Neighborhood Doctor: Understanding ADHD
ADHD or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is something that I don’t believe is a disorder. I think we created a label for people whose needs aren’t adequately met by our existing educational and labor structures. No one has a deficit of attention or hyperactivity.
We break down here steps for managing ADHD, where our structures aren’t serving us and how people learn differently. ADHD is not something that needs to be cured, treated or corrected, rather it is what makes someone stronger, unique and valuable.
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Our Host
Dr. Ryan Hassan
Transcript:
Dr. Ryan Hassan: (00:02)
I am Ryan, pediatrician and dad here to answer my patient's most common medical questions. Your child has started school and their teacher tells you they've been disruptive, hyperactive, and inattentive. What do you do? Well, if your child's in this situation, it's likely that they teacher or someone else in your life has suggested that maybe you should get them worked up for A DHD also called Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. If you're in this situation, it's important to have a better understanding of what exactly A DHD means and how we can actually think about this in a way that's helpful. So A DHD reflects a real condition, but it's not actually accurately named because in my view, it's not a disorder at all. Rather, it's a label that we have created for people whose needs aren't adequately met by our existing educational and labor structures. No one has a deficit of attention or hyperactivity.
Dr. Ryan Hassan: (00:58)
Those that describe something about a person, they describe external expectations on that person from institutional norms that are unable to meet their needs. Some children might struggle to sit still or pay attention in a classroom, but this is only a problem because we've created a system that requires them to do so regardless of whether or not or to what extent they're ready to do so. So the So-called symptoms of A DHD are actually symptoms of a system that isn't appropriate expectations for our children. This is why the youngest children in an elementary school class are more likely to be diagnosed with A DHD than the older children in the class. Before I diagnose anyone with A DHD, I always explain that there is nothing wrong with them or the way their brain works and that the reason they might be struggling because of the A DHD diagnosis they carry is because their school, their home, their other environments are not able to make the accommodations they need to meet their needs.
Dr. Ryan Hassan: (01:59)
And the first step, therefore, for managing A DHD is changing those structures, changing that environment as much as we can to make sure that we're actually giving people what they need rather than trying to have them fit the mold that we've created for them. Now, this isn't obviously completely possible, but there are a lot of things that we can do in the home environment and the school environment, unlike an individualized education plan. More one-on-one time, or changing the structure and the the way in which children learn, allowing to be moving around more or just be fidgeting in their seats rather than expecting them to sit quietly and still for a whole class. These kind of things can make a big difference in a child's ability to learn. And I think it's important to recognize that this is not some special accommodation that this child is needing.
Dr. Ryan Hassan: (02:46)
This is just the best way that this child might learn, and it's different from the best way that another child might learn. And there's nothing wrong with that. It's just that we've developed a model that caters specifically to one type of learning. Of course, we can't change our environments to perfectly meet the needs of every child, and that's a situation where certain types of talk therapies and medication therapies can be useful to help children adapt to the environment so that they can succeed and thrive and achieve their very best. So certainly I think it's important to talk with your healthcare provider to see if that might be the right choice for your child as well. But I think it's also helpful to keep in mind that broader context of what the diagnosis actually means and what it comes from. And at the end of the day, I think it's most important for your child to know that their differences, whether they're from a diagnosis of A DHD or for some other medical condition or from some random personality quirk they have those things make them stronger and unique and valuable. And those are not things that need to be cured or treated or corrected.
Dr. Ryan Hassan: (03:58)
That's my show. If you have medical questions you'd like me to answer, reach out to Boost Oregon online and come back next week for a new episode of boosting our Voices with my friend Ari.