I recently received this letter from a parent which touches on all of the issues involved in the diagnosis of childhood behavior disorders such as ADHD. Look at all of the issues involved: divorced parents, lifestyle of one of the parents, mood swings, inattention, tics, meds that don't work, and more. My heart goes out to this dad and his child: Read more of the article...

Depression in Teenagers

With as many as 25% of teenagers with ADHD being clinically depressed, it is important to understand what depression looks like, why it is important to treat it and manage it, and the treatment options available.

When we think of someone who is depressed, we usually picture a sad, tearful, lonesome person. But teenagers with depression don't look like adults with depression. Read more of the article...

Dyslexia

Dyslexia is a specific learning disability. It usually shows itself in problems with written language, particularly with reading and spelling. It is its own unique problem, or disorder, and it is not the result of low intelligence, or problems with vision or hearing.

Dyslexia is a problem with how the brain processes the signals that come into our brain, especially the symbols of our language. When the brain has problems processing these symbols of language through the visual processing pathways there are reading problems and a visual dyslexia. When the brain has problems processing these sounds of language through the auditory processing pathways there are other problems, auditory dyslexia. Read more of the article...

There are a lot of situations that can look like attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children or teens, but is NOT ADHD.

A Careful Diagnostic Exam for ADHD is Needed

This is why a careful ADHD diagnostic evaluation is so important. A physician, or mental health professional, must spend quality, and quantity, time to rule out other conditions that can look like ADHD. This conditions include:
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• Pervasive Developmental Disorder or PDD
• Asperger's Disorder
• Tourette's Disorder (Tourette's Syndrome) or Tic Disorder
• Mental Retardation
• Schizophrenia, or other Psychotic Disorder