Taking An Armchair Psychologist's Look At ADHD

Several years ago I was employed as a school psychologist in the School District of Philadelphia.  Being a Philly girl who actually grew up in the Greater Northeast on what was left of my grandfather’s farm, I felt as if I should give back to my community schools.

During my term I actually came across a young man, let’s call him Clyde, whose ADHD was severe enough to make him a candidate for medication. He would race around a room, then try to sit somewhat still in their chair.

At times, he would grip the sides of the chair in an effort to stay in place, look at me in angst and say,  “I am trying to concentrate but it is hard.”

The motor overflow from this kid was so great that I actually could feel the undertow from a foot or two away from him.

As leader of the assessment team I could not make the call, but mom followed through on a few hints and took him to the family physician.  She told me medication was suggested and the team immediately created a tailor-made behavior plan for him.  It happened quickly because as you can well imagine, we were all inspired to correct the situation; we wanted to save the teacher as well as the child. 

A week went by and I got a frantic call from the teacher.  Young Clyde was not improving and in fact, he was getting worse.

I arrived at the school and, lo and behold, she was right on target.  He was spinning out of control.  And I so mean spinning.

I went to the counselor’s office and made the call to mom.  It went like this.

“Mrs. Brown? Hi, it’s Dr. Smith. How are things going with Clyde?”

She replied things couldn’t be better.

Stunned, I figured she must be giving the medication to him when he arrived home, so I asked about that.

No response.

“Mrs. Brown, when are you giving the medication to Clyde?”

No response.

“Mrs. Brown, are you there?”

Finally, she replied.

 “Yes I am,” she said. “Actually I am taking the medication.”

Yes, she was.

And she added, “it helps me to keep up with him!”

“I’ll bet it does.”

When some one takes such a medication that doesn’t need it, well, weasel on speed comes to mind.  We did finally get it straightened out and there was a happy ending.  Clyde got the problem under control, the behavior plan worked and the medication was eventually stopped with great success.

* * *

There are a few ways you can check out whether your son or daughter is in need of medical intervention. 

Try giving your child “Grandma” coffee in the morning. You know the coffee your grandmother would give you when you came down to the kitchen early before your parents were up.  It was a ¼ cup of coffee, about six or seven teaspoons full of sugar and the rest was milk. If after your child has this, the teacher in the classroom notices a difference in their ability to focus in that it improves even slightly, there may be a problem and your child may have ADHD or ADD. 

For that matter, you could even try a coke, or a piece of dark chocolate in the morning before school for a few days.  It’s the same idea as above, just using a different stimulant. 

And I am not saying to continue these but to simply try them to ascertain if there is a marked difference, a difference more than one person notices. 

One final idea is the  “10 Dollar Test.”

Now I have never been an advocate of the concept of “time out.” It doesn’t make sense to me that kids who are not compliant to begin with are going to suddenly snap into line and sit in a chair far away from their audience. Just crazy.

And we all know what happens if duct tape is available.

But tell your child that if they can sit still in a chair for 10 minutes, you’ll give them $10. If they can accomplish this, chances are pretty good that they do not have ADHD, but simply lack available or proper motivation.

Incidentally, if you do use “time  out,” how much time should you utilize for a child?  It should be the child’s age in minutes.  That is a normal, healthy amount of time to remain on task or focused.

Everyone has (or should have) an attention span that equals their age in minutes.  That means that you will, if involved in a subject or activity you particularly enjoy, remain engaged that amount of time before you check your watch or cell phone for the time.

To expect a child to go beyond that is clearly expecting too much!  Sadly, because of technology, our attention spans are all dwindling.  Wrap your mind around that. 

Additionally, if a child does not need the medication, they will become sleepy and lethargic when taking it.  That is a sure sign that they do not have problem with their Reticular Activating System (RAS).