Attention Deficit Syndrome
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An attention deficit syndrome is more commonly known as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or AD/HD. This is a controversial diagnosis because the syndrome involves behavior instead of a tangible symptom. For example, if a young child breaks her leg, the physician can x-ray the broken limb and set it into a cast for healing. After several weeks, the leg operates as before. But a diagnosis of AD/HD is based on a checklist of different behaviors that have to do with such observations as the individual's ability to pay attention and level of hyperactivity. Though the diagnosis has been applied to children for a few decades, researchers are now applying it to adults, too. Where it was once thought that children outgrew the disorder, researchers now believe that the child simply learns coping mechanisms that help him to mask the behavioral symptoms of the attention deficit syndrome as he grows up. However, this doesn't mean that syndrome has gone away or that it doesn't continue to have an affect on the adult individual.
AD/HD affects boys much more often than girls. The disorder also is associated with certain learning disabilities that affect the child's reading and writing ability. The child may be diagnosed as being dyslexic, which means that he sees the letters in a word in a different order than they actually appear. However, that is a simplistic explanation and dyslexia is more complex than that. The inability to adjust to a classroom environment, either because of a learning disability or the difficulty of sitting in one place for long periods of time, is one indication of attention deficit syndrome. Some people believe that the increase in AD/HD patients would be reduced by providing more play time at school. In previous generations, school children often had recess two or three times a day. Today's school children seldom get the opportunity for unstructured play. Should educators and parents be surprised, then, that little boys get restless sitting in hard chairs when their bodies were made for running and jumping?
Some researchers attribute the rise in attention deficit syndrome to, at least in part, poor nutrition. Today's child eats more sugar and refined flour than her parents and grandparents did. Fast foods and food additives also contribute to poor nutrition in today's youth. The rate of obesity in U.S. children is rising at an alarming rate. The kids are eating poorly and aren't exercising nearly enough. Here again, a lack of recess may be contributing to the children's poor health. The apostle Peter once wrote: "Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; . . . Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy" (1 Peter 1:13, 16). Adults need to ask themselves if the educational environment is doing more harm than good to our children. How does poor nutrition and lack of exercise injure young bodies? How are their imaginations and creativity being stifled because of a lack of unstructured play and recess? Are these factors adding to the increase in attention deficit syndrome among young children?
Some researchers say that poor nutrition and lack of play time has nothing to do with AD/HD. They cite studies that indicate an imbalance in neurochemicals in the brain for those who are diagnosed with the disorder. Additionally, some studies suggest that the disorder can be inherited. Perhaps this is true for some individuals. Yet the effects of poor nutrition and too much structure can't be completely ruled out as having an adverse affect on many children. Another controversial factor is ineffective parenting. Researchers should not close their eyes to the role some parents have in not teaching their offspring to behave appropriately. These children may not have an attention deficit syndrome except in the sense that they lack appropriate parental attention. Parents have a responsibility to teach children to have good manners and positive social skills. A child who lacks such teaching may find it difficult to interact with other children and adults.
Another controversy that surround attention deficit syndrome is the excessive use of prescription medications that are given to children who are diagnosed with the disorder. Studies are finding that children who take medications to cope with their behavior are more likely to become drug addicts as adults than those who don't take daily medications during childhood. Though some children, especially those with properly diagnosed hormonal imbalances, may benefit from medication, many children are being drugged for the convenience of the adults in their lives. Instead of resorting to medications, new studies and innovative researchers are looking at the positive side of those diagnosed with AD/HD. These researchers are viewing AD/HD patients as creative, intelligent, intuitive individuals who have a lot to offer society. They are questioning whether it's not society and the restrictions of mass education that create attention deficit syndrome in young children. Here again, hard questions need to be asked. Is individual imagination and creativity being stifled instead of encouraged in classroom settings? When a teacher has to monitor twenty or thirty squirming little bodies, how can she possibly ensure each child gets needed attention and the proper outlet for energy? Is it time to re-think how society teaches children and look for more innovative methods that reflect new understanding that not every child has the same type of intelligence? As research continues, those interested in the education of children can only hope so.
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