ADD has been diagnosed for hundreds of years, but more recently has become more prevalent due to the increased use of chemicals, pollutants, or heavy metal toxicity (such as lead, mercury, and cadmium). One estimate quotes over l.3 million with Attention Deficit Disorder; another source quotes up to 3 million with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. ADD interferes with the child’s home, school and social life. Unable to screen out stimuli, the child is easily distracted. This usually intelligent child receives a label of being “learning-disabled” and finds the nervous system cannot be slowed down to focus long enough to complete an assigned task. Other symptoms may be head knocking, self-destructiveness, temper tantrums, clumsiness and sleep disturbances. ADD may exist with or without the hyperactivity aspect.
ADHD is the most commonly studied and diagnosed psychiatric disorder in children, affecting about 3 to 5 percent of children globallyand diagnosed in about 2 to 16 percent of school aged children.It is a chronic disorder with 30 to 50 percent of those individuals diagnosed in childhood continuing to have symptoms into adulthood. Adolescents and adults with ADHD tend to develop coping mechanisms to compensate for some or all of their impairments. It is estimated that 4.7 percent of American adults live with ADHD. Standardized rating scales such as WHO’s Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale can be used for ADHD screening and assessment of the disorder’s symptoms severity.
First, let me say that, as an adult with ADD, I find it very hard to see this uniqueness we have as a true disability. In the first place, it is hardly a deficit of attention, but more of an overabundance of it. The problem is actually more with the inability to avoid distraction – to ignore the many things that demand our attention while we are trying to focus on one. This is particularly troublsome in the classroom setting, where any disruption is met with stern condemnation, or else becomes too much accepted, leading to the child being ignored. Second, although some of the traits (such as hyper-activity) that can accompany ADD can be troublesome, especially in the schoolroom, and may even require medication to offset the chemical imbalances, I believe most of the differences/difficulties faced with ADD are simply differences in viewpoint. I don’t mean opinion, but the basic way we look at the world. I tend to subscribe to the idea that we are “Hunters in a Farmer’s World”*. While others are good at organization and maintaining routine (and sitting still in desks), seeing to it that those things that must be done get done, seeing to the details of the everyday needs, we notice details that they may not, see ways to combine things in new ways, find new uses for old things, think of new ways to get through old difficulties, etc., etc. We are complements to each other and ADD believed to be disorders of certain mechanisms of the central nervous system. Infants and children are the ones most often affected, and most often subjected to the widespread and indiscriminate use of drugs, especially Ritalin for quick short-cut suppression of deeper problems.
ADHD is the most commonly studied and diagnosed psychiatric disorder in children, affecting about 3 to 5 percent of children globallyand diagnosed in about 2 to 16 percent of school aged children.It is a chronic disorder with 30 to 50 percent of those individuals diagnosed in childhood continuing to have symptoms into adulthood. Adolescents and adults with ADHD tend to develop coping mechanisms to compensate for some or all of their impairments. It is estimated that 4.7 percent of American adults live with ADHD. Standardized rating scales such as WHO’s Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale can be used for ADHD screening and assessment of the disorder’s symptoms severity.
First, let me say that, as an adult with ADD, I find it very hard to see this uniqueness we have as a true disability. In the first place, it is hardly a deficit of attention, but more of an overabundance of it. The problem is actually more with the inability to avoid distraction – to ignore the many things that demand our attention while we are trying to focus on one. This is particularly troublsome in the classroom setting, where any disruption is met with stern condemnation, or else becomes too much accepted, leading to the child being ignored. Second, although some of the traits (such as hyper-activity) that can accompany ADD can be troublesome, especially in the schoolroom, and may even require medication to offset the chemical imbalances, I believe most of the differences/difficulties faced with ADD are simply differences in viewpoint. I don’t mean opinion, but the basic way we look at the world. I tend to subscribe to the idea that we are “Hunters in a Farmer’s World”*. While others are good at organization and maintaining routine (and sitting still in desks), seeing to it that those things that must be done get done, seeing to the details of the everyday needs, we notice details that they may not, see ways to combine things in new ways, find new uses for old things, think of new ways to get through old difficulties, etc., etc. We are complements to each other and ADD believed to be disorders of certain mechanisms of the central nervous system. Infants and children are the ones most often affected, and most often subjected to the widespread and indiscriminate use of drugs, especially Ritalin for quick short-cut suppression of deeper problems.
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