ADHD: A Story And My Take On What's Real and What Isn't.

First, the story, that undoubtedly will sound remarkably familiar to some of you.

Once upon a time, a little girl was born. Everything about her mother's pregnancy and the little girl's entrance in to the world was normal. As the little girl progressed through the stages of development, it quickly became apparent to those around her that she was "different." She progressed much more quickly than what would be considered "normal." She walked early, talked early, and reached virtually all developmental milestones before expected. She also displayed advanced levels of intelligence...in a intuitive, insightful, perceptive and well-spoken kind of way. She knew things that a young child of her age just shouldn't know or understand yet, and while the book-smarts were there, this "other" type of intelligence was the more noticeable one of the two. She was always "on the go," never staying with one activity for too long, eager and ready for the "next best thing." She was a joy to be around and had a very well developed sense of humor. As the girl grew older and reached school age, subtle concerns with her level attention would arise. Teachers would say she was a "little immature" for her age, that her organizational skills were lacking, that she was a little fidgety in class, and various things of that nature. During the summer between 1st and 2nd grade, the little girl was diagnosed with a seizure disorder. An MRI came back showing an abnormality in the frontal lobes of her brain and a neuronal migration disorder, consistent with a diagnosis of a "tuberous sclerosis-like" condition. During her 2nd grade parent-teacher conference, er teacher noted that the little girl was showing a high degree of difficulty with staying on task, organization, turning in homework, and was slightly disruptive in the classroom. Her mother, showing elevated concern decided to contact her daughter's neurologist to see what he thought, as well as research through reading, Tuberous Sclerosis, Epilepsy, ADHD and Frontal Lobe Function. One article she read told her that between 2 and 25% of children with Tuberous Sclerosis will have attentional and/or behavior problems. Another article told her that an estimated 20-30% of children with Epilepsy will have concurrent ADHD. Many articles regarding the function of the frontal lobes of the brain told her that abnormalities in this area will affect such things as self regulation, and task management skills such as organization, planning and self monitoring. Yet another article told her that 1 out of every 25-30 children will have a diagnosis of ADHD. After researching signs and symptoms of ADHD and Executive Function Disorder, it became clear to her mother that her little girl was indeed displaying many of the symptoms associated with these two conditions. A 504 Plan was put in to place and certain accommodations were made (sitting in the front of the classroom, transitional cues when switching from one activity to the next, and eventually a separate test setting for standardized tests, as well as a check in person who would physically check her bag and make sure she had all of her things with her for home). This seemed to work well enough but as she grew older still, and the demands of school and life in general became greater, as well as the hormones of puberty coming in to play, things began to grow remarkably worse. Her mother was having a very difficult time understanding why it was so difficult for her daughter to follow a simple set of directions, why she was continuously forgetting things, why her temper was out of control, and why she was becomingly increasingly distracted and unable to complete certain tasks. Her mother decided it was time to take action. It was very hard for her to see her daughter struggle. It was hard for her to watch her daughter who was wise beyond her years, have a difficult time with even the most basic of tasks that involved any kind of sustained attention, mood regulation or basic direction following. She began treating her daughter's environmental allergies, starting her daughter on a some what regular exercise regimen through a local kids gym, and introduced a "Chart and Rewards System" at home. All three of these things seemed to help and drastic improvements were noted but, there were still serious problems with distraction, attention and following even the most basic sets of instructions. At previous appointments with her daughter's neurologist, a medication called "Focalin" had been discussed. Her mother had been hesitant in the past about medicating her daughter any further than she already was for her Epilepsy, but felt she had exhausted all of her options, and finally gave in.


That, my friends is the story of my daughter Emily. Emily is what I consider to be a very real, accurately diagnosed version of ADHD/EFD. She has the medical back ground to support it and the obvious symptoms ranging from poor organizational skills to mood regulation concerns.

In short, I am a strong believer in a medical reason behind ADHD. I am also a strong believer in certain "external forces" affecting attention and self regulation. I think certain food sensitivities and additives come in to play as do things like lack of structure and and unclear rules and expectations. I also think there is a certain degree to which "genetic predisposition" can come in to play (as in you are more likely to have it if a close relative does type of thing). I also believe that the intense pressure of being a kid in today's world, and the required amount of downtime they have are too inhibiting. Kids are meant to run and play and just, well, enjoy life.

For the record, Emily has been taking the Focalin since school started. It has been kind of hard to tell whether or not it is working yet, but, I am sure time will tell. I hope it does but, if it doesn't, I will continue to search out answers.