The Misdiagnosed ADHD
Lessons in Child Neurodevelopment
1: Brain Basics
By Craig Stellpflug NDC
Neuro Development Consultant
Healing Pathways Medical Clinic
Tempe, AZ
Copyright 2009 Craig Stellpflug©.
ADHD is a neurodevelopment disorder and not a medical or psychological disorder.
The fact is that up to 20% of American school-aged children are now on behavioral medications, according to child neurologist, Fred Baughman, Jr. MD
*According to the USA Today and the New York Times, ADD/ADHD medications initially raise math test scores of a child with ADD/ADHD by less than 3 points after 1 year
*After three years on ADD/ADHD medications, the child is academically back to where they would have been if the child was never put on drugs in the first place
*USA Today, April 2009; After three years on an ADD/ADHD medication the dosage has been raised an average of 41% because the body builds tolerance to and “tunes down” the effects
· After three years on ADD/ADHD medications the child is on average 0.79 inches shorter and 6 lbs lighter than children with no medications4
· ADD/ADHD medications used long term physically alter the brain and cause brain atrophy and gross malfunctions in the brain of the child 1, 5, 7, 9
· A child that has been on ADD/ADHD medications is impacted permanently on career choices and is disqualified for opportunities as a commercial airline pilot, certain law enforcement positions and may be disqualified from military service and military officer eligibility 5, 9
· Children and teens taking ADHD stimulant medications are seven times more likely to die suddenly than their peers 10
ADD/ADHD, Autism and other disorders are medically classified as neuro developmental disorders and spectrum disorders according to Stanford University 6. There are no medical tests to definitively identify these disorders and all diagnoses of these disorders are based upon subjective findings
A disorder by definition is a condition where the normal order of things is disrupted. It takes order to overcome disorder. In other words, you cannot expect organized function from a disorganized brain
The causes of ADD/ADHD as a spectrum disorder lie in incomplete developmental levels, brain disorganization, under-developed sequential processing skills, brain maturation abnormalities, nutritional deficiencies, food sensitivities, allergenic responses, sub-clinical health issues or other bio-medical issues
*ADD/ADHD medications frequently cause the very symptoms they are treating and actually work by means of malfunction rather than improved function
CORE principles when dealing with ADHD
Complete developmental levels (complete the skipped or aberrant levels)
Organize the brain (you cannot have organized function in a disorganized brain)
Raise the processing skills (raise neuro processing skills to age appropriate or beyond)
Encourage a positive environment (eradicate the negative environment)
Brain Basics
Neurodevelopment is how the brain develops, what goes wrong with development and what to do to fix the development
Every child is born a potential genius
There are no child failures
100 billion cells, 100 trillion connections
Brain builds bulk and pathways using EFAs
Receptive pathways form with input
The more opportunity for development the bigger the pathway
Auditory nerve and pathways starts forming first at about 8 weeks of gestation
Tactile input develops in the womb
95% of newborn’s tactile sensation is in the mouth and tongue
Visual pathways form more after birth when light becomes available
Expressive pathways form with output
Function determines structure
Romanian orphans kept in steel cribs languish
Bracing Vs therapy, with braces function is reduced and structure weakens
Brain Develops in predictable order and timetable
From lower levels of function to upper levels (from random to organized)
Any lower level aberrations need to be fixed for higher levels to work right
Quick example in eye development
Laterally first (one side and the other)
Eye and ear development in the infant happens laterally first during breast feeding
On one breast one side eye and ear is occluded while other side develops
Sides are reversed when switching breasts during feeding
Bottle feeding disorganizes the eye and ear development
Occludes one side while other has more opportunity to develop
Sets child up for one sided chronic ear infections limiting development
Cannot have organized function from a disorganized brain
Complete
Complete the developmental milestones
Any problems in lower levels of development cause problems in upper levels
Basic receptive levels
Basic visual levels are contrast, detail perception, tracking and reading
Basic auditory are threatening/nonthreatening noises, meaningful tones, basic verbal understanding, language comprehension
Basic Tactile levels are hot and cold sensations, pain, play with toys, ability to manipulate small items
Basic expressive levels
Basic mobility levels are head control, creeping/crawling, walking, skilled activities
Basic language levels are meaningful tonality/pain response, cooing/babbling, basic language skills, complex speech
Basic manual levels are grasp and release, pincer grasp, bicortical manipulation of objects, complex functions i.e. writing
Organize
Organize the brain
You cannot have organized function from a disorganized brain
To be organized the brain has to clearly determine a dominant and subdominant hemisphere. Any confusion in dominance generates disorganization
Right handed child should have dominant right hand, eye, ear and foot.
87% population is right handed
Hand dominance generally emerges around18 months but no later than 4 years old
Confusion in hand dominance causes stuttering, coordination and mobility challenges, emotionality and learning disorders
Never influence hand dominance in developing child
Organization in the brain determines and influences the academic function, social function, emotional stability, decision making skills, athletic performance,
Raise the processing skills
Sequential processing skills
Sequential processing is how many pieces of information can the child hold together
Receive, process, store, retrieve and utilize information
Three ways to document age of child
Chronological age
Days, weeks, months and years survived from birth
Developmental milestone age
Crawling, walking, talking and etc.
Processing skills age
What age group does the child process in?
Auditory and visual skills equate to age of social and academic function
If you have a 12 year old processing on the level of a 6 year old they will behave and learn like a 6 year old.
Encourage a positive environment
5 major causes of behavior problems
Negative Environment
Negatives outweigh positives 4 to 1
Change ratio to 1 to four
Always schedule a positive after a negative
Ineffective punishment is just another negative
Reward good behavior more
Lack of structure
Summertime rules are lax
Establish routines
Changing boundaries
Establish rules
Absence of positive feedback
Accentuate the positives and not the negatives
Test scores example; 8 wrong or 2 right
Never correct a child when you are angry
Health issues, food allergies and sensitivities
Lack of sleep
Hypoglycemia
Lack of exercise
Allergic addictive reactions
Developmental disorders cause negative environments
You cannot have organized function from a disorganized brain.
Find and fix the shortfalls!
Conclusion
In conclusion; raising healthy children is ultimately the responsibility of the parents and not the professionals.
Each and every child is as unique as a snowflake and the development of that child is shaped and formed by the environment that surrounds it.
The parent of the child must become informed on issues that affect the child. Ultimately the parent must decide what is best for their child and choose the food, medications, academic input and even the surrounding environment that influences the development of that child.
1 Dr Fred A Bauman Jr MD <http://www.adhdfraud.org/commentary/070104-1.htm>
2 <http://www.planetc1.com/search/adhd-drugs-outselling-antibiotics-in-kids.html>
3 <http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2009-04-27-adhd-tests_N.htm>
4 <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/26/AR2009032604018.html>
5 Peter R Breggin MD <http://www.antipsychiatry.org/ritalin.htm>
6 <http://cogent.stanford.edu/neuro.html>
7 Holistic Mental Health, By Dave DiSano page 60Holistic Mental Health, By Dave DiSano page 60
8
<http://www.micronutra.com/journal/adhd/ritalin-side-effects-and-children-should-we-be-giving-kids-chill-pills 8>
9
http://www.tldm.org/news6/ritalin.htm <http://www.micronutra.com/journal/adhd/ritalin-side-effects-and-children-should-we-be-giving-kids-chill-pills 8>10 http://www.bio-medicine.org/medicine-news-1/ADHD--Drugs-Linked-to-Sudden-Death-in-Kids--48862-1/