The words we use to describe ourselves, our family, and others in our society DO create who we are. In many ways we can turn around negative lives and negative conditions in our lives by changing the way we think about them. All motivational speakers say this - but what about our own mental condition? People caught in negative mental attitudes are like an airplane in a tailspin. They will stay stuck in a tailspin unless an outside correcting force changes their attitude. I believe that we, as a society must change our self-talk about Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and think of it as "Attention Dynamic Domain".
I write about ADD as a parent and as a person who has some of these tendencies myself. I have done some serious rethinking about ADD and about many things in my life during the last year since I chose to work at home and "homeschool" (actually unschool) my 12 year old ADD son. This has been, at times, a very difficult process watching him go through phases of being lethargic, uncooperative, and unreasonably angry at times. Yet, there was always something that carried me beyond those moments of threatening to send him back into the public school system, which he hates - beyond the frustration of wanting to medicate him - beyond the shame of thinking about being a stay-at-home dad with a kid who "just can't make it in school".
I choose not to go into the details of how we dealt with the school system, and how we started homeschooling. Instead, I'll just say that the turning point for me was when I realized that I could not believe that the medication was good for him if he did not think so himself. He hated it - so I took him off the medication and out of school. It was clear to me that "if you can't fit the kid into the school, you should fit the school to the kid."
Forget the rest of the details. They might be interesting in another time or place, but right now, I want to talk about the brain, about biofeedback, and about just plain feedback. I'm no neuroscientist or ADD expert, but I have read a lot on these subjects, observed my son extensively, and explored many different avenues of education. Through all this, I have developed some ideas that I believe synthesize a lot of the apparently conflicting opinions and beliefs about ADD.
I do not claim to have all the answers - or even any answers except this one - love and respect for the individuality of the Attention Dynamic individual. The real problem is that our society has thoroughly trained us that we must "educate" our kids and that this includes the idea that they must learn certain things at certain ages whether they want to or not. But what is "education" if it is not an opportunity to explore and experience a world rich with new and interesting ideas, people, and things to manipulate? My son has developed several strong skills and abilities in things that interest him. These skills include playing the trombone in the local youth symphony, performing magic tricks for the family, and working with mechanical things. He is not up to his age level in certain areas of math computation, but is "way out there" in his math reasoning ability. In the school system, he would be miserable, but in the supportive environment of home and the community, he is naturally educating himself.
Many recent studies show the importance of the emotions in the learning process and that a positive and supportive environment is the most important element in learning. A recent Time Magazine article even referred to the use of "Emotional Quotient" (EQ) as correlating far better with ultimate success in life than the old idea of "IQ". Other studies show that a stimulating environment is necessary for animals to develop to their full potential. Rats that are deprived of social and physical stimulus grow up debilitated and unable to go through mazes. Is it possible that something in our environment...our society...is depriving many kids of the necessary type of stimulating environment that enables them to develop their ability to concentrate? What about television, a passive entertainment requiring very little action, yet very effective at brainwashing. Video games may seem to be the opposite, but perhaps they are training the mind to react in a physical response mode than is contrary to development of success in the "sit still and listen" approach that we have to education. Most importantly of all, what happens to a child emotionally when, he/she becomes the one that others have to pick on to climb the social ladder in school; a child who becomes demoralized because of the emotional pressures and demands of school?
Some of the most interesting and promising studies about ADD are those based on evaluation of brain waves using EEG equipment and treating ADD with biofeedback. Joel Lubar of the University of Tennessee has done extensive work with EEG testing and biofeedback treatment of ADD. He observed that kids with ADD do exactly opposite what they should do with their brain wave activity when they try to concentrate on an academic task. Such tasks require a decrease in "Theta" brain waves and an increase in "Beta" brain waves, but ADD kids do the opposite. We have all seen children (or even ourselves) tense up muscles when told to "concentrate real hard" on a problem. Unfortunately, doing this makes it even harder to really think the way we should. Perhaps this is the mode that ADD kids are constantly caught in when told to "pay attention" or to perform a certain academic task. In contrast, my son, as with most ADD kids, has a profound ability to concentrate when he is working on something that HE is interested in. There's no tension, no strained effort at concentration, he just does it - whether doing magic tricks, building with his erector set, or reading Mad Magazine. If it's in his blood, there is no attention problem.
All children mature at different rates and gain different skills at different times in their lives. Brain development is different in all of us. Yet we structure our educational system to reward those who attain certain academic skills at an early age. Conversely, and perhaps unconsciously, we punish those whose brain development is not proceeding according to our pre-conceived schedule. While drugs can help ADD kids fit into this schedule, perhaps we should be asking if the schedule is correct to start with. A school in Massachusetts, called Sudbury Valley school, has operated for 27 years on the philosophy that the kids, themselves, will know when they are ready to read. Some learn to read at age 4, and some when they are 11 or 12. Ultimately, they found, it makes little difference. Kids who learn to read when they are older simply start to read at nearly an adult level within a few weeks. The most important element of this school's philosophy is in teaching respect for other people and providing a rich environment in which to grow and learn from others. Because the teachers respect the kids, the kids respect the teachers. This school has no problems with ADD or dyslexia. They don't push the kids - yet somehow they all grow up to be intelligent and capable people.
What does that say about the way we educate our children as a whole society? We push our kids to excel. Some of them do excel, and some of them don't. Many are labeled as learning disabled and become problems to society as they grow older. Is it possible that the various terms for "learning disability" are just self-fulfilling prophesies? Even those who do excel are unfairly labeled as "super-kids". They often end up not knowing who they really are after years of doing and learning what society, their parents, and their teachers expect of them.
Dr. Lubar, in his work with biofeedback for ADD found that, as children mature, their "Beta" brain waves increase while their "Theta" activity decreases. ADD kids simply have brain wave patterns that mimic children much younger than we expect for their actual age. This reflects the behavior that we often see in them. Yet how much of this do we self perpetuate by not allowing them to be their naturally less mature selves? How many times are we ashamed of our ADD kids because they act so immature? Psychologists tell us to never say to our kids "Act your age!!", but those of us with ADD kids get caught in that mode despite our better intentions. When people don't overcome their ADD as they grow up, is this because we put too much pressure on them and force them to get caught in negative communication patterns?
I believe that this is often the case. I also believe that the "ADD epidemic" is telling us something important about ourselves as a society, a culture. We have evolved (maybe devolved) to the point where we are under more pressure to perform than we can handle. We, as a society, are in a tailspin that we can't seem to get out of. Yet there is hope in the many natural ways that people are trying to overcome social and emotional problems. While Attention Dynamic Domain has many causes, and may in many ways it is actually a precious gift, I believe that the "epidemic" is a signal that we need to find better ways to approach the whole education issue and better ways to enable everyone to find and develop their individual talents. There is a great deal of hope in new technologies such as biofeedback, relaxation tapes, and sensory deprivation. These technologies certainly have the potential to boost our mental evolution and help overcome learning problems. Still, most of what is needed is to boost our belief in ourselves, whether we attain that by using technology, doing exercise, public speaking, or just about anything that lets each person become uniquely him/herself.
As I watch my son hyperfocusing with his erector set or playing Monopoly with gusto, I can't help but think that he is performing his own natural form of biofeedback therapy - training his brain wave activity to respond in the RIGHT direction. Yes, I think we CAN overcome the ADD "problem", but first we must think positively and respectfully about ourselves and our children. We are all in the Attention Dynamic Domain.