I watched a programme on itv player that was brought up in fi's lesson and a really interesting watch.....it's about a selection of children/teens that have different emotional, behavioural and clinical issues that range from a little girl who is a selected mute and will only communicate with her family at home to a teenage boy that developed terret's syndrome on his 16th birthday. The one that really got me thinking was a 9 year old girl called Maddy who has extreme behavioural problems where she cannot socialise and play with other children and is in constant trouble at school for disruptive and aggressive behaviour in one instance trying to strangle another child, she suffers from lack of concentration and is behind academically etc. Maddy's parents have been told by specialists previous to this programme that she could be suffering from an "attachment disorder". The mother automatically puts the blame onto herself after going through post natal depression and struggling to bond with her daughter from birth. This connects with Bowlbys theory where he believes that there is a critical period for attachment to take place at a certain time or it won't happen which is usually within the first year of life, he also put emphasis on the mother being the main figure. I feel that its such a shame for the mother to have to go through life thinking that the reason her child has problems is down to her initially and sometimes there is too much focus and pressure put on mothers when there are so many other indicators through genetics and the environment that her condition could be down too. Later on in the programme Maddy and her parents go to see a team of specialists that do a range of tests and the outcome is that she is diagnosed with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). They said that her behaviour wasn't down to the "attachment Disorder" but her make up of her low IQ, not having firm boundaries at home (parents have split) and the ADHD. She is prescribed with Ritalin and mum & dad are offered parenting techniques to help with the disorder. It was nice to see the relief of her mum, knowing that her daughters condition wasn't down to her own doing but through nature and nuture together.
After watching this programme i decided to look a bit more into ADHD and here are some main points i gathered:
* More boys than girls suffer from ADHD
* It can also be known as ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder)
* The main symptoms of the disorder are lack of concentration, impulsivity (not being able to control what they are saying) and lack of physical control, fidgeting and restlessness.
* ADHD affects 5 to 10 percent of children in the UK
* There are 3 types of the disorder as not everyone are effected the same they are: predominantly hyperactive-impulsive, predominantly inattentive and combined which is the majority of cases.
* More than half of ADHD people have specific learning difficulties for example dyslexia.
* Up to 60% of children with ADHD show signs of it in adulthood.
* It usually starts from 18months and signs are shown between the ages of 3 and 7.
The guidelines from NICE (The National Institute for Clinical Excellence) are to firstly combat the stress and behaviour through programmes and techniques and psychotherapy to try and tackle anti social behaviour. Secondly if the patient has severe symptoms then medication is prescribed if over the age of 5 which is usually Methylphenidate (otherwise known as Ritalin) this helps the child to focus.
There is a lot of negative stigma put on ADHD that it could be down to 'bad parenting' which i think is unlikely, i think it could be from a mixture of the child's genetic make up and their environment. There have been recent studies that ADHD has a genetic link, research shows that they have large and rare variations in their DNA and that they have a much higher rate which are either duplicated or missing.
I feel that if any of my children were ever diagnosed then i would try my very best to tackle it through an holistic route first before trying anything else, also by providing a better diet ( i personally think that a lot of foods can cause symptoms) and trying my very best to keep their lives as well balanced as possible.
Think I'm going to look into Ritalin a bit more and see the causes and effects it has on children...so watch this space!
Oh and below is a link i found really useful which has lots of information on ADHD:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/physical_health/conditions/attention2.shtml
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