ADD’s Different Faces

 THE DIFFERENT FACES OF ADD BEHAVIOR     “As you can see, ADD can present in many different ways even though the primary problem is inadequate arousal level.  Because ADD looks different  from one person to the next, some people do not think ADD is a disorder, a real and often devastating disorder, and one that may present very differently from child to child, adult to adult.     When ten-year-old Gerald was brought to our office, everyone, including teachers, parents, doctors, and family friends had labeled him ADD.  He was a classic case of Attention Deficit Disorder with hyperactivity and clearly met all of the diagnostic criteria of DMS-IV.  He was hyper, inattentive, and impulsive.  He had poor school performance and poor behavioral control in public.  It was very difficult to begin the neurofeedback training with Gerald because he could not sit still long enough to train.     Neurofeedback requires being hooked up to a computer with sensor wires.  After five or six minutes of training, he wanted to play with the sensor lead wires, sing, and ask dozens of questions, particularly,” Are we through yet?”  So, we began by giving Gerald short sessions, limiting them to about ten minutes each.  As his brainwaves began to improve, we were able to lengthen the sessions to twenty minutes, and eventually to thirty minutes.  Gerald made an excellent recovery, but it took several months and approximately sixty neurofeedback sessions.     Gerald was an easy diagnosis compared to Karl . . . .”(next week.)p. 13 from Getting Rid of Ritalin by  Robert W. Hill, Ph.D. and Eduardo Castro, M.D.     After the qEEG (brain map) results are evaluated, most ADD clients begin with at least one session per week.  Some take as little as 20 sessions to completion and the majority take 40 to 60.  Improvement is usually permanent.