Helping your child manage shadow ADD

Helping Your Child Manage Shadow ADD

My son plopped down in a chair the other day and in an uncharacteristically despondent way said "Mum I think I have ADD".  Up until that point the only time we talked about Attention Deficit Disorder was when one or the other of us was laughingly joking "I don't have ADD, I....hey look a squirrel!"  All joking aside, his statement set off tiny alarm bells in my head (great now I'm hearing things!)  With a family history of mental illness and a sneaking suspicion that I have attention deficit tendencies, I decided to do some research.  ADD is no laughing matter for many people, young and old.   Inattention, impulsivity and hyperactivity can thwart attempts to live a normal life.  But what if, as in my son's case, life is pretty normal except for problems organizing school work, getting in trouble for being too chatty in class and playing video games for hours at a time.  I must admit this last one confused me as I thought ADD meant not being able to pay attention.  But according to Kathleen Nadeau who explains this phenomenon in her book, Adventures in Fast Forward,
“in actuality, ADD is not a ‘deficit’ of attention, but a disorder in
which individuals have much less control over their responses to
stimuli.  They are unable to regulate their attention.
Though they may have extreme difficulty focusing, organizing, and
completing certain mundane tasks, they are often able to focus intently
on other activities that interest them. This tendency to become
absorbed in tasks that are stimulating and rewarding is called
hyperfocus."¹My son's symptoms are not overwhelming however they are frustrating for both him and me.  My search led me to the conclusion that he may be suffering a mild form of ADD, a shadow ADD syndrome, as explained by John Ratey MD in his 1998 book "Shadow Syndromes: The Mild Forms of Major Mental Disorders That Sabotage Us."  Medication has been developed to help mitigate symptoms of ADD that derail education and work.  What can be done to help deal with shadow symptoms which may not warrant medication? 

I discovered a wealth of information on the internet about coping with ADD.  I will list a few that we are going to try:

Foods and Nutrition:  Fatty acids are used to make brain and nerve tissue therefore omega 3 fatty acids found in fish, chia and walnuts can be helpful over the long term.  Vitamins like magnesium, calcium and B6 have also found to be deficient in some people with ADD.  Avoiding sugar can prevent blood sugar crashing.  Eat at regular intervals.

Exercise:  Consistent exercise can help, schedule a regular family walk after supper.  Physical education at school should be encouraged.  Exercise increases dopamine which can be low in people with ADD.

Establish Routines:  ADD can often leave a person feeling like Bill Murray in the movie Groundhog Day, where every day is a blank slate and deciding what to do can be overwhelming.  Removing the decisions can create calm.  Sit down with your child and decide on a schedule and help them stick to it.  Have them do things like empty pockets in the same place every day when they get home.  Bedtimes and wakeup times should be consistent and allow for a good 8 to 9 hours of sleep.  Electronic devices should be turned off well in advance of bedtime to allow melatonin levels to rise and precipitate sleep.

Simplify:  From decluttering their room and the house to limiting extra-curricular activities to just a few most-liked, simplification can decrease the amount of stimuli.  Help you child clean out their backpack and binder from school and organize it appropriately.

Visual and Auditory Cues:  Carry a 3x5 card each day with your goals for that day on it and refer to it often.  Watches with chimes or alarms can help mark the passing of time and when certain tasks need to be done.  iphones have infinite alarm capabilities. 

Home Calendar:  place a large calendar in a central location and record all family appointments and events.  This will serve as a collective memory bank.

Homework Help:  Homework needs to be monitored on a daily basis.  Keep track of assignments using an agenda or an iPhone application.  Homework should be done at the kitchen table to cut down on distractions and to allow for parental support.  Big projects should be broken down into smaller bits and worked on over the course of the time available rather than trying to finish it all in one night before the deadline (or after the deadline!)

Consequences:  Impulsivity can lead to poor and risky behaviour.  Talk about consequences for such behaviour in advance.  Establish rules and review them frequently. 

Positive Attention: Catch your child being good and give them positive feedback immediately and frequently.  This helps communicate the behaviour and skills you want to see.  Be careful with your non-verbal cues such as tone of voice, facial expression and posture.  Set aside positive one on one time of 20 minutes per day per child.  Kids who feel loved, valued and positively connected with parents have high self esteem and are less likely to engage in risky behaviour.


I suppose now that we have started down this path I will become increasingly vigilant for signs of ADD in my son.  I am hoping these coping strategies will provide him with the balance he desires.  If it does not, the next step will be to seek professional opinion.  I have recently become a fan of the TV show Extreme Home Makeover hosted by the effervescent Ty Pennington.  He has ADHD (H stands for Hyperactive) and is a wonderful example of how one can use the "gifts" of this disorder.  His energy, enthusiasm and hyperfocus provides the impetus for houses to be rebuilt in seven days, giving fabulous new homes to deserving families.  Helping a child learn how to manage ADD now can provide good patterns going into adulthood, clear away their frustration, and provide optimism for their future.


Here are some further resources:

Keath Low, psychotherapist, maintains a helpful resource at http://add.about.com/

ADDitude Magazine online:  www.additudemag.com

Shadow Syndromes: The Mild Forms of Major Mental Disorders That Sabotage Us, by John Ratey, MD, 1998.  Shadow Syndromes information:  http://www.addresources./article_shadow_syndromes_ratey.php  

Andrea Garnier Spongberg is a full time mum, writer and accountant who wonders how she would have made it through university without hyperfocus to write all those papers.

notes

¹ Adventures in Fast Forward:  Life, Love and Work for the ADD Adult.  by Kathleen Nadeau, 1996

Digital Citizenship In Our Schools

Ok I admit it, I am a geek.  I was entering data on a Compaq computer in 1984 and on the internet in 1992 when it was just a collection of bulletin boards.  My mum jokes that I used the computer to babysit my kids, because they were all over my computer mashing the keyboard with their tiny hands before they could walk.  While my generation was busy developing and learning how to use this wave of electronics that had suddenly changed our lives our kids were busy playing around with it and finding every diversion possible from lolcats to sexting. My kids were born digital natives, and as such, technology is an inextricable part of their lives and the lives of their peers.  But they were born into the "wild west era" of technology when the free-wheeling nature of the development paid little attention to safety or codes of conduct.  As quickly as I learned of new products and programs I would tell them about it and warn them of perils and pitfalls.  I admit that we have all learned lessons along the way from the school of hard knocks, but we have emerged relatively unscathed. Our tech savvy family is ready to take on the opportunities and challenges life in the digital age will throw our way.

We held out hope their schools would reinforce our endeavours and accommodate advances technology provided, opening up vast unexplored territories of advancement and learning.  Unfortunately for many years it seemed as though there was resistance in their schools.  The Calgary Board of Education is a large bureaucracy and change presumably has to work its way through the system.  Apparently they have been building the professional understanding and capabilities necessary to manage the technological and pedagogical leaps required.  So we were excited to see the CBE's press release announcing a major breakthrough this past February, reported on the CBC news website.¹  By this fall all Calgary public schools will have wireless networks installed and available for student use.  Curtis Slater, the Board's technology researcher, said the idea is to give kids better access to the newest applications and online resources.  The comments section for the article was full of howls of protest from parents and teachers alike wondering how this could possibly facilitate learning.  From teens texting during class to middle school kids spending all their time on Facebook, there is alot of technological misuse occurring.  A critical piece of training to help address these concerns, called Digital Citizenship, was also announced, which will be rolled out first to teachers and then to students.

Digital Citizenship was developed by an American, Dr. Mike Ribble and his associates.  He is the director of technology for a school district in Kansas.  He defines the concept as "the norms of appropriate, responsible behaviour with regard to technology use".²  There are nine elements in this framework to help children learn to become good digital citizens.  Here is a brief summary of the elements which must be discussed, considered and utilized:

1.  Digital Access:  full electronic participation in society
2.  Digital Commerce:  electronic buying and selling of goods
3.  Digital Communication:  electronic exchange of information
4.  Digital Literacy:  process of teaching and learning about technology and the use of technology
5.  Digital Etiquette:  electronic standards of conduct or procedure
6.  Digital Law:  electronic responsibility for actions and deeds
7.  Digital Rights and Responsibilities:  those freedoms extended to everyone in a digital world
8.  Digital Health and Wellness:  physical and psychological well being in a digital technology world
9.  Digital Security (self-protection): electronic precautions to guarantee safety


Learning and adopting these elements will indeed be a challenge for kids who have not previously had to examine and refine their technology habits.  But it is necessary to make these changes in order for all of us to enjoy the benefits technology provides.  Information and learning will be making a huge leap forward in the next few years as we see the introduction of the iPad and other fairly inexpensive devices that can access applications and the internet.  Textbooks that were previously shared in classrooms will be available online and kept up to date electronically.  Discussions and presentations that were previously available in a one-time only lecture will now be podcasted or posted to websites available 24/7 worldwide.  Kids who are going to be needing to know how to use a laptop and programs like Excel and Word or whatever new version comes along will be able to learn these along the way with their schooling, rather than having to take courses on them once they have finished school.  Their employers will demand high standards of technological skills and etiquette along with the reading, writing and arithmetic already being taught.  Using new technology to learn means they can get two educations for the price of one!

Sure enough, we received a notice in our school newsletter last week that once Spring Break is over, our kids will be welcome to bring their personal electronic devices to school and make use of the newly installed wireless network.  According to the Principal "the skillful ability to communicate, collaborate and connect is a key component of the global transformation of learning, working and living.  The use of networked personal devices with the guidance of parents and teachers will allow for a more flexible, personalized learning experience where students have more choice in how they learn and demonstrate their understanding."³  This is music to my kids' ears.  It will be very interesting to see how this all plays out.  As a parent I will be an active participant in this process and I look forward to supporting my kids and their school as much as I can.  I applaud the CBE for taking this first step into a larger world!

notes

¹ Calgary Classrooms go Digital, CBC News, Feb 12 2010 www.cbc.ca

² "Raising a digital child" away magazine Jan/Feb 2010 www.awaymagazine.com

³ Administrative Message,  by Peter Purvis, Principal, Mountain Park School, Newsletter April 2010