Out of all the disorders that affect a child’s schooling and life, nothing has a greater impact than Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. As of 2011, 11% of children (ages 4-17) have been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, roughly about 6.4 million. This number has slowly risen over the years, 4% in the last 8 years alone. What is this disorder? Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is defined by the Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine as “a disorder characterized by a persistent pattern of inattention and/or hyperactivity”. The disorder was first given its name in 1980 when the third version of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders was published. This is a manual that is used to help doctors
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The causes of ADHD is not known, but it is guessed to run in families. It is believed that foods with sugar and food additives are causes to make a child more hyperactive, it hasn’t been shown to cause ADHD specifically. This article talks about the basics of ADHD, but two of the main points in the article were how behavioral methods can be a solution versus medication being a solution. One of the first points in the article is how behavioral methods can be a solution, though it is less effective and has it’s limitations. The most common reasons why parents and professionals choose this route is because of three reasons; The parents/professionals don’t want to give their child medication, the medication they give their child isn’t enough, and if the child can’t take the medication due to a reaction they had to it. While behavior methods can be effective, it has some limits. These include being able to address all settings the child might be in, being able to reduce ADHD’s core characteristics (hyperactivity, impulsivity, and short-attention spans), as well as keeping up with the behavior-altering treatment. However, it can be most effective in situations where the child has other psychological disorders co-existing with their ADHD. In these situations, the stimulants used to treat ADHD cannot be used to fix the other disorders the child …show more content…
It was done in September of this year, a group of doctors and masters obtained, with permission, school records and medical records of every child born in Rochester, MN between January 1, 1976, and December 31, 1982. They then weeded out only those reports of children with ADHD. For most of the subjects, information was available from school-age up until their high school graduation. The study found that the majority (77.8%) of children who actually had ADHD were treated with medication. It was also found that 73.1% of the medicated children had a favorable response, meaning their symptoms
The causes of ADHD is not known, but it is guessed to run in families. It is believed that foods with sugar and food additives are causes to make a child more hyperactive, it hasn’t been shown to cause ADHD specifically. This article talks about the basics of ADHD, but two of the main points in the article were how behavioral methods can be a solution versus medication being a solution. One of the first points in the article is how behavioral methods can be a solution, though it is less effective and has it’s limitations. The most common reasons why parents and professionals choose this route is because of three reasons; The parents/professionals don’t want to give their child medication, the medication they give their child isn’t enough, and if the child can’t take the medication due to a reaction they had to it. While behavior methods can be effective, it has some limits. These include being able to address all settings the child might be in, being able to reduce ADHD’s core characteristics (hyperactivity, impulsivity, and short-attention spans), as well as keeping up with the behavior-altering treatment. However, it can be most effective in situations where the child has other psychological disorders co-existing with their ADHD. In these situations, the stimulants used to treat ADHD cannot be used to fix the other disorders the child …show more content…
It was done in September of this year, a group of doctors and masters obtained, with permission, school records and medical records of every child born in Rochester, MN between January 1, 1976, and December 31, 1982. They then weeded out only those reports of children with ADHD. For most of the subjects, information was available from school-age up until their high school graduation. The study found that the majority (77.8%) of children who actually had ADHD were treated with medication. It was also found that 73.1% of the medicated children had a favorable response, meaning their symptoms