What is ADHD and How does it affect people-Links

[Dizfriz]

What is ADHD and how does it affect people?

The best tool for dealing with ADHD is accurate, science based information on the disorder. Simply, the more you know about ADHD the better you will be able to deal with it. Russell Barkley believes, as do I, that if you really understand what ADHD is and how it affects someone then you don't have to have instructions on how to deal with it; you will know what to do based on your knowledge and understanding. It is an interesting concept and I think there is a good bit of truth in it.


So if you are starting out on your journey to learn about ADHD, my essays are short and hopefully easy to understand. From there, here are some sources that may help you better understand the disorder and how it affects people.

RUSSELL BARKLEY

Barkley is considered by most to be, by far, the top person in the field of ADHD. He published his ground breaking book (ADHD and the nature of self-control) on ADHD as a deficit in executive functions in 1997 and this has had a major impact of how ADHD is viewed and treated.

There are others who are also good but none with quite the same stature. Basically, you cannot go wrong by starting with Barkley on the subject of ADHD so that is the approach I am going to take.

A note on tone: Barkley is a scientist to the bone. He is blunt and to the point in his lectures. (In person he is gentle and soft spoken.) Some do not agree with the way he states things but you can be sure of one thing, he has the research to back up what he says. So take what he says on that basis. Agreement with Barkley is not required to effectively work with ADHD but understanding what he is saying is.


TRANSCRIPT OF A RUSSELL BARKLEY WORKSHOP

Many, including myself, consider this transcript to be the best write up on ADHD available on the internet. It is dated 2000 but most of the data is still basically pretty good. I do warn however that this is forty pages long and Barkley is information dense. It can be a bit of a struggle to work though so take your time. It is, in my opinion and in the opinion of many others, very much worth the effort. It has probably been of more help to those trying to understand ADHD than any other single thing I know. I am going to suggest you start with this overview and then download or read the article from there.

http://www.greatschools.net/cgi-bin/showarticle/2054


CADDAC VIDEOS These are some videos by Barkley that are presented at the teacher/parent level and are quite good. While there are many good videos here, I suggest focusing on Barkley, at least at first.


The section on ADHD in children

http://www.caddac.ca/cms/video/parents_player.html

Look for "Essential Ideas for Parents" which is a series of videos aimed at parents with ADHD children. Very good.

Also there is a video "Parents with ADHD" which is aimed at parents who are ADHD working with ADHD kids.


The section on ADHD in adults. I would with the Barkley Video "Impairments and Treatments."

http://www.caddac.ca/cms/video/teens_adults_player.html


UCDAVIS VIDEOS Here are two videos by Barkley that go into a little more detail. Be aware that these are aimed more at professionals and he throws data fast and non stop. I feel that for many the transcript or the CADDAC videos may be more accessible for those just starting to look into ADHD but I wanted to include these for those looking for a little more depth.

http://www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/mindins...ideo_adhd.html

The earlier session is on the impact of ADHD as a disorder and the later one gets more into treatment.

Look for the bald man with a gray beard (grin).

Be aware that the video sites will move these videos from time to time so if the links don't work, let me know and I will check them out.


One method that I might suggest is that you start with at least looking over the transcript to get an overview then looking at the videos.


Also for possible use in demonstrating that ADHD is very real, the International Consensus Statement on ADHD might be of value.

http://psych.colorado.edu/~willcutt/...rkley_2002.pdf


Good luck in your journey for information and understanding of ADHD. There is a lot more but this should give you a sound grounding in the subject.


Dizfriz



PS This is a upgrade to reflect changed and to add the Consensus Statement

[K-Funk]

Great informative post, thanks!!

[ilovemusic]

Great videos. Great post. Thank you very much.

[dacsm]

Wow. This is so insanely interesting, all the way down to why I chose to be self-employed and do so much better with that than working for someone else. Very eye opening.

[Abi]

Mods: Request sticky-fication

[Dizfriz]

Originally Posted by abi2010

Mods: Request sticky-fication

Thanks,

It is on my corner. This was posted so it could be linked in.

It is an update to reflect some changes in web addresses and to add the consensus statement. Enough liked the consensus statement that I thought it would be a helpful addition.

Dizfriz

[Caffeinator]

This is what I was looking for, an "authority" on the condition, thanks!

[Caffeinator]

Originally Posted by Caffeinator

What’s the second-most common one [domain impacted by AD/HD]? Interpersonal relationships, as
you might guess. You’ve got a hot-headed, emotional, immature, impulsive individual who says what’s on their mind. Not good. Not going to make a lot of friends. Here’s the third one [domain]:
the occupational environment. AD/HD individuals change jobs more often, are seven times more likely to be fired from the job, and will not rise up the economic or employment ladder as quickly
as other people without the disorder from the same neighborhood of the same IQ and the same educational level.

http://www.greatschools.org/pdfs/220...f?date=4-12-05
From page 18 of Barkley's paper you linked us to, very very true!!

[Caffeinator]

Originally Posted by Caffeinator

AD/HD delays the development of inhibition, which means that it delays the onset of the four executive functions, which means that it delays what those executive functions are doing for the individual, which leaves the person with AD/HD more under the control of external events and other people around them and the temporal now and immediate gratification, when people of their age are moving in this direction, to being controlled by mental representations about time and the future, which gives them a sense of control over themselves. They don’t need other people to manage them, thank you. They can do it themselves and they are constantly working to maximize the future over the moment. And the person with AD/HD is stuck right here, living in the temporal now, only concerned with the immediate consequences and much more under the influence of the environment and others
when other people are moving to more mature levels of self-management.

http://www.greatschools.org/pdfs/220...f?date=4-12-05
Page 21: Haven't seen this so clearly articulated before

[Caffeinator]

Really finding some awesome stuff here

AD/HD is not a pathology, it’s a trait. There is an AD/HD trait in the population. It’s called self-control, and AD/HD represents the lower end of that trait. Just as dyslexia is not a category, but is simply the lower end of the distribution of phonologic awareness and decoding. And just as mental retardation is the lower end of the distribution of IQ in the population, AD/HD is just the lower end of a normal Bell Curve for self-control in the population. It’s not like pregnancy, not something you have or you don’t. It’s a continuum. And they happen to occupy the extreme end of the continuum of a normal trait.

http://www.greatschools.org/pdfs/220...f?date=4-12-05
Page 30

[phantasm]

Awesome stuff here.

[Guitarist]

The International Consensus Statement has moved to http://russellbarkley.org/factsheets/Consensus2002.pdf.

[LynneC]

Originally Posted by Guitarist

The International Consensus Statement has moved to http://russellbarkley.org/factsheets/Consensus2002.pdf.

Here it is:
http://psych.colorado.edu/~willcutt/...rkley_2002.pdf

[BellaVita]

Bookmarked this thread on my iPhone!!
Thank you!

[MellyFishButt]

Heeeey, I used to work at UCD! I am going to start with that one for obvious loyalty.

Thanks for sharing!!