Children have difficulty sitting for long periods of time. Most children need to get up and move and this does not mean he or she has ADHD. Maybe your child has high energy and gets bored easily. If the teacher or subject matter is interesting a child will sit still longer without getting out of their seat. Do we really need to medicate the child and regulate his or her brain w a chemical medicine?

Many children need breaks and should be able to stretch and get out of their seats. Children need to go to the restroom and take mental breaks when sitting for 7-8 hours a day at school.

There is not enough recess and exercise in the school system. More recess and more breaks will allow a child to sit longer and focus on class material. Forcing a child to sit for elongated periods of time is too long and a child will not retain information and learning will be unproductive many of the times.

Many children struggle to stay focused in school and this is common in Arizona in Phoenix, Scottsdale as well as throughout the United States. Neuroscientists have discovered that doodling can have many positives for students and ADHD students as well. Doodling can ease impatient impulses as well as keep  child in his seat when his bored or distracted.

Research in psychology has shown that doodling can help your child stay focused, grasp new ideas and concepts and retain information that is being taught in the classroom. Creative thoughts and ideas can be expressed through doodling on a blank page.

Your child’s doodling can take many forms. It can be spontaneous marks that have pictures of geometric shapes, it can be faces it can be circles it can be so many different things. It can be a creative pattern that is abstract it can be graffiti like letters, it can be of a landscape, faces an object or objects a house, trees, however it is not taking notes.

Doodling and drawing are amazing tools for your child and teen to express thoughts and emotions and to ease stress and tension in your child’s day as well as in life in general. Doodling can relieve borden and most children feel bored regardless of how amazing the teacher may be they still loose focus and boredom sets in.

Before stimulant drugs such as Ritalin, and Adderall began their rise to popularity in the 1970s, treatment for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) focused on behavioral therapy. But as concerns build over the mounting dosages and extended treatment periods that come with stimulant drugs, clinical researchers are revisiting behavioral therapy techniques. Whereas stimulant medications may help young patients focus and behave in the classroom, research now suggests that behaviorally based changes make more of a difference in the long-term. ADHD drugs are tested for 8-12 weeks in experiments and most children stay on the drug for years not knowing how it impacts the brain. Many children suffer withdrawal symptoms and behavioral changes when taken off the drugs similar to what a drug addict experiences when stopping long term drug use.

Recent research findings suggest that behavioral and cognitive therapies focused on reducing impulsivity and reinforcing positive long-term habits may be able to replace current high doses of stimulant treatment in children and young adults.

Lifeworksaz has been working with ADHD children and teens using a combination of cognitive therapies, behavior modification, play therapy, and more to teach children how to manage ADHD with excellent results.