These days, families are faced with numerous treatment decisions.  With so many choices, it is often hard to know what to do to help your child.

According to the National Resource Center on ADHD, current research shows that children and teens with ADHD benefit most from a multimodal approach to treatment that includes:

• Parent and child education about diagnosis and treatment
• Behavior management techniques designed to teach you and your child specific skills to address his or her executive functioning needs.
• School supports designed to accommodate your child’s weak executive skills in the classroom setting.
• Medication can be effective at getting 70-80 percent of children with ADD/ADHD focused so they can take advantage of the other three parts of this approach.   The decision to try is a difficult one that each family must make with the assistance of their child’s physician.

The National Resource Center on ADHD suggests asking these questions when considering any treatment:

• Have scientific clinical trials (comparing this treatment to existing research-proven treatments) been conducted and published in a peer-reviewed professional journal?
• Can the treatment provider give you copies of research results to share with your physician?
• Can the treatment provider give you copies of research showing the treatment generalizes to the classroom setting?
• Is there a national organization of practitioners?
• Are there licensing or accreditation requirements for this specific treatment?

Need help identifying and addressing your child/teen’s needs?  Call 817.421.8780 to learn about our research-proven assessments, parenting, and cognitive behavioral therapy.

See our menu of ADHD and executive functioning solutions. 

(c) 2009- 2012, Monte W. Davenport, Ph.D.