An ADHD Alternative
by Barbara C. NeffFollow the bouncing ball.
Some are saying that relief for your child's attention deficit problems could be that easy.
After years of alarm over attention deficit disorder (ADD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), physicians, administrators, and teachers say the symptoms associated with these conditions may not have the dire implications once feared. And significant gains might be achieved from something as simple as introducing regular exercise into the school day.
Technically, the condition normally thought of as ADD falls within the definition of ADHD. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have identified three types of ADHD: predominantly inattentive, predominantly hyperactive-impulsive, and a combination of the two. James Pollack, a Naperville pediatrician, says most of the ADHD children he treats suffer primarily from inattentiveness. "Their behavior is fine," he says, "they're just not able to concentrate in settings where they need to concentrate."
The American Psychiatric Association estimates that 3% to 7% of children suffer from ADHD. Pollack points out that the incidence rate has leveled off and perhaps even decreased, in part because parents and teachers are more attuned to alternative diagnoses.
"Before, whenever a child had behavior issues, ADD tended to be one of the first possibilities considered," says Kitty Murphy, assistant superintendent for student services and special education in District 203. Murphy estimates that 4% to 5% of the students in her district suffer from true ADHD.
Teachers are often the first to notice a child's difficulties. If ADHD is suspected, Pollack has a child's parents and teachers complete objective evaluations of the child's behavior. He then meets with the child to determine how he or she is functioning.
"I'm concerned about those doing poorly," Pollack says. "They're struggling, frustrated, and they get themselves in a cycle where they don't want to go to school and start getting in trouble."
Treatment for ADHD usually consists of medication, therapy, or both. "Generally, once these kids are treated, it's like night and day," Pollack says. He recommends a multi-disciplinary treatment approach, with parents, doctors, and schools all contributing.
At Naperville Central High School, such students have benefited dramatically from the Learning Readiness PE program. The program is not limited to ADHD kids but may prove particularly helpful for them. Paul Zientarski, the school's physical education instructional coordinator, says research indicates that students with ADHD can fare better with exercise than medication.
"Taking a run is like getting a little shot of Ritalin and Prozac at the same time because of the dopamine and serotonin it produces," he says. "Those kids seem best if they're given their work assignments after a good cardiovascular workout."
Under the program, students take their PE classes one or two periods before courses where they have struggled. It's not like the gym class their parents might remember, though.
"When they're exercising in the aerobic room, we may play a video of the novel they're reading," Zientarski says. Students run around a gym on scooters, matching vocabulary words and definitions. "When you incorporate movement into the process, it really helps," he says.
Movement is also worked into some classrooms, with, for example, students doing their reading while standing at a podium on a BOSU ball. "They're able to concentrate better, and it seems to calm them down," Zientarski says. The school has added exercise balls to classrooms, too. "Kids who have ADHD can sit on those, and bouncing up and down seems to eliminate them from acting inappropriately," Zientarski explains. The results have been improvements not only in behavior but also in student performance.
Pollack advises parents not to hesitate to obtain an evaluation. "The worst thing that can happen is that there's a suspicion in fourth grade, but you don't want to put them on medication or stigmatize them, and then you have to do it sophomore year when they're doing poorly."
