How Can We See ADHD From Another Angle, and What Can We Do For Our Kids?

Even though Connor's "Diagnosis" of ADHD occurred in 1987, little has changed in the way we diagnose that cluster of behaviors we refer to as ADHD. Parents, pediatricians, and teachers still use a checklist of behaviors to determine if a child does indeed qualify as having ADHD. And in many schools and families across the United States, stimulant drugs such as Ritalin, Adderall, and Concerta are still the first line of treatment for children over six, with an additional recommendation for behavior therapy both at home and in school. All you really know after going through the checklist is that your child has a certain set of behaviors that are supposed to indicate a condition called ADHD. But what caused these behaviors? And if doctors can't tell you the cause, why do they so often tell parents that the child has a chemical imbalance in the brain? And how does a doctor know, based on a checklist of behaviors, that a stimulant drug is the correct measure needed to help the child? Roman Wyden, father, entrepreneur, and host of the podcast ADHD is Over, has interviewed many experts in psychology, child development, trauma, and education. The first is detailed in Avigail Gimpel's book HyperHealing: The Empowered Parent's Guide to Raising a Healthy Child with ADHD Symptoms, with an overview of the data behind ADHD in a concise book called HyperHealing: Show Me the Science. Gimpel first asks you as a parent to look at the "Habit loops" you are in as far as your child's behavior and how you respond. His books Notching Up the Nurtured Heart Approach and Transforming the Difficult Child Workbook: An Interactive Guide to the Nurtured Heart Approach offer more streamlined guidance on working with challenging kids in both the school and at home. We all want to help our kids or our students, and sometimes finding the right key to unlock a child's gifts is a matter of time, patience, trial, and error.

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