News Articles Related to ADHD 
& Learning Disabilities
(contd.)

Mom's crusade targets ADD "Right-brain approach allows boy to cope in a confusing world: Freed's theory is that most children with ADD or ADD-like symptoms have a different learning style from that expected in the educational system. Their brains are wired differently, especially because of cultural influences, particularly the rapid-fire media. Music, computer games, remote controls on television and hundreds of TV channels turn these children into visual learners, Freed contends, who process information with the right side of their brains instead of the traditional, verbal-oriented left-brained system. Such kids didn't need to be told how to do something, they needed to be shown.
- The Arizona Republic

ADHD may be over diagnosed, study says: A recent study says attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, may be over diagnosed, and the drug used to treat the condition may be over prescribed.  Nearly 6 percent of the school-age population in the United States has been diagnosed with ADHD, a condition characterized by impulsive behavior and difficulties in paying attention and keeping still.  Approximately 90 percent of patients with ADHD take the drug Ritalin.
- CNN Interactive

Boys Treated With Stimulants Less Likely To Abuse Drugs As Adults: Boys with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) who are treated with stimulants such as Ritalin are significantly less likely to abuse drugs and alcohol when they get older, according to a new study funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).
- Doctor's Guide To The Internet

Pay-for-grades gives youngsters solid grounding in Reality: The fuss over parents paying children for good grades in school should be incomprehensible to those who expect a salary at work, and to those who do not feel outrage when asked to pay for things in stores. And indeed, it seems that many of those who oppose this concept do also think that "from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs" would be a good way to run an economy.
- Calgary Herald

Ritalin Has No Effect On Reading Disorders: Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) and reading disorder (RD) each affect approximately 6-9 percent of school-aged children and frequently affect the same children. A recent study indicates that Ritalin (methylphenidate; MPH), while effective in the treatment of AD/HD, has no effect on the short-term memory and phonological processing required for reading.
- Doctor's Guide

Finding the strengths in students who struggle: Just as instructors have unique teaching styles, so do pupils learn in many different ways. While children with unique educational needs can struggle in traditional teaching environments, some students have flourished in a program that examines the unique characteristics of each child, minimizing their weaknesses and maximizing their strengths.
- CNN

Brain Chemistry May Differ in Dyslexic Children: Compared to nondyslexic children, youngsters with dyslexia, a reading disability, appear to require more 'brain-power' to accomplish certain language tasks, US researchers report.  In their American Journal of Neuroradiology article, Dr. Todd Richards of the University of Washington in Seattle, and colleagues describe the special studies they used to analyze brain metabolism in both dyslexic and 'control' children.  Their study findings showed that while completing a language task, the dyslexic children engaged a brain area nearly five times greater than the nondyslexic children. These tasks included listening to various words and combinations of words and "(judging) whether the word pairs rhymed... (or) whether... word pairs contained two real words or... a nonword," the authors explain. This means that the dyslexic brain has to work harder than the normal brain to complete the identical language task.
- Fox News

Scientists pinpoint gene for dyslexia: Scientists said Tuesday they have pinpointed the first gene for dyslexia, a common learning disorder that affects spelling and writing.  They have mapped the gene, DYX3, to chromosome 2, one of 22 chromosomes that everybody inherits from their parents.
- Reuters

10 Years of Brain Imaging Research Shows The Brain Reads Sound By Sound: A dyslexia research team at Yale University's Center for Learning and Attention lead by Dr. Sally Shaywitz has found a window on the brain through a new imaging technique called functional MRI. These medical scientists have identified parts of the brain used in reading. By observing the flow of oxygen-rich blood to working brain cells, they have found that people who know how to sound out words can rapidly process what they see. This information has shed new light on dyslexia and how to help dyslexics.
- CDI

Scan Diagnoses Dyslexia Early: Brain scans taken when babies are a few hours old could help doctors diagnose the learning disorder dyslexia earlier and help prevent or reduce reading problems in childhood, according to a report in New Scientist
- CBS

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