IT’S ALL IN THE GENES

According to a new Oregon Health & Science University research, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is more than just one disorder, but more like an entire colony of disorders. Because there are sub-disorders to this disease with a large array of impact, it cannot have a “one-size-fits-all” treatment.

This research means scientists will be required to alter their thinking when it comes to conducting research geared towards comprehending the causes, affects and impacts of ADHD and strongly consider the vast variety of human behavior even in non-affected children. OHSU scientist, assistant professor of behavioral neuroscience, psychiatry and the Advanced Imaging Research Center, Damien Fair, Ph.D, led the research states, “The problem with this approach is that it often relies on secondary observations of parents or teachers, where even if the descriptions are accurate, any given child may be behaving similarly, but for different reasons…Unlike diagnosing countless other well-understood diseases, there is no one test that can differentiate individuals when it comes to psychiatric and developmental conditions like ADHD.”

To better understand ADHD's variations, Fair and his colleagues compared test results for several cognitive skills among a large sampling of ADHD patients and a control group. The testing focused on memory, inhibition, attention, comprehension, and several other categories. They have known that there is a wide performance variation of both the ADHD group and the control group, but this has never been formally described.

This is just one reason it is imperative for parents to seek testing given by a professional that reaches beyond the general scope of school related IQ assessments. As this research proves, there is no one test that can differentiate individuals when it comes to psychiatric and developmental conditions like ADHD.

Each condition is as individual as the child. Independent Educational Evaluations at the Grisolano Center for Neurodevelopment are created for students who are difficult to diagnose, such as with ADHD.

For more information, visit www.grisolano.com or email at info@grisolano.com.