|
(HealthNewsDigest.com) – Every parent has a little anxiety as a new school year approaches. Will my daughter like her teacher? Will my son be able to keep up with his homework? But for parents of a child with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), the stakes can feel much higher.
Diagnoses of ADHD have been steadily increasing over the past decade. The National Institute of Mental Health says that three to five percent of children have it, and many experts believe that the true percentage is closer to ten, with many children going undiagnosed. Often, the first reaction to an ADHD diagnosis is to start children on medications that, while enabling them to focus, can constrict their emotional range, perception, and creativity.
Overcoming ADHD: Helping Your Child Become Calm, Engaged, and Focused—Without a Pill is the answer for parents who want to know if there are treatment options besides Ritalin. Through his thirty-five years of clinical practice, Dr. Stanley Greenspan—one of the country’s foremost child psychiatrists—has developed an intervention program that identifies the roots of ADHD and tailors treatment to the individual. Greenspan’s program is based on the knowledge that ADHD is not a single disorder, but rather a series of problems that share a symptom—inattention. But paying attention is a process that involves receiving and processing information as well as planning and executing actions. Children exhibiting signs of ADHD could be having trouble at any point in this process. The key to intervention is not giving them the latest catch-all medical stimulant, but figuring out where the break-down occurs and reinforcing the associated skills.
Overcoming ADHD gives parents and caregivers the information they need to strengthen the different abilities that contribute to attentiveness, including planning and sequencing actions, modulating responses to sensation, and thinking reflectively. It also explains the importance of family dynamics and a healthy environment in ADHD intervention, providing a comprehensive approach to treating ADHD effectively—and without drugs.
Stanley I. Greenspan, MD, is the author of Engaging Autism: Using the Floortime Approach to Help Children Relate, Communicate, and Think, The Challenging Child: Understanding, Raising, and Enjoying the Five “Difficult” Types of Children, and The Child with Special Needs: Encouraging Intellectual and Emotional Growth—all published by Da Capo Lifelong Books. He is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics at George Washington University Medical School and president of the Interdisciplinary Council on Developmental and Learning Disorders. He lives in Bethesda, Maryland. Jacob Greenspan is Co-Director of the DIR Support Services Center for special-needs children, including those with ADHD.
August 1, 2009 $25.00 Hardcover 198 Pages
Childcare/Psychology ISBN 978-0-7382-1355-2 A Merloyd Lawrence Book
Subscribe to our FREE Ezine and be eligible for Health News, discounted products/services and coupons related to your Health. We publish 24/7.
HealthNewsDigest.com