Health Expert Deborah shares health management news and commentary at HealthCentral.com. HealthCentral.com is one of the top health destinations on the Web, with more than 35 condition-specific, wellness and general health Web properties. http://www.healthcentral.com/profiles/c/8689/index http://www.healthcentral.com/profiles/c/8689/rss self application/xml en-us 15 120 19 http://www.healthcentral.com/images/hc_logo_sm.gif http://www.healthcentral.com/profiles/c/8689/index http://www.healthcentral.com/adhd/c/8689/153296/vacation-adhd-staying Wed, 30 May 2012 17:27:00 -0400 Deborah Although children with ADHD may seem to be inherently anti-structure, they actually function best in a structured, familiar setting. But vacations and travel are all about getting away from the familiar - new places, new schedules, new people. As the parent of a child with ADHD, you probably know that this is a recipe for crankiness at the very least and meltdowns at the worst. There are some steps you can take to mitigate the impact that travel... http://www.healthcentral.com/adhd/c/8689/153296/vacation-adhd-staying http://www.healthcentral.com/adhd/c/8689/153195/preventing-summer Wed, 23 May 2012 08:38:00 -0400 Deborah Summer vacation is almost upon us. You can tell because the number of field trips are increasing - teachers know that even students without Attention Deficit Disorder lose the ability to focus in the last couple of weeks of school, so why fight it?For kids with ADHD, especially those who struggle with academics, summer vacation is a welcome relief from the grind of lessons. For parents, it’s a relief to be free of the need to nag the kids... http://www.healthcentral.com/adhd/c/8689/153195/preventing-summer http://www.healthcentral.com/adhd/c/8689/152753/involved-substance Wed, 09 May 2012 14:45:00 -0400 Deborah The journey through adolescence is a difficult one for all but the rare blessed teen. For teens with ADHD, there are additional challenges and risks. One of these is a higher rate of experimentation with drugs and alcohol. It has been assumed that the impulsivity of ADHD is intrinsically linked with starting to use drugs and alcohol at an early age. A new study, however, challenges that assumption.   For the study, titled "Adolescent... http://www.healthcentral.com/adhd/c/8689/152753/involved-substance http://www.healthcentral.com/adhd/c/8689/152112/underdiagnosis-school Wed, 18 Apr 2012 18:32:00 -0400 Deborah My son's Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) was diagnosed early - between kindergarten and first grade. His kindergarten teacher, who had been wonderfully patient with him all year, was concerned about how much more would be expected of him in first grade behaviorally, so she encouraged us to get him evaluated.   Despite the challenges that his hyperactivity and impulsiveness present, in a way he's luckier than I was at his... http://www.healthcentral.com/adhd/c/8689/152112/underdiagnosis-school http://www.healthcentral.com/adhd/c/8689/151960/resistant-teasing Wed, 11 Apr 2012 09:23:00 -0400 Deborah All children are the target of teasing and name-calling at one point or another. Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) tend to encounter more of this than most children, due in part to their problem with interpreting social cues from other children and also as a result of some typical ADHD behavior.   Many adults will encourage a child to just "forget about it" when they encounter teasing, but it's not that simple,... http://www.healthcentral.com/adhd/c/8689/151960/resistant-teasing http://www.healthcentral.com/adhd/c/8689/151189/taming-hyperactivity Wed, 28 Mar 2012 20:54:00 -0400 Deborah Recently I went through a training program at work - the second in as many months. I actually really enjoy training (the typical ADHD-er desire to learn new things), but as an adult with ADHD, it's a real challenge. Even for people without ADHD, training can be a difficult situation because few of us are in the learning mode in our jobs, the way we were in school. We're not accustomed to sitting and listening for hours at a time in a passive... http://www.healthcentral.com/adhd/c/8689/151189/taming-hyperactivity http://www.healthcentral.com/adhd/c/8689/151013/parent-child-adhd Wed, 14 Mar 2012 14:38:00 -0400 Deborah I was reluctant to put my son on any medication for his ADHD. In fact, I resisted the ADHD diagnosis altogether. "Couldn't it be just that he's a kinetic learner?" I asked the doctor hopefully. He stopped writing the prescription, put down his pen and said patiently, "Ms. Gray, you and your husband have ADHD and ADD respectively. You told me that your mother had ADHD and your stepson had it when he was younger. The chances of your son not having... http://www.healthcentral.com/adhd/c/8689/151013/parent-child-adhd http://www.healthcentral.com/adhd/c/8689/149830/distraction-finishing Tue, 21 Feb 2012 09:21:00 -0500 Deborah When I was a kid, every once in a while I would hear my dad swear as he hit his head on a cabinet door I had left open. It was a really bad habit of mine. I would open cabinets doors and never, I mean never, remember to close them. Actually, nothing's changed. I still forget to close them. But my ex and current husbands learned to either close the doors themselves or duck. That's the kind of thing you laugh about, once you're finished swearing,... http://www.healthcentral.com/adhd/c/8689/149830/distraction-finishing http://www.healthcentral.com/adhd/c/8689/149772/improving-children Tue, 07 Feb 2012 09:36:00 -0500 Deborah When I started to realize that my son's Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) was having an impact on his social interactions, I considered social skills group therapy as a solution. Social skills group therapy helps children with ADHD or a disorder on the autism spectrum learn and practice social skills with other children.   I live in Northern California, right next to Berkeley, so I figured it would be easy to find a group. You... http://www.healthcentral.com/adhd/c/8689/149772/improving-children http://www.healthcentral.com/adhd/c/8689/145883/decluttering-avoiding Tue, 01 Nov 2011 18:50:00 -0400 Deborah So recently I decided that I couldn't live with the clutter on my tiny desk anymore. Here's a reminder of what my desk looks like pre-de-clutter:   The first thing I did was to take everything out and put it in a single big pile. There's a good reason for doing it this way instead of doing one surface at a time. That way all similar items are put away in one fell swoop instead of being handled a few times.   For instance, I know that... http://www.healthcentral.com/adhd/c/8689/145883/decluttering-avoiding