​ADHD
( Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder - Medical Model)

Medical models often focus mostly on the deficits of the individual. So lets try to bring back the balance into perspective
of every individual's strengths as well as challenges. We have to embrace it all.
Let us first understand more about the medical model.
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MEDICAL MODEL

What Is ADHD?
- By The Understood Team

Learn more about the ADHD brain.
- By The Understood Team

Large-Scale MRI Study Confirms ADHD Brain Differences​
​- By The Understood Team
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THE ADHD BRAIN
ADHD Neuroscience 101

Thousands of kids are being underdiagnosed and undertreated for ADHD 
​— due in large part to their race or ethnicity.


Study: ADHD Diagnosis Improves Quality of Life for Adults with Symptoms
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PROCESS OF IDENTIFICATION

Often, parents might get fearful of screenings and diagnosis. Do note that assessment results may vary and it does not equate to true cognitive ability. Because many of the learners might have challenges to perform at their optimum  or have other co-morbid challenges that might impact on them at that period in time. 
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Assessments can however be useful to give a basic outline of their developmental milestones and challenges your child might face, this gives more information for educators and professionals to better understand how to support your child. But remember professionals, to try to do strength based assessments as well, it provides a more balanced view and focuses on empowering while supporting the child. Strength-based writing can be found at "Neurology & Learning Page".

Some early signs to help parents

ADHD Symptoms Checklist:
​Is It ADHD? Which Type?

(For both self check and / for your child)

How ADHD is diagnosed
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The Building Blocks of a Good ADHD Diagnosis
​-A clinical interview. A physical exam. Rating scales and teacher input. Here’s what comprises a good ADHD diagnosis — and what does not.

What Every Thorough ADHD Diagnosis Includes - FREE DOWNLOAD 

Is Preschool Too Early to Diagnose ADHD?


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[Symptoms Self-Test]

​Could My Child Have ADHD?

Do I Have ADHD? Symptom Test for Adults​

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THINK YOU HAVE ADHD? HOW TO TALK TO YOUR PARENTS?



Steps to revealing diagnosis
​and self advocacy

Understanding the medical (deficit) model in order to understand what is happening beneath.
Please note: The focus is understanding to help educators and parents
learn to understand and not think that it is a pathological behavior.
The textbook signs of ADD — inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity — fail to reflect several of its most powerful characteristics; the ones that shape your perceptions, emotions, and motivation.

​Here, Dr. William Dodson explains how to recognize and manage ADHD’s true defining features of  rejection sensitivity, emotional hyperarousal, and hyperfocus.
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3 Defining Features 
of ADHD
​That Everyone Overlooks
 My work for the last decade suggests that we have been missing something important about the fundamental nature of the ADHD brain.  ...  

​It is the ADHD nervous system, a unique and special creation that regulates attention and emotions in different ways than the nervous system in those without the condition.
- WILLIAM DODSON, M.D.

Secrets of Your ADHD Brain
​This article focuses on how the NT world functions and tries to clarify how that does not support their strengths well.

Work with strengths, not against it.

Why ADHD Brains
​Crave Stimulation
Help it regulate by giving it
​the right stimulation it needs
Your superpower is a natural, ingrained gift. It’s so powerful that you can’t not express it. In some settings, it may help you shine. In others, it may transform into kryptonite.
-SUSAN KRUGER, M.ED.
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CHALLENGES WITH FOCUS
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Understanding Your Child’s Trouble With Focus

What to Say to Your Child About Trouble With Focus
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6 Ways to Help Your Child Focus​

STRENGTHS WITH FOCUS
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Hyperfocus:
The ADHD Phenomenon of Intense Fixation

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Think again.
Learn how hyperfocus impacts children and adults, and how to transform this challenge into a superpower.


Medication Doesn’t
Solve Hyperfocus


A Blessing and a Curse
advice for overcoming the symptom’s challenges

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Your guide to productive
hyperfocus at work

HYPERACTIVITY

Understanding Your Child’s Hyperactivity
STRATEGIES
Trouble With Self-Regulation:
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What You Need to Know

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IMPULSITIVITY

Understanding Your Child’s Impulsivity

Self-Control:
​What It Means for Kids​



​Listen to “Why ADHDers Can’t Sleep—and What You Can Do About It”
​with Roberto Olivardia, Ph.D.
(Recommended resources at link's bottom page)


​EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING
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The 3 Areas of Executive Function​
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MEDICAL MODEL FOCUS INTO EF


​SKILLS FOR EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING

Hot & Cold Executive Functions:
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They Can Be Hot or Cool
Video: The Marshmallow Test in Action

​Why Teens With ADHD May Take More Risks
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​ Role-play can help kids prepare for stressful situations. 
​Social Situations to Role-Play With Your Child in Different Grades
Teaching Self-reflection Skills

​However in order to have self-reflection skills for problem solving or appraising situations, the individual must have acquired to a certain degree of his/her sense of self. Without this, self-reflecting skills can be affected. Here are a few links to guide you.

Delayed Self Recognition in Autism: A Unique Difficulty? - NCBI Journal
Sense of Self: The Most Important Part of Autism Remediation - RDI
The Value of Self by Rachelle Sheely - RDI
​Understanding the Self in Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD): A Review of Literature
THERAPY FOR ADHD
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ADHD IN BOYS & GIRLS
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