Return-Path: <nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id g0V4qln25732; Wed, 30 Jan 2002 23:52:48 -0500 (EST) Date: Wed, 30 Jan 2002 23:52:48 -0500 (EST) Message-Id: <5.1.0.14.2.20020130222144.00a52770@mail> Errors-To: listowner@literacy.nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: clifwillard <clifwillard@home.com> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-LD:3873] RE: NIFL-LD:3810 NO Support for phonetic X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 5.1 Status: O Content-Length: 9941 Lines: 183 Oh dear I'm back. The term ADD is no longer used because it was an incorrect acronym. The correct name for the disorder is, Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder ( ADHD ). The term ADD was used by some to distinguish hyperactive from inattentive. It is incorrect however and just confused the understanding of ADHD. The diagnosis is always Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder which is what is used by the DSM-IV. There are three types. Predominantly Inattentive Type DSM-IV 314.00, Predominantly Hyperactive-Impulsive Type 314.01, and Combined Type DSM-IV 314.01. The most common cause of the symptoms associated with ADHD is anxiety, the second most common cause is depression, the third is a language disability, and the least is actually ADHD. A diagnosis must be a differential diagnosis to rule out anxiety, depression, language disability as the cause of the symptoms. It is not a simple diagnosis and requires specific training and licensure. One current theory is that ADHD is a problem with the production of stimulation production in the brain. It is not necessarily blood flow but rather a lack of stimulation that slows many things down. If the brain does not produce enough stimulation for it's own use, it will try to compensate. One way is to make the person active. This activity is stimulating to the brain and there enables the brain to get more of what it needs. It is not enough though so it never stops and is referred to as "hyper" activity. The second option is for the brain to shut down some parts that use a lot of stimulation. This happens to be cognition. The person tunes out and then tunes back in. The metaphor is a flash camera. You click and click and then you click and nothing happens. You must wait for the flash to charge up and then it will fire. In the same way, when the brain has used up the stimulation, it stops cognition until it builds up enough stimulation and then resumes cognition. The person has no recollection of thought during the tuned out time. It is not daydreaming. A person with ADHD may daydream just like anyone else but that has nothing to do with ADHD. The third symptom is hyper-cognition. It is the idea that you have five televisions in your head, all turned on at the same time, all to different channels. You cannot watch one and turn the others off. ADHD is a neurological disorder that is life long though symptoms may change form after adolescences. There is no evidence to support a cure, or that the person has any control over the symptoms. If they did, it would not be ADHD, it would something else. There is nothing the person with the disability can do to stop the symptoms. The reason the medication works is because it acts as a stimulant supplement and the brain no longer needs to compensate by making the person active or shutting down because it is using it's stimulation up faster than it can produce it. Because there is enough stimulation, you can control your thoughts and turn four of the televisions off and watch the one you wish. There is another symptom that is not effected by stimulant medication, that is the difficulty with internal structure. Internal structure refers to a persons ability to sort and re-organize. Unfortunately the DSM-IV states that one of the criteria is that the person has difficult organizing tasks and activities. This however is incorrect. People with ADHD do not have difficulty organizing anything. They do however have great difficulty with sorting and re-organizing. For example: a person with ADHD writes a paper about a vacation, makes up a story about something and it is considered a good paper. They then write a research paper or book report and the paper does not make any sense. The teacher says, " what happened, the paper you did about your vacation was wonderful. This paper is not acceptable, you need to try harder." In fact the two papers required different tasks. In the first, the task was to organize. The second required sorting information you already have and reorganize it into a format the teacher requested. They are two different tasks. A student can move into a new empty apartment and organize ti perfectly but cannot clean it up after a month of parties and student living. Internal structure is not effected by medication. They continue to have the difficulty with sorting and reorganizing. Internal structure has nothing to do with learning anything, self control, discipline, or any choice at all. I do not have the time to go into all the various reasons why symptoms seem to come and go nor is this the forum. The symptoms of inattentiveness and hyperactivity seem to come and go. You have good times and them bad times. The reason is that these symptoms are dynamic and seem to be directly related to timing in the thalamus. The problems with internal structure are constant and do not have a dynamic nature. This suggests it is underdevelopment of part of the frontal lobe. The brain requires stimulation to develop correctly. If the brain does not have that stimulation, some parts will not complete the development process within the allotted time. It has nothing to do with learning, developing pathways, or anything of that nature. The major problem for those with ADHD is the lack of understanding of others of the disability. Scales that are often used to make statements about diagnosis cannot diagnosis ADHD because they do not rule out other causes. That can only be done by a person trained to make diagnoses. It also requires a license that assures the training. The solutions for the person with ADHD are many and varied. They relate to how the symptoms influenced their experience and what coping strategies they used to deal with what they learned from those experiences. For example, if a person has ADHD, they experience life intermittently, they tune in and out or their hyperactivity causes tangential thinking and they effectively miss information and do not know it. The result is that they often develop an inaccurate view of themselves and the world around them. They then interact with that world and most of the time do not get the results they expect. This them leads to a lack of self efficacy, dependence, low self esteem and so on. People often feel that the best thing to do when someone has low self esteem is to tell them what a good job they did. This type of affirmation actually reduces self esteem and reinforces the need to measure up to others expectations. Others may like this because it gives them a sense of power but it is destructive. If a person does what you might consider a good job, it is better to say, " I appreciate the job you did" or " doesn't it feel good when you do ...?" They then say to themselves," I guess I did a good job." They then become the judge of the quality of their work regardless of what others think. This then tells the person you value them as a person. The former tells the person that performance is more important then they are and performance is what is most valued. It is important that a person with any disability sees themselves as a person first and that their value as a person is a right, not a judgement. On the other hand, they may do something that is judged as poor, bad,... They are then a person who did a bad/good job. VERY different. Most feel they are a failure rather than a person who has failed at some things. Someone gave me a cartoon a few days ago that had a picture of a patient and a therapist. The therapist is saying to the patient, " If you are going to improve your self image, you need to expand your definition of success to include constant failure." :-)) There are many with language disabilities and ADHD who are successful college and graduate students. Having a reading disability or ADHD in no way means that a person cannot be successful academically and post academically. The biggest barrier are those who do not accept that these are disabilities and not learning problems. When this is understood, the world opens up to everyone with these disabilities. The degree a person is disabled by their disability is directly related to the choices they make and in many instances the choices educators make for them. We must constantly look at ourselves to evaluate our own motives and to be sure we are not the greatest barrier to their success. Clif Non Illegitimi Carborundum At 08:00 PM 1/30/02 -0500, you wrote: >NoNoNo ... don't be *sorry* -- I was just curious. Nancy >----- Original Message ----- >From: Michelle Shuttlesworth <mshuttlesworth@yahoo.com> >To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov> >Sent: Wednesday, January 30, 2002 4:02 PM >Subject: [NIFL-LD:3870] RE: NIFL-LD:3810 NO Support for phonetic > > > > > > Why is the ADD > > > terminology no longer > > > used, do you know? > > > Nancy Hansen > > > sfliteracy@mcleodusa.net > > > > Not a clue. Sorry. I just took a course on ADHD last > > semester and the instructor said that they were no longer > > using it. Sorry. > > > > Michelle > > > > ===== > > Poems are windows to the soul. They are the glue that holds the rest of >the world together > > and they are the helping hands that put our lives in perspective. You can >survive without > > poetry, but you cannot really live until you feel its presence for poetry >is in every action, > > it is in every word, every phrase that falls from a human tongue. It is in >the movement of > > the oceans and the songs of birds. It is in the air and in the sun. Poetry >in motion is what > > makes the days seem brighter and the stars look more radiant. You are >poetry whether you > > realize it or not, you are beautiful. > > > > __________________________________________________ > > Do You Yahoo!? > > Great stuff seeking new owners in Yahoo! Auctions! > > http://auctions.yahoo.com > >
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