ADD and Parenting

“The theory that has the most popular support is that of poor parenting. It is difficult to discount the notion that poor parenting creates difficulties for children because, in fact,, it does.  Years of psychiatric and psychological work and countless research articles have been enough to convince us this is true.  However, we do not believe parents are the root of all evil.     We have worked with ADD children who had great parents and others who had less than adequate parents.  We are convinced that it is highly  unlikely that poor parenting is the causative factor.     Now, before we go further, we would like to point out that ADD can become like a runaway train if parents are inadequate.  Good parenting skills can dramatically alter the course of a child with ADD.  This may be why ADD children can grow up, go to college, and lead normal, functional lives.  Good parenting is able to set boundaries and teach children how to compensate; it can instill good values and model good behavior.  In contrast, poor and neglectful parenting gives the ADD child a world with no boundaries in which risk taking escalates and respect is non-existent.     In general, poor parenting may lead to children who are uncontrollable, disrespectful, undisciplined, and neurotic.  Their brain dysfunction may be a result of the way they interpret the world based on how it was presented to them by dysfunctional parents.  However, they may not have the typical slow-wave brain patterns seen in ADD.  Our conclusion is that poor parenting can dramatically affect the outcome of ADD children  in a negative way, but it is highly unlikely to be the cause of ADD.  On the other hand, children who are abused may in fact suffer the physical or emotional injury consistent with classic ADD-type behavior.”  p. 32.  Getting Rid of Ritalin by Robert W. Hill, Ph.D. and Eduardo Castro, M.D.     Our experience is that the ADD person is almost always responsive to neurofeedback.  Some may take longer than others to correct the dysfunctional brain.  Drs. Kelsey.  260.432.8777.