ADD Treatment

Millions of children have an attention disorder, and it seems that they only continue to get more prevalent. ADD or, also referred to inattentive ADHD, is among one of these common disorders most commonly found in children. Despite the rising number of children with ADD, many people don’t have a good understanding of the disorder. ADD can have a major impact on your child’s education and their social life. Not many people are trained to appropriately work with children who have ADD, including health care professionals and teachers. This can make parenting for people with children who have the disorder more difficult because they have to take on extra roles and responsibilities. 

Characteristics of ADD

ADD is an attention disorder, so many of the symptoms you’ll see in your child are related to their ability to focus. Some symptoms are also shared with ADHD and a few other disorders. Children with ADD are sometimes thought to be lazy, or simply ignoring what’s going around them to people who are unaware of the disorder. 

Here are the most common characteristics of ADD:  

• Inattention to detail, they may skip over tasks and make mistakes often if they aren’t able to pay close attention to something. 
• People with ADD may show physical signs that they aren’t listening to you as you’re speaking to them. 
• They may lose things often, even common things they need on a daily basis. ADD can make it difficult to keep your possessions organized, which can make it easy for things to be misplaced. 
• Whether it’s conversations or activities, they seem to get distracted and lose attention easily. 
• ADD may cause a person to be forgetful, commonly forgetting things like school assignments and events. 

What’s the difference between ADD and ADHD?

Many people incorrectly use ADD and ADHD interchangeably. If a person isn’t properly educated on the topic, they might even think that these are the same disorders. Although they have similarities, they are separate disorders that have different symptoms. ADD is a subtype of ADHD, but children with it do not have problems with hyperactivity. The idea that ADD and ADHD are the same spreads misinformation and can make it harder for children with ADD to receive proper care. More people tend to be familiar with the symptoms of ADHD and might even be able to pick up on them when they see them. When someone pictures a child with ADHD, they will most likely think of disruptive behavior, which children with ADD don’t exhibit. Children with ADD tend to come off as shy and reserved. This can lead to children with ADD being overlooked because they don’t express the same symptoms of ADHD that can be more apparent. 

Finding the right treatment for ADD

Being one of the most common childhood disorders, many people would assume that treatments are streamlined and readily available. However, if your child has ADD, you know that this is not the case. Many parents end up getting treatment for their children that, although lengthy and prolonged, does not provide the results they want. Raising a child who has an attention disorder can be time-consuming and often stressful. Many families have to make sacrifices to be able to care for them and give them the attention they need. As a parent, you know that no two children are the same. While your child might have similar symptoms and behaviors as other children with ADD, one treatment won’t work the same for everyone. 

Getting the proper diagnosis and treatment for ADD can be difficult because the symptoms can often be confused with other disorders. Children who have ADD are also likely to have additional disorders, like anxiety and conduct disorders. Since many of these symptoms could be attributed to something else, it can be difficult for people without proper training to see the signs as ADD. At the Carolina Brain Center, we’re able to help treat children with a variety of developmental disorders, including ADD. Many people believe that the best or only ways to effectively treat ADD are with medication and behavioral therapy. While these treatments do help make an impact, we can do much more than that. We use a functional healthcare approach to be able to more effectively treat the root cause of ADD. This can lead to permanent changes that you may be able to see in just 12 weeks of treatment. 

ADD doesn’t have to be something you and your child have to deal with alone. If you think your child might have ADD, or you’re looking for a more effective treatment for the disorder, request a consultation today.