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Resources for Parents and Teachers of ADD/ADHD Children Produced by the ADD ADHD Information Library at NewIdeas.Net IMPORTANT: Use this information at your own risk. This information is not to be used in place of appropriate medical advice. If there are problems, always consult your physician. Welcome to our Newsletter! Feel free to tell your friends about this service, or to forward this to them! Links to this Newsletter are sent to you via our auto-responder, so they will come to you automatically. If you have any problems with the service, please let us know right away by email. To subscribe, send an email to addnewsletter@webmailstation.com, and the link code to your first issue will arrive immediately via autoresponder, with following issues arriving about every five days. Please only subscribe once to our robot autoresponder. May we also ask that if you are going on vacation and are planning to set up an autoresponder at your end to announce your vacation to everyone, please unsubscribe from us first. We have come to work with 1,500 email messages, all from the same person on vacation. Their autoresponder and ours simply played "Pong" all night, sending emails back and forth to each other (and receiving a new subscription each time, I might add). Please help us out with this. Thanks. For more information on ADD or ADHD, visit the web's most comprehensive ADD ADHD Information Library for parents, teachers, and professionals, at NewIdeas.Net. |
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Announcing our three newest web sites!
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TEACHING PROBLEM SOLVING STRATEGIES TO KIDS Even though the "Stop and Think" movement in ADD/ADHD treatment has lost some momentum lately, the basic strategies and techniques are still worth teaching your children. My favorite version of the technique goes something like this. . . Teach your child this five step problem solving strategy:
I use Checkers in my practice to teach this formula. It is a great way to practice without it effecting anything in the "real world." I use this formula:
I really like the kids to be able to think in terms of "Look at all of your options," "Is this a good move or a bad move?" and "If I do this, what will happen next?" Parents, you can do this with your kids at home. Just remember the point of the checkers game is for the child to learn the problem solving strategies (let him change his move even if he's taken his hand off of the game piece!). Game by game watch your child (if age 6 or older) get better and better at making decisions and good moves. Then use the "language" from the game to talk about real life situation. Good luck with this. |
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THE THREE BEST A L T E R N A T I V E TREATMENTS There are a LOT of alternative treatments for sale out there for ADD/ADHD. Some are good, some are fair, and some are bad. Anything will help somebody out there. There are something like 2 million kids with ADD/ADHD, so a treatment that worked for as few as 01% of the kids who tried it could still line up 20,000 kids on Donohue to say what a remarkable treatment it was. Just as a way of reference, consider that studies show that a placebo is effective, when measured by parent rating scales, with about 15% of children with ADD/ADHD. As measured by way of computerized tests such as the TOVA, placebos are 0% effective at bringing about statistically significant improvements. So, when we rate the effectiveness of any treatment, alternative or medical model, we need to consider the effectiveness (measured by parents subjective ratings or objective computer ratings?) and the possible side effects. Choose wisely. These are the three alternative interventions that I think are the best. These decisions are based on personal experience in my practice, and from both published and unpublished research data. I'll only list them briefly, as this could turn into a book if I write too much detail. 1. EEG Biofeedback Training. About 70-75% effective as measured by both computer assessment tools and parent ratings. Important issues in treatment are: Age of child, IQ of child, expertise of therapist, quality of equipment, and financial resources of family. There is an outstanding web site on this intervention at http://www.eegspectrum.com . This technology involves the acquiring of the EEG brainwave activity from the subject, and through the use of either animation, or sound, or tactile feedback, the subject learns to change and control his/her brainwave activity. Simply, the subject is trained to produce less of the slow brainwave activity that is related to "disregulation" or being a "space cadet" and learns to make more of the mid-range activity related to focused concentration and self-control. Yes, it works. No, it is not just placebo. This is a 25 year old technology that is recently gained a lot of respect from clinicians and is used at about 1,000 sites now nationwide. It is best for children over 6 years old, with average or above IQ's. The therapist must know what he's doing, so look for experience and training. The equipment must be good. Two computer monitors are best, one for therapist and one for subject. The number of sessions can range from 20 to 40. Cost ranges from $50/session to $150/session. Shop around. Some insurances cover these services, most do not. Resources: EEG Spectrum has an association of therapists around the nation and world. They now have 300 Associate Offices in 25 countries. I'm not associated with them, but I do consider Sigfried and Susan as friends. For information, visit their web site or call them at 1(800)789-3456. 2. VAXA International's newly revised ATTEND product. It is effective for 70% of ADD ADHD individuals, as measured by computer and parent scales. See our study data here, in the RESEARCH section. Important issue: Can the child swallow capsules (they are pretty large capsules). This is a nutraceutical medicine that combines 75 ingredients, including amino acids, homeopathic medicines, phospholipids, essential fatty acids, Pycnogenol, grape seed extract OPC's, DHEA, DMAE, and more. I did the clinical research for the manufacturer, so I have seen this work with my own eyes with dozens of subjects. I am convinced that it is very helpful for the majority of kids/teens/adults. It can be used with medications, and as it begins to be effective the medication levels can often be lowered. With temper problems or hyperactivity/hyper-startle problems, it is best combined with VAXA's EXTRESS product. ATTEND takes about 30-60 days to become effective. Improvement continues for at least 120 days. We even measured improvements with college athletes who were not ADD ADHD in reaction time over a 90 day period! Want to learn more? We have the data from our clinical studies, and a comparison between the effective of Ritalin, EEG Biofeedback, and ATTEND in the RESEARCH section. Be sure to check that out and see for yourself! 3. Elimination Diet. This is the 3rd best alternative treatment that I know of. It only seems to work with about 20-25% of the kids who try it, but when it does work, it is great. Why does it work? I don't know. Some kids seems very sensitive to food additives or food colorings, or to sodas, or to cow's milk, or to sugars paired with carbohydrates. Some kids seem to have real ups and downs with their blood sugar levels. Why does it work for some, and not for others? I have no idea, and I've had hundreds of kids on this diet over the past five years or so. Here's a letter I received last week via email...
These are wonderful responses! But, don't get your hopes up too high. If it works, great! If it doesn't work, try something else. To get a copy of the diet... |
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The Readers Respond . . . SURVIVAL STRATEGIES FOR PARENTS In our last issue we posted some of our suggested Survival Strategies for parents, and then asked readers to contribute some of their thoughts or tips. Since this newsletter is already running pretty long, I'll only list a few of them below. Thank you to all of you who contributed!
Again, thanks to all who wrote with tips and strategies!
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Going Shopping On-Line? Visit our mall with over 600 stores to serve you. Both big name stores and small specialty shoppes. All at our mall. Same stores, better parking! |
Products, Books, Web Sites . . . Links to OVER 800 ADD ADHD and related web sites are available through the new ADHD Links Project. This site covers Attention Deficit Disorder, other Related Medical Conditions, and resources for Educators. Great site for research, treatment, or resource links. This site is new as of January 1, 2001. Complete Planet is a Search Engine of Databases and other Search Engines. It is a great resource for research on any subject. This link will take you to their list of sites with information on Attention Deficit Disorder. http://www.completeplanet.com/Health_Medicine/Mental_Health/index.asp MentalHealth.com is a great resource for information on medications. Non-Ritalin approach to ADD/ADHD treatments discussed at these sites . . . For data from our study on the effectiveness of the ATTEND nutraceutical medicine, and for a comparison between ATTEND, and Ritalin, and EEG Biofeedback training, visit our new site at ADD-Products.com and then visit the RESEARCH section. Attend and Extress. Amino acid based nutraceutical medicines. Good products. For an in-depth discussion and product information... EEG Biofeedback therapy is discussed at several sites, including the ADD Information Library at NewIdeas.Net. The EEG Spectrum site has a number of studies and an overwhelming amount of information on this treatment technology. The TOP 100 List of Advanced Nutritional Products, all in one place! Go to the VAXA International web site to see the greatest collection of breakthrough health products, from effective Weight Loss products, to Cardiovascular Care, pH balancing, stress reduction, and so very much more! You deserve these products!
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