Interesting article (or video clip) I just viewed at All Kinds of Minds. I'm interested in folks around here's opinions to this article. You can see the video clip by going to this link and clipping on the video on the right of the screen (2nd or 3rd one down).

http://www.allkindsofminds.com/Category.aspx?categoryID=4

There's really no such thing as an academic pursuit that involves no attention control. It enters into everything, and you may notice here that poor old attention had been downgraded. It's lost its "DD." It's lost its "DHD." It's just plain old attention. And this is the kind of trying to communicate that a description of a person's attention ought to be part of the profile of anybody. It's - you know, we try to classify attention the same way you would language or motor function, athletic skill, anything else that's part of your profile. And I believe it was a tremendous mistake to take attention out and give it its own syndrome. When someone's a bad athlete, we don't say he has "gross motor deficit disorder, GMDD." And in the same way, I don't think it makes a lot of sense to take attention out and deify it with a disease and give it its own private disease. Because as you might imagine, attention is tremendously influenced by the other constructs. It's part of an orchestra, and so it's very much involved with other constructs.

For example, if you're sitting in the classroom, and you don't process language very well, your receptive language skills are not very efficient, and you have trouble keeping pace with the flow of verbal material in the classroom. And that's true day after day after day. What will happen to your attention? You're going to keep concentrating even though you don't understand? No way. You are going to tune right out, and everyone's going to say you have ADD and get you on drugs. And the medication will help a little bit because you will listen a little harder. But almost like believing that if you are trying to speak a foreign language and can't speak that language, just talk louder. It'll help a little bit. You'll be more emphatic. But it's not the ultimate kind of answer. And, by the way, I'm not arguing against the use of medication. It's more the indiscriminate use of medication when someone's not concentrating. I think he has a point that by lumping everything together under ADD, sometimes important things that might be addressed are missed.

If I have to really think of the central message, it's the need for much greater specificity than just saying a child has ADD or ADHD. That really doesn't get us very far. The recognition that there are multiple forms of attentional dysfunction, a really heterogeneous group with varied patterns and that that specificity and that recognition of different patterns has enormous implications for how we can help specific children. And I really believe that that's the direction we're moving in.
Peace!

Scattered

...It's part of an orchestra, and so it's very much involved with other constructs... - that sounds like a sensible standpoint - though naughty Mel has gone and switched attention as ...
the *spotlight* on the theatre (stage or play) of consciousness
- with an orchestral piece.
Naughty naughty Mel :-)
- though of course - it works
And the more important aspect - no EF in sight.
Metaphors are like a box of chocolates.
Naughty naughty SB :-)
With EF the ones which accumulate and are eventually presented to Barkalot.
Naughty naughty SB :-) (silly)

Attentional diversity way cool with me. I find executives clog up progress in most businesses why would having one in my brain be a good thing? The diversity thing hmmm I like diversity. .. . .. . I will admit I do have a different perception why not a different attentional system.

I went to a lecture of his a couple of months ago about learning difficulties. He breaks up a learning difficulty into a multitude of different processes that are involved, and if any of the processes breaks down, you have problems.

Any type of disorder will have its group of problems, but you don't focus on the disorder, but on each individual problem. Unfortunately the difficulty is that kids with every conceivable problem are heaped into a classroom together and not given what they need.

He's into 'specialising' kids at a younger age (ie focusing on their abilities) and strengthening these so that what they aren't good at isn't as relevant. It was very interesting.

From http://jslhr.asha.org/cgi/content/abstract/43/4/893

Effects of Methylphenidate (Ritalin) on Auditory Performance in Children With Attention and Auditory Processing Disorders

A double-blind, placebo-controlled study was used to investigate the effects of methylphenidate (Ritalin) on tests of auditory processing in children diagnosed with both Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD). Thirty-two subjects received three Central Auditory Processing (CAP) tests and the Auditory Continuous Performance Test (ACPT), a measure of attention/impulsivity, at two separate test sessions: once when medicated with Ritalin and once when nonmedicated (placebo). Sixteen subjects were assigned randomly to receive their medication first and 16 to receive the placebo first. A counterbalanced 2x2 mixed factorial analysis of variance was conducted for each of the four dependent variables: Staggered Spondaic Word (SSW), Phonemic Synthesis (PS), Speech-in-Noise (SN), and ACPT measures. Analyses revealed that Ritalin did not have a significant effect on any of the three CAP measures. However, ACPT performance was significantly better (p<.000) for the Ritalin versus placebo condition.

The study indicates that methylphenidate has little impact on auditory processing accuracy itself...

spotlight
floodlight

user illusion* -----> consciousness is lit with 16 bits of information / sec
11,000,000 bits electrifies the rest
0.0001% takes credit
doesn't seem fair

not much of a conductor
but what beautiful music

_______________________________
*Tor Norretranders. The User Illusion: Cutting Consciousness Down to Size (Penguin: 1991, 1998)

I like his thoughts on this for several reasons. First because I don't fit comfortably in any prescribed box -- while some ADHD things fit me perfectly, others don't fit well at all. Secondly and more importantly, when you identify specific dysfunctions and address them you're going to get better results. I like the study High Functioning posted -- it kind of matches my results. I do much better on certain things on medication, but others such as spacial organization are impacted little by medication. The third thing is is that this approach is less stigmatizing. It didn't take me long once diagnosed to figure out that if I told people I had ADD, they either rolled their eyes or treated me like an idiot. Telling someone I have poor short term memory gets a more helpful response.

Thomas Brown (Attention Deficit Disorder: The Unfocused Mind in Children and Adults) discusses the idea of the orchestra with attention as the conductor, but he puts pretty much all his emphasis on how the conductor can screw up the rest of the orchestra (which it certainly can), but Levine discusses that a weak violin section can also make the conductor look bad. That makes balanced sense to me. If something is just unbelievably difficult, it will effect your attention.

I'm enjoying your responses -- thanks!:)

Scattered

I like his thoughts on this for several reasons. First because I don't fit comfortably in any prescribed box -- while some ADHD things fit me perfectly, others don't fit well at all. Secondly and more importantly, when you identify specific dysfunctions and address them you're going to get better results. The diversity of Dx goes hand in hand with the diversity of Rx responses. How will medicine X help me? Don't know until we try it.

Adderall is helping my focus but not as much as it is helping my social anxiety.

Place everything willy-nilly under the ADD umbrella and "specific dysfunctions" will probably be missed especially in children.

Had I not specifically requested help for attention issues my doctor(s) and psychiatrist would still be treating for anxiety and depression only. I don't suffer from clinical depression but everytime I go to the doctor I am down about my life, prospects, accomplishments, etc. In this case, I guess my situation is reversed but the point is that my doctors seem treatment within a clinical "comfort zone" and are reluctant to venture into options they're less experienced with.

Dr. Levine is also emphasizing children and not adults who can look back and take inventory of their lives and better help guide their doctor.

Thanks Scattered for finding the link.

SL :)