Taking tests tends to not be an area of strength for students with ADHD, particularly if they are not recieving accommodations. A study in the November issue of the Journal of Experimental Psychology reported that school tests do help kids remember what they’ve learned — even information that’s not on the tests. In three experiments with 54 to 84 undergraduates, researchers at Washington University, St. Louis, concluded that students who wrote tests had better enhanced long-term recall of all material they studied, while students who weren’t tested recalled much less of what they’d studied, even after they were given extra time to review the material. They said that exams are more than just a way of scoring students — they’re a “powerful memory enhancer,” too. While it was known that testing strengthened students’ subsequent recall of the tested material, this study also found that typical classroom tests — as opposed to high-stakes standardized tests — also boost recall of material that’s not included in a test.

The researchers also found that the use of memory strategies during learning may be especially helpful when students are writing short-answer and essay exams, which tend to rely on the recall of a range of information.

It is nice to see ADHD success stories in the media. All too often only negative information is considered newsworthy. I wanted to share this article on Ia Falo, ‘the poster child for heart and courage’, who is channelling his ADHD into a winning athletic career. Thank you to Mr. Falo for inspiring us, and to the author, Chadd Cripe, for offering a truly newsworthy story.

http://www.idahostatesman.com/104/story/60349.html

We have been talking for years about the impact ADHD can have on self-esteem. My hope is that the more stories like this are available to the public, the more likely people will be to seek treatment that is holistic and addresses all aspects of a person’s life.     

The Philadelphia Inquirer  Nov. 12 –The only thing good that career salesman Alan    Currie could say about himself on the day he accepted a high-stakes sales job five years ago was that at least he managed to sell himself into a job. He didn’t deserve it, he told himself. “I’m a complete fraud.” Currie’s self-denigrating song is typical of adults with ADHD, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. They replay it as they count their offenses — office disaster zones of haphazard piles, misplaced documents, and lost phone numbers, or the wrong thing said at the wrong time. But the impact goes beyond one salesman and his career angst.

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For parents with a newly diagnosed child, these couple of tips published on yahoo health may be a good place for parents to start.  

• Keep your child on a regular schedule for activities like waking up, going to bed, play time, homework and meal times.
• Make sure your child understands house rules, and the consequences for not following them. It may help to write them down.
• Reinforce good behavior with rewards and praise.
• When giving your child directions, speak slowly, clearly and keep it simple. Also ask the child to repeat the directions back to you.
• Supervise your child at all times, particularly when with friends. Social skills may be more difficult for children with ADHD to master, so it’s important to give positive feedback for good behavior.

Recent research from Carnegie Mellon this week strengthens the importance of addressing well-being in our patients with ADHD. We have known for a long time that people’s lives and level of happiness are often negatively impacted by symtoms of ADHD. By managing symptoms and improving well-being, people may also be improving their general health.

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One of my favorite topics to discuss is mindfulness and ADHD!

For people with ADHD, a busy mind is almost constant. As people with ADHD learn how to take control of their internal world, they soon experience less mental chaos and increased quite, and naturally feel happier.

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As we approach the winter months, I want to comment on a newly released article in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry Oct issue regarding the use of morning light therapy as an adjunctive treatment for adult AD/HD. Researchers found that adjunctive light therapy applied for 3 weeks in the fall and winter was associated with a significant decrease in both subjective and objective measures of core ADHD symptoms, improved mood symptoms, and beneficial changes in circadian rhythms (sleep-wake cycles) for adults with AD/HD. The study suggests that a delayed phase sleep problem and/or seasonal mood changes may contribute to or exacerbate core symptoms of AD/HD. Limitations of the study are that it was not a placebo controlled trial, and there were only 37 adults in the trial. Based on this information, one should consider adjunctive light therapy in fall/winter for AD/HD adults who clearly show co-existing symptoms of seasonal affective disorder and/or phase delayed sleep problems.

Dr. Cerulli and I recently completed an interview with a parenting magazine on the differences between girls and boys and why girls often go unrecognized when they are struggling with ADHD.

For example, compared to boys who are more likely to struggle with symptoms of hyperactivity or restlessness, girls are more likely to have symptoms of inattention which often go recognized until later in childhood. Girls tend to sit quietly in the back of the classroom, often daydreaming or looking out the window and don’t fit into the publics general image of ADHD.

It is helpful to recognize some of the following symptoms often experienced by girls:

Disorganization often most noticable at her desk/locker at school where often little structure is provided.

Distractibility, both by internal and external stimuli

Girls with ADHD often appear sluggish, spacey, or drowsy.

Girls are also more likely to talk excessively while boys act before thinking.

Others discussing this topic:

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