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Before stimulant drugs such as Ritalin, Concerta and Adderall began their rise to popularity in the 1970s, treatment for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) focused on behavioral therapy. But as concerns build over the mounting dosages and extended treatment periods that come with stimulant drugs, clinical researchers are revisiting behavioral therapy techniques. Whereas stimulant medications may help young patients focus and behave in the classroom, research now suggests that behaviorally based changes make more of a difference in the long-term.

As we observe ADHD Awareness Week, please join us this Thursday, September 16th, at 12:00 pm (Mountain time) for our monthly Ask the Expert online chat. To join the chat, please click here at 1:45 pm (Eastern time) the day of the chat and follow the instructions on that page. This is an online chat only and no pre-registration is required!

MONDAY, Sept. 13 (HealthDay News) -- Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), disruptive levels of aggression, and a history of insufficient response to stimulant medication may benefit from a protocol of individually optimized stimulant monotherapy and behavioral intervention, according to research published online Sept. 13 in Pediatrics.

Academy Award winning director Steven Spielberg recently admitted to having dyslexia -- the first time he has publicly talked about it. "It was the last puzzle part in a tremendous mystery that I've kept to myself all these years," says the director in an interview on friendsofquinn.com. Diagnosed five years ago, Spielberg learned to read two years later than his classmates, who bullied him so much that he dreaded going to school.

When a child exhibits behavior problems in school or doesn’t progress academically in line with peers, some parents might think of a developmental disability or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). First, says Margaret Skinner, M.D., consider getting the child’s hearing checked, especially if he or she has suffered repeated ear infections.“During an ear infection, there is fluid in the middle ear,” says Skinner, a Johns Hopkins pediatric otolaryngologist (ear, nose and throat surgeon). “The infection can resolve but fluid may remain. That fluid is associated with mild but typically reversible hearing loss.”

The Brain Balance Achievement Center, a franchise that opened in Mequon last summer, offers a program that it contends can help children overcome attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, dyslexia, Asperger's syndrome, Tourette syndrome, autism and other disorders. The 12-week program - costing $6,000, plus roughly $125 to $500 in nutritional supplements - purportedly does this by addressing an imbalance between the right and left sides of the brain that it calls "functional disconnection syndrome." The program is based on the contention that ADHD, dyslexia, autism and other disorders all result from this syndrome. "That functional disconnection syndrome basically states in the literature that the two sides of the brain are not communicating effectively together due to the fact that one side of the brain is actually maturing at a faster rate than the other side," said Jeremy Fritz, a chiropractor and co-owner of the franchise. The "literature" consists of one study of children with ADHD, co-authored by the program's founder, published in an obscure journal based in Tel Aviv, Israel. There are no studies in respected, peer-reviewed journals that contend ADHD, dyslexia, autism and other disorders stem from the development of one side of the brain faster than the other. "None of the neuro research would even come close to suggesting that," said Mina Dulcan, a professor at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine and the head of the child and adolescent psychiatry program at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago.

As recently as 2002, an international group of leading neuroscientists found it necessary to publish a statement arguing passionately that attention deficit hyperactivity disorder was a real condition.

Camp Buckskin has been helping young people with ADD, ADHD, Learning Disabilities, Aspergers, or those who may be adopted to learn and grow for more than 50 years. We provide a structured, consistent, and supportive environment with quality instruction in traditional camp and some academic activities. Our featured Personal Growth Program works to enhance social awareness and improve social skills. Our parents are most interested in helping their children make and maintain friendships, so we work each day to accomplish this goal. In addition, we strive to improve problem solving/coping skills to help our campers become more self reliant and take on increased responsibility for themselves.

There are many mistaken ideas about Learning Disabilities (LD, NLD, EFD) and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). These myths and misconceptions can stand in the way of your child's progress.

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How to create, implement, and maintain an IEP or 504 Plan that secures school accommodations for your child with ADHD or LD. Click on each step below for detailed expert advice.

About 30 percent of children with autism have symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but under current diagnostic guidelines they can only be diagnosed with one or the other1. That’s about to change.