Is A.D.D. real?
My daughter, Priya and I walked out of the ADD centre with great relief and hope for the future. Her self-esteem boosted by at least 99% with the discoveries of the day and I could not be happier with our decision.
I was pretty much a cynic until I started seeing some signs in her I could not explain. Every parent likes to think his or her child is exceptional in some capacity. However, I was starting to see some inconsistent patterns in her behaviour. When I travel, her emails written in MSN English and full of witty humour put a smile on my face. Around the house, she forgets things that she said she was going to do or follow-up with. Her room is a never-ending project in organization because she gets distracted with other things and never gets to the end. In Grade 9 this year, she has a great circle of friends who are all bright girls and boys. She is popular and outgoing and yet she is falling behind in school, losing confidence, and anxious that she will never catch up. Homework is forgotten or not completed and yet when I test her reading and math randomly she does well. She approached me before Christmas about getting tested for ADD. I almost dismissed her thinking but while I was on vacation 2 months ago, I decided it was going to be my first priority for 2006. We were at the ADD Centre, for our scheduled appointment a few days ago. The morning started with an easy walk to the centre, which was unbelievably around the corner from the house. We thought, perhaps we were early when we saw the locked doors. I called the office and to my dismay found out we were at the wrong location! Three calls from the car to confirm directions, including having parked in the wrong lot and walking across in the bitterly cold temperatures I was pretty sure I needed to be diagnosed as well.We were 45 minutes late at this point. I was sure we would be whisked through the whole process and spit out with a big bill. To my surprise the experience was quite the opposite.
Dr. Lynda Thompson, the Director and CEO of the ADD Centre and the Co-Author of The A.D.D. Book , met us and pleasantly walked us through the process. Unlike other successful specialists and experts I have met, I found Dr. Lynda Thompson very approachable, down to earth and best of all she treated Priya with respect. Not once during the 5 hours we spent in her office did she wince or show signs of disapproval as we sat through the initial interview and the testing. All the information was received and recorded efficiently on her laptop with a full report handed to us on our way out. While Priya went through some tests, I was asked to fill out the Psychological questionnaire. She was then hooked up to some sensors, one on top of her head and 2 behind her ears, connected to a computer. Linda collected a 3 minute sample of her brainwaves, while Priya was asked to read a fairly challenging high school level passage followed by a short multiple choice comprehension test. She answered all questions right except one she tried to answer too impulsively and corrected her answer when asked if she was sure. The EEG patterns produced by the brainwaves changed depending on her focus or inattentiveness. At this point, enough information had been captured to determine that she had ADHD of the Inattentive type and a great candidate for neurofeedback training.Priya had a chance to try the neurofeedback training where the computer converts the brainwaves to gamelike displays. No mouse or keyboards are involved just the sensors to the head and ears. Depending on her focus she could win or lose the game. It was amazing to watch her focus to win the game. Priya loves to play with Nintendo and Playstation and has reached fairly advanced levels at some of these games. I could see the challenge she was having without controls in her hand. She had to work hard at relaxing, with hands relaxing on her sides, so she could focus her mind to win. Even though we were not booked in for the IQ test, Lynda offered to do one to save us a drive back out to her office. Priya went through an extensive IQ test for over 2 hours. The results were very interesting; she performed in most areas in the average band and performed exceptionally well in one area where she fell in the 91st percentile. Her reading and writing skills were high-school level. In some areas, where her short-term memory skills were required she did not do as well as her lack of focus in school was impacting her learning and knowledge. I cannot express how relieved and happy I am for my daughter. I called her school the next day and reported back our progress at the ADD Centre with the Vice Principal. She was very supportive and immediately setup an appointment for me to go in and meet with her, the Guidance counsellor and one of the Special Education teachers. Her offer to create a support plan for Priya to be successful in school was music to my ears. Children with this condition often slip between the cracks in our education system, as they are not disruptive in class or uncooperative. They simply get left behind.Priya is booked for forty neurofeedback training sessions over the next 5 months. Will keep you posted on our progress!
Priya says:
hehe i think its working mom! i read the whole article without day dreaming.. HA HA
May 11th, 2006 at 1:15 am