ADHD
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common childhood behavioral disorder, but it can be difficult to diagnose and even harder to understand. What should you do if your child has ADHD, and how can you help your child deal with this disorder?
Symptoms and Signs of ADHD
Children who have ADHD may know what to do, but they are not always able to complete their tasks because they are unable to focus, are impulsive, or are easily distracted. For example, children with ADHD often cannot sit still or pay attention in school.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) estimates that ADHD affects between 4% and 12% of all school-age children. ADHD can create problems for these children at home, at school, or in their relationships with friends. 2 to 3 times more boys than girls are affected with ADHD.
But what is ADHD? You may be more familiar with the term attention deficit disorder, or ADD. This disorder was renamed ADHD in 1994 by the American Psychiatric Association and includes these symtoms:
inability to pay attention to details
difficulty with sustained attention
apparent listening problems
difficulty following instructions
problems organizing tasks
avoidance of tasks that require mental effort
tendency to lose things like toys
distractibility
fidgeting or squirming
excessive running, climbing and talking
problems with interrupting or intruding
To be considered for a diagnosis of ADHD, a child must display these
behaviors before age 7 and the behaviors must last for at least 6 months. The behaviors must also be negatively affecting at least two areas of a child's life (such as school, home, daycare settings, or friendships) for a child to be diagnosed with ADHD.
All children have difficulty paying attention, following directions, or being quiet from time to time, but for children with ADHD, these behaviors occur more frequently and are more disturbing to the children and those around them.
What Causes ADHD?
ADHD has biological origins that are not yet clearly defined. No one cause of ADHD has been identified, but researchers have been looking at a number of possible gene and environmental links. Research shows that some children may have a genetic predisposition toward ADHD; it is most common in children who have close relatives with the disorder. Recent research also links smoking during pregnancy to later ADHD in a child, and there is a strong possibility that other substance use may have the same effect.
Although scientists are not sure whether this is a cause of the disorder, they have also found that certain areas of the brain (in the frontal lobes and basal ganglia) are about 5% to 10% smaller in size and activity in children with ADHD.
Hyperactivity and poor impulse control can also occur in response to significant family stress. Children who have experienced a divorce, a move, a change in school, or other significant life event may display impulsive and overly active behavior, forgetfulness, and absentmindedness, which may be misdiagnosed as ADHD. It is important to rule out these factors when considering a diagnosis of ADHD.
AUTISM - Back to Top
Autism is a complex developmental disability that typically appears during the first three years of life. The result of a neurological disorder that affects the functioning of the brain, autism impacts the normal development of the brain in the areas of social interaction and communication skills. Children and adults with autism typically have difficulties in verbal and non-verbal communication, social interactions, and leisure or play activities.
Autism is one of five disorders coming under the umbrella of Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD), a category of neurological disorders characterized by "severe and pervasive impairment in several areas of development," including social interaction and communications skills.
Prevalence of Autism
Autism is the most common of the Pervasive Developmental Disorders, affecting an estimated 1 in 250 births (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2003). This means that as many as 1.5 million Americans today are believed to have some form of autism.
And that number is on the rise. Based on statistics from the U.S. Department of Education and other governmental agencies, autism is growing at a rate of 10-17 percent per year. At these rates, the ASA estimates that the prevalence of autism could reach 4 million Americans in the next decade.
The overall incidence of autism is consistent around the globe, but is four times more prevalent in boys than girls. Autism knows no racial, ethnic, or social boundaries, and family income, lifestyle, and educational levels do not affect the chance of autism's occurrence.
People with autism process and respond to information in unique ways. In some cases, aggressive and/or self-injurious behavior may be present. Persons with autism may also exhibit some of the following traits.
Insistence on sameness; resistance to change
Sustained odd play
Difficulty in expressing needs; uses gestures or pointing instead of words
Laughing, crying, showing distress for reasons not apparent to others
Prefers to be alone
Tantrums
Difficulty in mixing with others
Spins objects
Little or no eye contact
Unresponsive to normal teaching methods
Apparent over-sensitivity or under-sensitivity to pain
No real fears of danger
Noticeable physical over-activity or extreme under-activity
Not responsive to verbal cues; acts as if deaf although hearing tests
in normal range.
Tourettes - Back to Top Tourettes syndrome is a condition characterized by repeated involuntary movements, this can include uncontrollable vocal sounds, often called Tics and the person can vocalize inappropriate words or phrases. Tourettes affects people from all ethnic backgrounds, and is usually diagnosed before the age of 18, with males being 3 to 4 times more likely to get it than females, it is also inherited. The current belief by doctors is that approximately 1 in 200 people have traits of this condition which is usually mild, though the condition can be severe.
The Symptoms
The initial symptoms are facial tics, like eye blinking, nose twitching and grimaces, other tics can occur over time like the twisting of the body, bending, neck stretching and head jerking, these tics can increase and decrease in severity, number and placement, they can stop and start months apart. Tourettes Syndrome (TS); sufferers may sniff, grunt, cough, yelp, bark and shout to clear their throat, some suffers swear & shout obscenities (coprolalia), repeat actions compulsively, touch people excessively and inappropriately, and constantly repeat the words of others (echolalia). Some TS suffers demonstrate self harming behaviors, such as head banging or lip and cheek biting. The tics can to a small extent be controlled by the person, but only for a short period of time, tics are often worsened by stress, yet will improve when he or she is relaxed or a sleep. The causes of TS is unknown but it is now thought that an abnormality in the gene, which affects the brains metabolism of neurotransmitters like Serotonin, and Dopamine.
OCD - Back to Top Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is an illness that causes people to have unwanted thoughts (obsessions) and to repeat certain behaviors (compulsions) over and over again. We all have habits and routines in our daily lives, like brushing our teeth before bed. However, people with OCD have patterns of behavior that get in the way of their daily lives.
Most people with OCD know that their obsessions and compulsions make no sense, but they can't ignore or stop them.
What are obsessions?
Obsessions are ideas, images and impulses that run through the person's mind over and over again. A person with OCD doesn't want to have these thoughts and finds them disturbing, but he or she can't control them. Sometimes these thoughts just come once in a while and are only mildly annoying. Other times, a person with OCD will have obsessive thoughts all the time.
What are compulsions?
Obsessive thoughts make people with OCD feel nervous and afraid. They try to get rid of these feelings by performing certain behaviors according to "rules" that they make up for themselves. These behaviors are called compulsions. (Compulsive behaviors are sometimes also called rituals.) For example, a person with OCD may have obsessive thoughts about being afraid of germs. Because of these thoughts, the person may spend hours washing his or her hands after using a public toilet. Performing these behaviors usually only makes the nervous feelings go away for a short time. When the fear and nervousness return, the person with OCD repeats the routine all over again.
What are some common obsessions?
Fear of dirt or germs
Disgust with bodily waste or fluids
Concern with order, and exactness
Always worrying that a task has been done poorly
Fear of thinking evil or sinful thoughts
Thinking about certain sounds, images, words or numbers all the time
Need for constant reassurance
Fear of harming a family member or friend
What are some common compulsions?
Cleaning and grooming, such as washing hands, showering or brushing teeth over and over again
Constantly checking drawers, locks and appliances
Repeating tasks, such as going in and out of a door
Arranging items in certain ways
Counting over and over to a certain number
Saving newspapers, mail or containers when they are no longer needed
Seeking constant reassurance and approval
How common is OCD?
For many years, OCD was thought to be rare. The actual number of people with OCD was hidden, because people would hide their problem to avoid embarrassment. Some recent studies show that as many as 3 million Americans ages 18 to 54 may have OCD at any one time. This is about 2.3% of the people in this age group.
What causes OCD?
No one has found a single, proven cause for OCD. Some research shows that it may have to do with chemical messengers in the brain that carry messages from one nerve cell to another. One of these messengers, called serotonin (say "seer-oh-tone-in"), helps to keep people from repeating the same behaviors over and over again. A person with OCD may not have enough serotonin. Many people with OCD can function better when they take medicines that increase the amount of serotonin in their brain
