By: Mark Smith, D.C. – D.A.B.C.N, F.A.C.F.N
What is ADHD?
Many people ask me what exactly is going on in the brain of a child with ADHD?
At Brain Balance, we recognize that leading neuro-science investigators have found that these children have several problems:
- There is some type of developmental delay in growth of the right side of the brain that results in a slower processing speed.
- There is a lack of connectivity between the left and right side of the brain.
In a recent article several researchers found just that when they evaluated children diagnosed with ADHD. Using functional MRI they found abnormal “functional interactions among multiple brain regions” when they asked these subjects to stop a task. Specifically, they found slower processing speeds on the right side of the brain involving the frontal lobes, basal ganglia and thalamic brain areas. ADHD subjects just could not stop a task in a timely or successful manner compared to controls.
What does this mean to you, the parent of a child who may have ADHD?
It means that the child may not stop when you ask them to, or it may take several requests, or you may actually have to interrupt them in order for them to get the message. This can be extremely frustrating when a child cannot appropriately disengage from one activity to attend to another, which means that they cannot properly sequence their activities.
You may ask them to go upstairs, get their shoes and socks on and bring their backpack down with their school-books to get ready for school. When they don’t appear for 10 minutes you find them in their room playing without their socks or shoes on and no back-pack in sight. They just cannot successfully or easily move from one topic to another with ease.
At Brain Balance, our nearly 700 point thorough brain assessment consistently finds right sided brain delay with ADHD. We measure the brain functions and where they are lagging or slow, this can indicate functional developmental delay. Because the problem is ‘functional’ and not pathological, the brain will respond to training strategies aimed at the slower and functionally weaker side. We find that when the slower side gets ‘in shape’ that many of the symptoms of ADHD simply decrease or melt away.
To find out the functional status of your child’s brain, call us today and schedule your child for an assessment. Our assessments are safe, fun, non-invasive and the children usually enjoy them. Brain Balance is a supplementary learning center for children specifically with ADHD, Learning Disorders, Dyslexia, Asperger’s and other developmental delays such as Tourette’s. Give us a call at 804-977-2747 to schedule the assessment or to just ask our dedicated and passionate staff about how Brain Balance may help your child and your family.
Mark Smith, D.C., D.A.B.C.N, F.A.C.F.N
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