ADD/ADHD

Attention deficit disorder (ADD), or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are the two most common types of learning disorders found in schools today. The disorder can make children inattentive, unruly, aggressive, and much more. It is noted that approximately 3-7% of school-aged children in America are diagnosed with one or the other (Johnston, Seipp, Hommersen& Hoza, 2005). There are many questions and concerns that parents have with diagnosing their child with ADD/ADHD medication. Along with the parents concerns, the children with the disorder do not want to take the medication because of the side effects it produces. The side effects are affecting the children's ability to have their own unique personality, and in place of their own behavior they are mellow and zombie like. Many research groups are trying to find alternate medications, one because of the effects on the children, and two because the parents are even reluctant to start their kids on the treatment.

English: Percent of Youth 4-17 ever diagnosed with...

English: Adderall

Ginkgo is a natural supplement used by some with A...

Could this be because they do not have enough knowledge of the disorder?

Many people and organizations have done research on this topic for years. Child: Care, Health & Development, European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, and Canadian Journal of Psychiatry are all creditable sources that have done extensive work and experiments. Many experiments included using the placebo effect and also enrolling the children in nonpharmacological treatments (Corkum, Rimer & Schachar, 2000). Many questionnaires are filled out as well. Questions regarding the child and the parent relationship and also past treatment are asked. These experiments will help the researchers find which medication works well, and if there are differences in the medication between two different subjects.

A parent of an ADD/ADHD child has all the say in what medication is best for their child. However, many parents do not know all the facts of the...