Asperger Help

By: Bernstein, Linda, Current Health 2, 0163156X, Feb2006, Vol. 32, Issue 6
Can't find your focus? You aren't alone.
Dan's parents and teachers became concerned about his behavior when he was in grade school. His mind wandered during class--and his body did too; Dan would get up and walk around, even out of the room. "Until middle school, I couldn't understand why anyone was fussing. I just thought of myself as normal," says Dan, 14, from Fairfield, Conn. One day he realized, "Hey, other kids don't have so much [of a] problem paying attention."
The ABCs of ADHD
Dan was showing the classic symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), according to Dr. Andrew Adesman, chief of developmental and behavioral pediatrics at Schneider Children's Hospital in New Hyde Park, N.Y. Adesman explained that ADHD is "a biological disorder characterized by significant difficulty with attention span." This isn't just doctorspeak. People with this condition really do have a hard time staying focused. To complicate matters, ADHD often teams up kith impulse control problems and learning disorders. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 8 percent of 4- to 17-year-olds (4.4 million) are diagnosed with ADHD, and 56 percent of those are taking medication for the condition.
No one knows exactly what causes ADHD, though there may be "a genetic component," says Dr. Stephanie Hamarman, chief of psychiatry at the Stanley S. Lamm Institute in Brooklyn, N.Y., who has been working with children with ADHD for many years. In other words, people are probably born with ADHD, and scientists think it may run in families.
However, other biological and environmental factors may be involved, Adesman explains. "The part of the brain that controls how we pay attention is delicate and susceptible to injury," he adds.
Though other genetic conditions, such as asthma, epilepsy, and diabetes, can be determined through blood tests, X-rays, or other exams, no medical test yet diagnoses ADHD. "That doesn't mean that doctors won't ever be able to use a brain scan to detect ADHD," Hamarman says. "We are discovering more about the brain and about ADHD every day."
Diagnosing the Invisible
Most doctors diagnose ADHD by observing behavior, Dr. David W. Goodman, an ADHD specialist at the John's Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, explains. People with ADHD have difficulty concentrating and may not be able to get organized enough to begin a task, let alone finish it. The person also may interrupt people, forget things (such as homework), and have trouble keeping track of time.
But not all people who have trouble paying attention have ADHD. Perhaps they're not getting enough sleep; perhaps there are problems in the home, and they're preoccupied. Maybe they have a hearing or a vision problem, Goodman suggests. Doctors look at the severity of the symptoms.
Unfortunately, many people with ADHD are not diagnosed and treated--which can involve medication (including stimulants and antidepressants), behavior modification or alternative treatments--because their conduct isn't really unusual. "This is especially true with girls; for some reason we don't understand, girls are less frequently hyperactive," Hamarman says.
The brighter a person is, the later he or she is likely to be diagnosed, because a very smart person can compensate for the disorder. "The child isn't paying attention, but she's still getting B's. That's pretty good, so no one worries," Goodman elaborates.
The Teen Factor
An early diagnosis, coupled with a treatment routine, is important for several reasons, says Adesman. First, the sooner a person is treated, the more he Or she will benefit from treatment. Second, teens with untreated ADHD are much more likely than others to smoke cigarettes and abuse drugs. And although teens take many risks, "those with untreated ADHD take even more risks," Goodman adds. "A big problem is that someone with undiagnosed ADHD may prompt other kids to do something really dangerous," he warns.
High school students with untreated ADHD are also three times as likely as other teens to get into car accidents and lose their licenses. They are more likely to drop out of school too. Experts agree that teens with untreated ADHD are more likely to have poor self-esteem and social problems.
The earlier ADHD treatment begins, especially medication, the more likely the person is to stick with it in high school. "High school is an especially sensitive time. The less-structured environment can be very stressful, and medication helps kids deal better with stress and other teenage issues," Adesman says.
Still, newly diagnosed teens benefit from treatment almost immediately. Gabriel from New York City was diagnosed with ADHD late--his freshman year of high school. Not having a diagnosis earlier led to serious consequences; Gabriel flunked all his courses that year. "I felt that no matter what, I couldn't do the work, and the more I fell behind, the worse it got," Gabriel, now 15, remembers. When Gabriel was diagnosed with ADHD, he began taking medication. "Now I'm more hopeful," he says. He went to summer school to make up his courses and started adopting strategies that would make it easier for him to concentrate in school. Gabriel's experience shows that even if a person's ADHD isn't identified until high school or adulthood, he or she can still immediately benefit from treatment and can function as well as others.
Managing ADHD
One of Gabriel's strategies involves watching how good students function. "I see what they do, and I copy it," he says. In class, Gabriel turns his chair so that he's facing the board and can't be distracted by others--a practice experts recommend. They also suggest the following:
• Keep one set of books at home to always be prepared to do homework.
• Ask family for help in getting organized. A parent can remind a teen of a project's due date and help him or her work on it every day instead of at the last minute.
• Do only a little work at a time, taking a break, and then getting back to work. "If I try to do homework all at once, I'm more likely to get distracted," Dan says.
• Take advantage of coaching. Many schools have resource rooms where smaller classes make it easier for students to pay attention.
Doing Well With ADHD
Here's the good news: Young people who receive treatment for ADHD are just as likely to do well in school and in life as anyone else. "A patient of mine just graduated [from] college at the top of her class," Adesman says.
Still, there are things kids with ADHD wish others knew. "You don't have to talk slowly," says Gabriel. "I understand English."
Dan adds, "Teachers need to be patient, but at the same time, they need to know that if I want to be treated like everyone else, I know I have to live up to expectations."
New treatments make life easier for people with ADHD. But one of the biggest breakthroughs has been the change in attitude over the past two decades, says Adesman. For instance, studies show that teens are less likely to stigmatize ADHD than are grown-ups.
So if your class includes students with ADHD, treat them as you would want to be treated. Teens with ADHD need people to be patient and helpful. In other ways, they're just like everyone else.
ADHD Didn't Stop Me!
Type "famous people" and "ADHD" into an Internet search engine, and you'll find Web page after Web page claiming that Mozart, Einstein, and other well-known dead people had ADHD. However, there's no need to search history books to find successful people who had the disorder. The following celebrities have talked about having ADHD:
Ellen DeGeneres, comedian and actor Scott Eyre, relief pitcher for the San Francisco Giants David Neeleman, founder and CEO of JetBlue Airways Philip Manuel, jazz musician