This article might have been better titled; “Building self-esteem in kids, whether ADHD or not.”  The reason is that it’s terribly important for parents and teachers to learn ways to build self-esteem and confidence in all children and teens, not just those kids with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

Most children with ADHD suffer low confidence levels, poor self-image and poor self-esteem as a result of their impulsive behavior and terrible communication and social skills. Therefore, building self-esteem and confidence in ADHD teens and children is often viewed as next to impossible and many teachers and parents become frustrated and give up too easily.

I know each and every one of you wants what’s best for their children-both parents and teachers alike.Also, I know how frustrating it can be to deal with an ADHD child’s ups and downs as I have helped raise many of them, including one of my own. So, please let me help by sharing a few of the important things I’ve discovered about dealing with ADHD kids (and kids who are not ADHD) who are suffering low self-esteem:

• 85% of children with ADHD behavior problems have poor self-image and low self-esteem.
• 25% of children who are not ADHD will suffer low self-esteem at one time or another between ages 5 and 19.
• The worse a child’s impulsive or inattentive behavior, the more likely they have poor communication skills and therefore are prone to low self-esteem.
• Likewise, any child who can’t communicate well is likely to have mild behavior problems and low self-esteem.
• Just like non-ADHD kids, kids with ADHD are influenced by the behavior and opinions of those around him or her. We call this the “cohort effect”. For example, if your friend, mother, father, or teachers are generally happy in dealing with you, then you tend to be overall happier… If they treat you unfairly, then you tend to treat others unfairly.
• ADHD children and teens are much more heavily influenced by those around them than are those children who are not ADHD. In some cases, even those kids misdiagnosed as ADHD fall into the same category.
• It can take weeks, months or years to build confidence and a positive self-image and good self- esteem in a child with ADHD who is experiencing all of these negatives.
• The more dysfunctional the family in which the child lives, the more likely attempts to improve confidence and self-esteem will fail or take very long times to accomplish. This includes kids suffering through: their parent’s separation and divorce, death of a loved one, severe illness in a teacher or family member, an abrupt move to a new town or school, family financial problems, and parent or sibling use of alcohol, drugs or promiscuous sex.

Here are the first couple of tips on how to build confidence and self-esteem in ADHD kids I’d like to share with you:

• Firstly, try to figure out exactly what aspects of your child’s confidence and self-esteem are lacking or have been damaged. The fastest way to do so is to take a look at what his or her friends (cohorts) are doing. Are they primarily sports enthusiasts, musicians, the out-door types or highly motivated to meet physical goals? If your child is trying to keep up with these guys and gals and can’t do so, he or she will suffer lack of confidence and thus poor self-esteem.
• Secondly, try to teach your ADHD child or teen at least one new skill per week that will help them deal with their short comings. Caution: Teaching them how to do chores is not the same as teaching skills that build confidence. After all, chores are just chores. Boys generally do better when taught something that has a little risk attached to it…like learning to crank a lawn mower or use a hand-held power tool.  Girls tend to adapt better when learning skills that deal with things that improve their physical appearance or personal communication skills or emotions.
• Thirdly, spend one-on-one time each week doing a life-essential learning adventure. Some examples include: Hiking and learning how to survive in the wild. Starting a fire without matches. Color coordinating clothing during a shopping trip. Organizing and buying supplies for social events such as pajama parties. These should not be family events or outings, as they must be age appropriate and when taken along, younger children often disrupt the experience for the older child who needs it the most.

As you can see, the basics of building good self-esteem in children and teens are not very demanding, nor hard to implement. You just need to get started and remember; “Building confidence and good self-esteem in children isn’t magic and it doesn’t happen overnight”.

We’ll discuss more tips on building confidence and self-esteem in children, whether ADHD or not, in my next article.

Dr. Frank

Share this:

For several years, parents have been cautious about the risk of heart problems with drugs used to treat ADHD in children and teens.

Just a couple of years ago, ADHD experts were cautioning parents and doctors about how drugs used to treat ADHD such as Adderall or Ritalin, could cause heart problems in kids and teens. 

These warnings came about because several children who were taking ADHD stimulants suffered irregular heartbeats (cardiac arrhythmia) and sudden cardiac death. When these deaths were further investigated, these children were found to have had pre-existing heart disease-their hearts were abnormal before taking the ADHD drugs!

 Consequently, it was decided that these ADHD drugs did not directly place a child or teen using them at risk of a cardiac arrhythmia, any type of heart damage, or sudden death.

Even though both ADHD and heart experts had adequately explained why those few kids suffered sudden cardiac death, I know many parents were still skeptical and wanted to avoid using these drugs at all costs-even if their child’s ADHD would have improved using them.

Now, parents can be reassured again that using ADHD drugs to treat ADHD in kids and teens,  does not the risk of their child developing heart disease or suffering a cardiovascular event from ADHD treatment.

A new study comparing kids with ADHD who were using ADHD drugs with kids of the same age who were not using ADHD drugs reported “no difference in the rate of heart problems or deaths” between the two groups. The study was completed by the epidemiology department at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia.

Here’s what I tell parents about stimulant drugs and heart problems at the time of their doctor visit for ADHD evaluation and treatment:

Are all ADHD drugs safe to use in all children? No… I don’t think so. Until an adequate and thorough heart work-up has been done, ADHD stimulants should be avoided in kids and teens who have a history of:

•  damaged heart valves
•  previous heart surgery of any type
• history of irregular or rapid heartbeat
• history of passing out (syncope) for unknown reasons
• any child who complains of shortness of breath on minimal exertion and does not have known asthma

If you know or suspect that your ADHD child or teen has had heart problems or is suffering a heart problem you should notify his or her doctor right away.  What he or she doesn’t know in this case, might hurt your son or daughter.

What will your ADHD child’s doctor ask you? What tests will be needed to make sure your child can safely take ADHD medications? 

We’ll discuss these two questions in my next post!

Be a strong advocate for your ADHD child-learn everything you can about what is and what is not ADHD and how both types of children should be treated.

See you on the next post!
Dr. Frank

Reference:

Kids Taking ADHD Drugs at Low Risk for Heart Problems: Study
HealthDay Reporter: Steven Reinberg

http://health.usnews.com/health-news/family-health/heart/articles/2011/05/16/kids-taking-adhd-drugs-at-low-risk-for-heart-problems-study_print.html

For more information, search ADHD in Children-ADHD treatment-ADHD drugs and heart problems

Share this:

Have you started getting your ADHD child ready for the end of school?

Most experts know how important it is to prepare children with ADD and ADHD for the upcoming school year. Unfortunately, most of us forget an even more important event-that of preparing kids with ADHD for the end of the present school year.

Key Point: Organizing a child with ADHD to successfully end his or her current school experience will make it easier to prepare them for the start of the next school year!

Just like the rest of us at that age, the closer and the faster the end of school approached, the more we became inattentive, fidgety, and let our grades slip down-just a little. Well, the child with ADHD is no exception-except he or she may actually have much worse symptoms of ADHD during the same period.

Parents often panic and want things to be fixed as soon as possible in the fear that the child will somehow fail the school year-unlikely if he and she has done well the remainder of the year!

Here are a few of the issues I urge parents and teachers to deal with before the school year is over:

• Give your child extra help in homework and studying during the last two months of the school year-even if it means hiring a tutor
• Have an-almost-the-end-of-the-year conference with his or her teacher in April to get a really good idea of how your ADHD child is doing, so urgent changes can be made
• Have an-end-of-the-year conference with the teacher during the last week of school to find out how your child did doing the interval and give you an idea of how to help them over the summer
• Have a-get-ready-for-the-next-year conference with his next teacher or possible teacher to discover what will be expected of your child before the next school year. Will he or she need to write a research-what I did over the summer paper-or read a couple of books that will require book reports in September?

As the old saying goes; “A good defense plan requires a good offensive one”. If you know how things are going with your ADHD child’s behavior at the end of school and know what to expect in the coming semester, you won’t be caught off guard. You’ll really be giving your child that little extra advantage that will help him or her deal with the next grade.

Who knows? Your efforts may help them make A’s on their first report card-surprising you expected a repeat of failing grades and bad report cards!

I’m sure you’ll discover many more tips on ending your ADHD child’s school year successfully and of course if you have any-please share them!

Dr. Frank

Share this:

ADHD News-Mild Autism, like ADHD, usually responds poorly to anti-psychotic drugs

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and mild autism-Asperger’s syndrome share so many behavioral traits, that often, the two are confused and misdiagnosed. I’ve found this tendency to misdiagnosis to be more frequent and more pronounced in younger children, a situation which probably occurs because both autism spectrum disorders and ADHD in children are so difficult to detect in very young (36 months or younger) kids.

Just like in ADHD, the use of anti-psychotics should be limited to children who clearly show markedly disruptive-impulsive-hyperactive behavior that has elements of psychosis (disordered thoughts) or have failed to respond to other medications with much fewer significant side effects.

For example, the most commonly used drugs in this class include risperidone and aripiprazole, both powerful anti-psychotics with risks for weight gain, excessive sedation or sleepiness, muscle spasms and for causing elevated blood sugars (as in Diabetes Mellitus) and serious movement problems (stiffness).

Obviously, whether ADHD or an Autism Spectrum Disorder, our goal should be to make sure each that we thoroughly evaluate each child for signs of ADHD, so that we avoid mistaking their symptoms and prevent mislabeling them as kids with ADHD.

 Dr. Frank

P.S. Remember, April is the month of Autism awareness!

Here’s an Autism news article you might want to take a look at:

Evidence Weak to Support Many Medications for Autism: Study
Anti-psychotics may help control disruptive behaviors, but side effects called significant

http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/healthday/651543.html

Share this:

ADHD News includes reports that food dyes do not cause ADHD in children

As most experts in behavioral-ADHD medicine expected, last week, a FDA panel ruled there is no proof that artificial food colorings-dyes cause hyperactivity or ADHD in “most children.

Despite the fact that some parents see significant improvement in hyperactivity and impulsiveness when certain food dyes are eliminated from their ADHD child’s diet, there doesn’t appear to be a direct cause and effect. Essentially, that means that extracted-purified food colorings and dyes have not been shown to cause signs of ADHD or hyperactivity-impulsive behaviors in a significant number of kids. And

More likely, as panel members noted, “that artificial food coloring may be a problem for some children who are prone to hyperactivity, much alike a food allergy.” Most of us believe some children react to food coloring and food dyes because they are sensitive to or intolerant to these chemicals, not because they cause the behaviors.

I’ll still continue to tell parents of kids with ADHD to limit certain foods, dyes and other chemicals to see if doing so decreases their signs of ADHD. And if an elimination diet helps, they should continue restricting the offending substance as long as the child’s symptoms of ADHD improve.

Call it what you wish…an allergy, a food hyper-sensitivity… food dyes probably don’t cause ADHD-they just affect kids with ADHD more than kids without ADHD.

Dr. Frank

References

FDA Rules Artificial Food Coloring Is Safe for Most

http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/129976/20110403/add-adhd-artificial-food-coloring-food-additives.htm

Examining food dyes

FDA panel cites lack of evidence linking colorings to hyperactivity in vote against warning labels

http://www.argusleader.com/article/20110402/LIFE/104020315/1004/Examining-food-dyes

Do food dyes contribute to ADHD in kids?http://www.azfamily.com/news/health/Do-food-dyes-contribute-to-ADHD-in-kids-119269099.html

Share this: