Emotional and Behavioral Disorders. Mr. Carey focused his article on a family, the Popczynskis, who successfully learned to employ management procedures by working with William Pelham and his colleages at the the University of Buffalo.

Continue reading ‘Family therapy’

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