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In addition to the controversies existing over the causes of ADHD and the validity of the disorder, there is also controversy over the types of treatments that should be utilized to treat the disorder. In addition to scientific based treatments, there exists many unsubstantiated treatments for ADHD that are often claimed to be a cure. Parents of children with ADHD may find themselves spending time, money, and hope on these controversial and many times ineffective treatments. The following 20 sites provide information on treatments that are scientifically based and those that are scientifically unsubstantiated in their claims of cure.
Top ten sites for scientifically based interventions for children with ADHD:
This site provides a discussion on drug therapy for children with ADHD. The different medications that are often prescribed to children with ADHD and their common side effects are discussed. Other therapies such as behavior management, family therapy, and psychotherapy are briefly addressed. This site is helpful in that it presents a view of ADHD as a biological condition that can be treated by a combination of drug therapy and other therapies that serve as an adjunct to the medications. It is important for individuals to realize that ADHD is a biological condition, and that medication is often helpful, just as it is in other biological based conditions.
http://www.medbroadcast.com/health_topics/kids_teen/adhd/index.shtml
This site provides a discussion about the treatment of ADHD as beginning with a full assessment and education of the disorder. Stimulant medications and environmental modifications are discussed.
This site provides a comprehensive look at the treatment of ADHD, including a myths and facts section about the treatment of ADHD. This section is very helpful in dispelling some of the myths that prevent individuals from truly understanding ADHD, and the proper treatment for it. There is also an updated discussion on the most recent medications used in the treatment of ADHD, including a discussion of the reasons why these medications prove to be helpful. Educational strategies are also discussed as well as ADHD coaching, a pragmatic and behavior oriented approach to treatment.
http://www.newswise.com/articles/2000/2/ADHD2.PUR.html
Here, a study conducted by the National Institute of Mental Health is discussed. This study outlines an important point when it comes to the treatment of ADHD. There is no one size fits all approach to the treatment of ADHD and often dual treatments are needed to maximize effects. Findings lead to the conclusion that individually tailored doses of medicine together with behavior therapy is the most effective treatment for school aged children and their families.
The information provided at this site centers around hundreds of classroom interventions to help students with ADHD. These interventions may prove to be a useful part of the behavior modification aspect of treatment. However, the site also provides a link to Ritalin alternatives that must be interpreted with caution. Many alternatives for the traditional treatments for ADHD provide claims of success without scientific backing. For more information on these unproven treatments see the top ten weird sites below.
http://www.healing-arts.org/children/ADHD/educational.htm
At this site you will find several helpful tips on interventions for children with ADHD. Strategies such as helpful behavioral modifications for the classroom and home, instructional strategies for the classroom, teaching self-monitoring, positive behavioral support, and the importance of emotional support are discussed. Caution must be used when reading about two types of interventions presented on this page. While there is not direct and strong evidence against movement therapies and sensory integration therapies for children with ADHD, there is a lack of empirical support for these interventions.
http://www.chadd.org/facts/add_facts03.htm
This fact sheet provides a helpful framework in which to view treatment for ADHD. A multi-modal approach to treatment is outlined, and the role of medicine in this approach is discussed in detail.
http://www0.delphi.com/add/bmod.html
This site provides a very helpful and detailed discussion of behavior management techniques that can be used in handling problem behaviors for children with ADHD. The discussion takes you through the steps of charting problem behaviors, selecting positive reinforcement, and putting the behavior plan in place.
http://www.ldonline.org/ld_indepth/add_adhd/ael_success.html#anchor987833
At this site you can find information dealing with ADHD and school performance. A multi-modal approach to the treatment of ADHD is outlined, discussing the necessary teamwork approach by important individuals in the child’s life.
http://www.kidsource.com/kidsource/content2/add.nimh.3.html#Treatments
At this site information can be found on the identification and diagnosis of ADHD, as well as on the treatment of the disorder. Treatments such as psychotherapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy, social skills training, support groups, and parent skills training in behavioral techniques are discussed.
Top ten sites on controversial interventions for children with ADHD:
http://www.chadd.org/facts/add_facts06.htm
This fact sheet, developed by CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder), is a very useful source of information when evaluating the validity of treatments for ADHD. A checklist is outlined which can be used to help spot those unproven remedies for ADHD. A list of 7 currently unproven treatments for the disorder, and a discussion of those treatments, is also provided.
http://www.addwarehouse.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/article6.html
This site provides a discussion about controversial treatments for ADHD, outlining several of these treatments, and providing ways for parents to become wise consumers of them.
http://www.mothering.com/SpecialArticles/Issue101/adhd.htm
This site provides information on modifying diet as a treatment for ADHD. The information provided outlines several dietary programs including the Feingold Diet. This information, put out by the National Family Living Magazine, does not claim that restricted diet is the cure-all for ADHD. It does, however, present diet programs, such as the Feingold Diet, which have been advertised as a miraculous cure for ADHD despite dozens of well controlled studies failing to substantiate the claims.
http://www.newideas.net/attention_deficit/treatment_options/non_medication/attend1.htm
This site provides information about a natural medication called Attend. This medication, made up of amino acid combinations, is supposed to act as a brain fertilizer, helping the brain to develop new and better neural pathways. Medications, such as these must be interpreted with caution due to their unrealistic claims supported by little or no data.
http://www.allsands.com/Health/Alternative/addandadhdalt_was_gn.htm
Claims of helpful treatments at this site center around a discussion of the use of herbal teas and vitamin and mineral supplements to reduce the symptoms of ADHD. Here, ridiculous suggestions such as the use of Catnip in making herbal tea remedies were discussed.
http://fromthepines.com/pycnogenol/attentiondeficit.html
At this site you will find information on a non-drug approach to the treatment of ADHD. Pycnogenal, or OPC’s, are described as a completely safe, non-drug nutritional method of treatment that uses chemicals found in grape seed and pine bark. The promotion of this treatment approach is consistent with many of the dramatic claims that often accompany unscientific based treatments. You can read about the claims of dramatic relief that were experienced by all of the patients who tried it.
http://www.shsu.edu/~stdskj13/homeopathy.htm
This site describes a treatment for ADHD referred to as Homeopathy. Homeopathic medicine is described as a natural pharmaceutical science in which a practitioner seeks to find a substance that would cause the symptoms that an individual is experiencing to increase. This medicine is supposed to follow what is referred to in the discussion as the Law of Similars. It is supposed to act as Immunizations do. In the case of ADHD, this would mean finding a unique combination of drugs that increase ADHD symptoms in order to decrease them. This claim is surely unsubstantiated and does not stand on a scientific base.
http://www.hyperactivekids.com/
Biofeedback as a treatment for ADHD must be approached with caution. The particular doctor who provides information at this site claims that he can fix all ADHD children with this method. While some studies have shown impressive results with the use of Biofeedback, the studies were seriously flawed. Biofeedback is a very expensive treatment and is not well supported by scientific evidence.
http://latitudes.org/hy_yeast.html
This question-answer format article makes the unsupported claim that there is a connection between ADHD and an imbalance of yeast in the system. A sugar free special diet and anti-yeast medications are recommended as treatment.
http://aromatherapist.healthyplace2.com/
At this site you’ll find a discussion on Aromatherapy for treating ADHD. This therapy is a massage therapy that uses a careful blend of oils to treat the problems specific to an individual.