How do we use mindfulness to treat ADHD (attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder)? First, we understand that the ability to pay attention and control our impulses depends on our emotional state. Another way of saying this is that the Emotional (motivation) system drives the Executive (control) system. As we see in the ThinkPrint slider, there are 5 Continue Reading
Attention and ADHD
how attention works, why it often fails, how to understand ADHD
Children Learn by Doing
Maria Montessori had it right. Children – and adults – learn by doing, not by listening. It is the active engagement in the environment that creates new neural pathways in our brain, which is what learning means. New connections are made only when we act. The belief that children learn by listening is not correct. Continue Reading
How Attention Works (and Why it Often Doesn’t)
Attention is a more complex process than we think. Wait, sorry, I wasn’t paying attention… What were you saying? In this complex modern world of ours, we are very rarely doing only one thing at a time. We read the paper while we eat, we talk on the phone while we drive, and, while we Continue Reading
The Myth of ADHD
Problems with attention and impulse control listed are very common, but not because everyone with these problems has a particular neurodevelopmental disorder – ADHD – for which they need a stimulant drug. These problems are a common symptom of many conditions, including depression, anxiety, inflammation, stress, just like a fever is a symptom of many kinds of illness. Continue Reading
Sensory Integration Issues
Sensory issues, sometimes referred to as Sensory Integration or Sensory Processing Disorder, tend to occur along with other issues. These are common in children with emotional dysregulation and in children with autism. Children can be much more sensitive (hypersensitive) or much less sensitive (hyposensitivity) to particular types of sensory input (noise, light, smell, taste, touch, Continue Reading
What’s Up with all this ADHD?
Can so many children really have an attention disorder, for which they need to take medication every day, indefinitely? What is going on here? What if, the problem is not with the children, but with what we are expecting them to be able to do? What if young children are not supposed to be able Continue Reading
A Love Letter to So You Think You Can Dance
I’m not a big TV watcher. But there is one show I have watched without fail for the past eight seasons (I missed their first), and I’m so addicted to it that in those rare downtime moments when someone else might be playing solitaire, I’m searching for YouTube videos of scenes from it, and watching Continue Reading