Attention Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Services
Melissa Werner
ADHD-504 Consultant
What is it like to have ADHD? "If you have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), you may be just like that racing car. You have a good engine (with lots of thinking power) and a good strong body, but NO BRAKES" (Quinn & Stern). ADHD is a brain-based biological disorder related to a chemical imbalance in the brain. Depending upon the source, studies have shown that 3-12% of children have ADHD. Boys are 3 to 9 times more likely to have ADHD than girls.
There are 3 subtypes of ADHD:
- ADHD, Inattentive Type (this person is very distractible and inattentive),
- ADHD, Hyperactive-Impulsive Type (this person is constantly on the go and acts as if driven by a motor or may not think before acting), and
- ADHD, Combined Type (both inattentive as well as hyperactive-impulsive).
Kenosha Unified School District (KUSD) will do an Educational ADHD Screening if ADHD is suspected. Parents and school staff members may request that the Student Support personnel at your child’s school complete a screening. Behavioral rating scales, classroom observations, and documentation in the cumulative file are used for the final screening report. This information then has to be taken to your child's pediatrician or mental health professional for a diagnosis. If your child is diagnosed with ADHD, the school can make some accommodations in the classroom to help your child to be more successful. The accommodations may be documented in an Intervention/Accommodation Plan.
If your child is diagnosed, it takes experimentation, determination and persistence to help him/her. There is not a cure for ADHD, but it can be managed by various treatments including medication, individual/family counseling, education in behavioral training, accommodations in the classroom or a combination of treatments.
Resources
- American Academy of Pediatrics
http://www.aap.org
- Attention Deficit Disorder Resources
http://www.addresources.org
- Center for Effective Parenting
http://www.parenting-ed.org
- Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (CHADD)
http://www.chadd.org
- Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin
http://www.chw.org/display/PPF/Nav/1/DocID/22135/router.asp
- Love and Logic
http://www.loveandlogic.com
- National Attention Deficit Disorder Association (ADDA)
http://www.add.org
- National Institute of Neurological Disorder and Stroke
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/adhd/adhd.htm
- National Institute of Mental Health
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder-adhd/
- National Resource Center on AD/HD
http://www.help4adhd.org
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