Can a person with ADHD train their brain to improve? The answer to that question may lie with something known as neuroplasiticity. Neuroplasticity refers to the brain’s ability to create or alter its neural networks – essentially rewire itself – in response to stimuli from the environment. Understanding how our brains can “rewire” to help us improve offers another tool for individuals with ADHD to help overcome its negative effects and leverage its super powers.
If you have an ADHD child who is on a treatment plan that involves taking stimulant medications, you may face a vexing decision when summer vacation arrives. That is, whether to give your kid a “drug holiday” – discontinuing their medication during the summer break from school. There are many factors to consider when contemplating a summer drug holiday for your ADHD child. Be sure to give it as much consideration as you did when starting the medication treatment in the first place.
Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) is a condition where a child is almost always angry, frustrated and defiant toward authority figures. The exact causes of ODD are not known, but it occurs more frequently in families with a history of ADHD. There are many effective treatments for ODD, and strategies that parents can use to lessen the severity of symptoms and their negative impacts both within and outside the home.
Many parents who have children with ADHD may wonder how the symptoms will change as their child gets older. Will they get worse, diminish, or just change into something different. Researchers have studied this question and come up with a kind of roadmap for how ADHD symptoms are likely to change, on average, with age.
Findings from several recent studies suggest that certain aspects of ADHD can be improved with at-home computer interventions. This comes as welcome news to children, who adapt easily to mobile devices, and to parents who seek alternatives to drugs that have limited effectiveness and adverse effects. These studies provide encouraging evidence that video game technology might one day be used as part of an ADHD treatment regime.
The symptoms of ADHD, which often include an inability to pay attention, distraction, and impaired impulse control can make driving more difficult. A number of studies have confirmed a higher number of car accidents among people with ADHD than the general population. While the cognitive demands of driving can be difficult for those with ADHD, especially teens there are a number of simple steps you can take to be a safe driver and avoid becoming dangerously distracted.
When it comes to the association of having ADHD and being at higher risk for concussion, researchers have begun to confirm what clinicians have long suspected. Due to various factors such as impulsivity, inattention, impairment in motor function, or differences in coordination, individuals with ADHD could be more likely to sustain a head injury. Their symptoms might also be more severe and persist for longer periods of time. Taking measures to reduce the symptoms of ADHD is one way to lower the risk of concussion for individuals with the condition.
Over the past several decades, educators, policymakers and scientists have referred to ADHD, as a national crisis and have spent billions of dollars looking into its cause. They’ve looked at genetics, brain development, exposure to toxic substances like lead, the push for early academics, and many other factors. But new studies have a number of researchers asking whether the behavior and attention issues ascribed to ADHD are due to the fact that many kids today simply don’t get the sleep they need.
As researchers discover more about ADHD, we are beginning to see that the disorder presents differently in boys and girls, and later, in adult men and women. Understanding these gender differences could help the medical community make earlier diagnoses of ADHD for girls and perhaps help forestall issues related to untreated ADHD later in life.
There has been plenty written about the “disorder” aspects of ADHD – problems with attention, focus, impulsivity and executive function skills in general. But research studies seem to confirm that there is another side to the condition. It can bring with it, under the right circumstances, an ability to perform at extraordinary levels.
