All Wrong
We’re thinking all wrong about ADHD, Dr. Christakis, “a leading pediatrician,” says.
“The current thinking in the field is that attentional capacity and skills do occur on a continuum or spectrum.” He also says that in general, pediatrics is evolving toward the idea of proactively supporting attentional functioning in everyone.”
I think he’s going on theory and ignoring the data, and I think he’s wrong, but there may a grain of truth. Being “a leading pediatrician” doesn’t mean you can’t be wrong. Anybody remember Dr. Linus Pauling?
But
But Dr. Mahone seems to agree. but then says, “It doesn’t mean that diagnoses and medication aren’t helpful and appropriate in severe cases of ADHD.” And, he says, “There is strong, and growing, evidence of specific brain abnormalities associated with severe ADHD symptoms, which would lend support to the concept of ADHD as a brain disease.”
It is a little confusing.
Dimitri Christakis is a professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington and the director of the Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development at Children’s Hospital in Seattle. The link: All Wrong
Mark Mahone is a pediatric neuropsychologist at the Kennedy Krieger Institute for children with special needs.
There’s lot more. You need to read the article. All Wrong
Is it a bell shaped curve or is there a big blip off to the left? See what I mean?
doug
Note:
I was just informed that this post is not clear. Basically, Dr. Christakis is saying that ADHD doesn’t really exist. I disagree. Dr. Mahone first agrees with Dr. Christakis but then says ADHD does exist. If you define ADHD as a set of symptoms, and then find that there are differences in the brains of people with those symptoms compared to those without, then it exists, in my and Dr. Mahone’s opinions.
Dr. Christakis says it’s just that some normal people have lower attention than others, some have higher, and most are in the middle. It’s a bell shaped curve, like height, for example. But I suggest that people who are midgets, caused by abnormal genes, are off the height curve, and we ADDers are off the attention curve. We have less attention than the normal people with low attention. That’s why we are the blip beyond the lower end of the curve, off the bell shaped curve, not just normal and at the low end.
I hope that clarifies. Now technically, it’s maybe not that we have low attention, it’s more that we have poor control of our attention, but that’s a whole nother argument.
Dr. C’s theory
doug’s theory
ADDadultstrategies 
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When I see a headline like that (what the heck is a “top pediatrician” anyway), I know that it’s a puff piece with an agenda—and I don’t bother reading. 🙂
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gina-
maybe i’d have been smarter to do that. but it did give me material for a post, even if just to argue against it.
thank you for comtributing
doug
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I’ve read this, re-read and followed all the links. I’ve mulled it over, re-read it, etc. You’re right, Doug, it’s quite a lot, and quite confusing at that. On one hand, they advocate that we don’t medicate kids as quickly as we do. On the other hand, they complain about kids not being dealt with once they’re bellow a certain point (i.e. only 5/9 Symtoms instead of 6/9). It doesn’t make much sense to me because we do need to draw a line somewhere. And because if we start giving all the kids a special treatment to improve their “Focus curve” to the max, wouldn’t the ADD/ADHD kids start falling short too? I’m no expert, but I’m inclined to go with your view, Doug. I think in the lower end of the bell curve, there is another bell curve for ADD/ADHD people.
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anon – good for you, you really did your home work. If we’re right, I think we need to only medicate the kids who are off the curve, and i think they (we) are clearly different from those who are just at the low end. And i think its not just a question of of number of symptoms on a check list, it’s “Wow, this kid really has ADHD and needs help, now!”
I think the research shows that medication will not help the low end kids, only the ones off the chart, with our brains that are different.
and if they’re not too bad, i think the idea of trying behavioral approaches before meds makes some sense, but i also suspect they won’t be very effective, at least not without the meds first.
the meds aren’t the anwer, but they help, and they make it easier to learn and use the strategies and the counseling and coaching that needs to be available.
thank you for contributing
doug
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