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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BROOKLYN CONFERENCE DISCUSSES HOW TO IDENTIFY AND TREAT
ATTENTION DEFICIT HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER
BROOKLYN, NY—June 9, 2000—Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) have learning difficulties in school, but they also have many positive qualities and can grow up to be successful adults, according to Dr. Rob Freeman, the featured speaker at a conference sponsored by Brooklyn Psychiatric Centers, Inc.
The conference, “Contemporary Issues in Child and Adolescent Attention Deficit Disorder,” was held for parents, health professionals, teachers, and others who work with children on June 9, 2000, at Brooklyn Borough Hall.
“We felt it was important to hold this conference to help those who share responsibility for caring for children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder learn about new advances in diagnosis and treatment and how they can manage the condition,” said Dr. Pamela Straker, executive director of Brooklyn Psychiatric Centers. “We understand the importance of this topic because our organization currently provides the resources to treat children with ADHD at our many mental health facilities throughout Brooklyn.”
Dr. Freeman, Chief of Inpatient Services, Our Lady of Mercy Hospital, the Bronx, and Chief Psychiatrist, Northside Center for Child Development, East Harlem, said that children with ADHD have the following learning problems: 90 percent are under-productive in their schoolwork and underachieve in school; 20 percent have reading difficulties; 60 percent have serious handwriting difficulties; 30 percent drop out of school, and only 5 percent complete a four-year college degree, compared to 25 percent of the general population.
However, children with ADHD also have many positive qualities, Dr. Freeman said. As adults, they thrive in careers that require them to act and think quickly and tolerate changing variables. For example, they succeed as entrepreneurs, celebrities, pilots, police officials, emergency room physicians, and soldiers.
Dr. Freeman said children are generally diagnosed with ADHD when they are school age (at 8, 9, or 10 years old), but if the condition is severe, they may be diagnosed earlier. The core symptoms are inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsive behavior.
Parents who suspect that their child has ADHD should speak to the child’s pediatrician or go to a mental health agency for an evaluation, Dr. Freeman advised. The assessment will review the child’s medical, psychiatric, psychological, educational, personal, family, and social history and will include a series of tests and ratings scales that help determine a diagnosis, map out appropriate treatment, and give hallmarks that can be monitored regularly.
After a diagnosis of ADHD, parents can help their children by: providing them with an organized, orderly home environment; creating a designated study space; turning off the television while homework is being done; being close by after school to help them stay focused on their studies; serving healthy meals at regularly scheduled times, and ensuring that they get enough exercise.
“This is one disorder I believe can really respond to active, clear intervention by parents and professionals working together,” Dr. Freeman said. “But you have to be very organized.”
He said it is important that teachers realize that ADHD is a medical condition and that it is treatable. In school, children with ADHD should sit close to the teacher and study in an environment that is free from distractions. It also helps children with ADHD if the teacher breaks big tasks into smaller ones, rewards good work and sustained attention, stays positive and helps the children stay positive, and provides relief for the children (for example, by letting them run errands).
Treatment is critical and may or may not include medication, Dr. Freeman said. For a child that is so impulsive that he or she runs into the street, hurts other children, and generally creates problems to himself or herself and others, medication may be necessary. Beginning a new medication should be viewed as a test of it. After an appropriate time, the parents and professionals have to decide if the benefits justify continuing the medication.
Dr. Freeman said that many people must be involved in treatment for it to be successful including: the child; parent or guardian; physician assessor; child’s physician; teacher; teaching assistant; educational psychologist; committee for special education; school nurse and physician; social service representatives; psychologist; family therapist; extended family, and parent support and educational groups.
Brooklyn Psychiatric Centers, Inc., founded in 1907, is a non-profit mental health agency that provides quality services throughout Brooklyn to more than 1,300 children, adults, seniors, and their families annually. The agency’s programs include five outpatient mental health clinics; 12 on-site school programs; mobile therapeutic services for children at risk for out-of-home placement and their families; outpatient services for adolescents and adults with mental health problems and chemical addictions and their families; services for seniors, and programs for clients supervised by the U.S. Probation Services Offices.
For information about the location of the programs provided by Brooklyn Psychiatric Centers and how to make an appointment for an ADHD assessment, please call the Brooklyn Psychiatric Centers executive office at 718-875-5625.