What can I do to help my naughty little one?

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) September 25, 2011 -- What is ADHD?

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the common behavioral disorders which occur during childhood that need counseling. Normally, boys are 2 to 4 times more likely to be diagnosed with this problem than girls. Children who suffer from ADHD tend to have hyperactivity, impulsivity and or inattention problems. For example, they might have trouble focusing on a task, could not pay attention in class and unable to attend to details. Those symptoms will affect the normal function of social life and academic performance. The presenting symptoms should occur over a longer period of time and happen in different kind of contexts to be diagnosed as ADHD.

Why are they so naughty?

It is not because of they are being mischievous or disobey with instructions, in fact they have difficulty in controlling their own behavior. Although the main reason that caused ADHD has not been confirmed yet, researcher believed that 90% of ADHD cases are due to genetic problem. There are differences in the brain region between an ADHD child and a normal child. An ADHD child has impairment on the frontal lobe, which caused difficulty in managing attention, focus and planning. Besides, mothers who have smoking and drinking habit during pregnancy might at a higher risk for having an ADHD kid.

What are the treatments?
Parents and teachers should understand the important of helping an ADHD child through proper treatment before they get worse in adulthood. Research showed that adult with ADHD are at a higher risk of having depression, chronic pain, insomnia, and or chronic fatigue syndrome compared to those who not. Treatment such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and medication could help the child to learn to control their behavior and be more productive. In case, parents should consult a professional to help their ADHD kids as early as possible.

9-year-old Albert

A mother was concerned about her son, Albert’s behavior in school. The school teachers complained that Albert is making lots of trouble in school, for examples, likes to walk around in class, always forget things, being impulsive and get into fights with the prefect. Hence, she brought him to International Psychology Centre (IPC) for psychological assessment. After few assessments which included IQ test, the professional psychologist in IPC confirmed that Albert fell into the diagnosis of ADHD. The IQ test compared Albert’s performance on attention and concentration with normal children and children with ADHD. Results showed that his scales fell into the ADHD range. Therefore, attention enhancement therapy was carried out to teach Albert to manage his behavior and enhance his attention. Besides, IPC’s psychologist, psychotherapist and nutritional therapist also conducted lab test to investigate biochemical and nutritional causes of Albert’s ADHD symptoms. Psychonutritional therapy was carried out to help manage Albert’s food allergy problem. Indeed, at the end of the day, Albert did able to control his temper, being less impulsive and able to present a proper behavior in most of the situation.

Tips:
• Parents may try to give instruction to an ADHD kid one at a time instead of giving multiple requests at once; so that the child could focus on one task at a time and learn to be more productive.
• As a result, the child might get to build self-esteem and reduce their negative thoughts of they could never get things done. Therefore also manage to control their aggressive behavior and improve problem solving skills.

IPC will have a talk on December 2011 which focuses on the topic of ADHD child. Please stay tune for the date and check out from the website: www.psychology.com.my.
Please visit International Psychology Centre (IPC) website: www.psychology.com.my for more information.

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