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  • Medical information disclaimer
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  • 2.1 This Lecture contains general medical information.
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  • (a) will be constantly available, or available at all; or
  • (b) is true, accurate, complete, current or non-misleading.
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  • 4.1 You must not rely on the information in this lecture as an alternative to medical advice from your doctor or other professional healthcare provider.
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  • 4.3 If you think you may be suffering from any medical condition, you should seek immediate medical attention.
  • 4.4 You should never delay seeking medical advice, disregard medical advice or discontinue medical treatment because of information in this lecture.
  • 5. Interactive features
  • 5.1 This lecture includes interactive features that allow users to communicate with us.
  • 5.2 You acknowledge that, because of the limited nature of communication through in this lecture interactive features, any assistance you may receive using any such features is likely to be incomplete and may even be misleading.
  • 5.3 Any assistance you may receive using any in this lecture interactive features does not constitute specific advice and accordingly should not be relied upon without further independent confirmation.

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Legal Stuff

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  • The information presented by D. Blayne Laws, has not been evaluated nor does it represent the views of the Arlington Seventh Day Adventist Church, its pastor, board or governing body.
  • All issues or concerns concerning this lecture should be address with D. Blayne Laws, MD.

​

Legal Stuff

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ADHD/ADD

What is it really?

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D. Blayne Laws, M.D.

  • Graduated in 1997 from Loma Linda University School of Medicine in Loma Linda, California.
  • Residency in Family Practice, at the Texas Tech University Health Science Center in Odessa, Texas.
  • Private practice since 2000.

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ADHD/ADD What is it really?

  • There is no such thing as ADD!
  • I know, Some of you are thinking,
  • “I knew it, those kids just need a spanking more discipline”.

​

This means we are going off topic.

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ADHD/ADD What is it really?

  • DSM V
  • Diagnostic And Statistical Manual Of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition
  • The guide book for diagnosing mental health conditions.

​

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The Official Medical Diagnoses

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Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, �Predominantly Inattentive Type

  • ICD10 F90.0 (The International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Edition) 
  • Commonly known as “ADD”
  • All of the energy goes inward!

​

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Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, �Predominantly Hyperactive Impulsive Type

  • ICD10 F90.1
  • Commonly known as “ADHD”
  • All of the energy goes outward!
  • Very impulsive

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Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, �Combined Type

  • ICD10 F90.2
  • Also known as “ADHD”
  • All of the energy goes outward!
  • Very impulsive
  • And no focus.

​

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See I told you there was no such thing as ADD!

Not officially anyway.

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Now that we have all of the “Official” stuff out of the way!

Let me tell you what its all about!

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Understanding the ADHD brain

  • Understanding the ADHD brain and nervous system is really the key.
  • Our understanding, over the past 20 years has reveled that the ADHD brain is not a broken version of a normal brain that needs to be fixed.

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Understanding ADHD

  • It is actually a normal brain in it’s own right.
    • It’s hard wired differently.
    • Its was designed with a different purpose.
    • It has different strengths
    • Different weaknesses
    • Different chemistry

​

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Understanding ADHD

  • Having ADHD is like being left handed.
  • The world is designed for right handed people. It’s not that the right hand is better, it’s the default.
  • Left handed people have to use special tools.

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Understanding ADHD

  • It has nothing to do with intellect or dexterity
  • They just need the right tool to meet their potential in a right handed world.
  • Having ADHD is like being left handed.
  • The world is designed for right handed people. It’s not that the right hand is better, it’s the default.
  • Left handed people have to use special tools.

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Recent studies have shown that the average IQ for people with ADHD is ………

120

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Understanding ADHD

Another analogy I have come across is comparing the

  • hunter-gatherer
  • and the farmer.

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Understanding ADHD

The farmer represents the neuro typical

or average person.

  • They are very good at doing one thing at a time.
    • They focus on that one thing until it’s finished and then move on to the next task.
  • They spend part of their mental energy making a list
    • They will prioritize the list
    • They’ll do the most important thing first
    • and the least important thing last.

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Understanding ADHD

They spend part of their extra mental energy keeping a calendar.

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Understanding ADHD

They spend part of their extra mental energy keeping a calendar.

They need to know:

    • when to plant,
    • when to water,
    • when to fertilize,
    • when to harvest,
    • when to do their maintenance,

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Understanding ADHD

They’re typically not very good at:

  • Being creative
  • Solving problems
  • Thinking outside the box
  • Coming up with solutions on the fly

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How many of you have seen this puzzle before? �Raise your hands.

How many of you solved it without help?�Don’t raise your hands!!!!

Can it be done with 3 lines?

How about 1 line?

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Understanding ADHD

They typically have a learning style that is part to whole.

  • You start off with small bits of information
  • You add a little bit at a time
  • Until you build up the picture of what you are trying to learn.

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Understanding ADHD

The ADHD brain:

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They don't have a problem, they just need to try harder !

What job would you choose?

  1. Work 40 hrs for $400
  2. Work 80 hrs for $400

A lot of parents unknowingly ask their ADHD child to pick B.

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Understanding ADHD

The ADHD brain:

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Understanding ADHD

The hunter-gatherer brain is nearly the opposite of the farmer brain.

They are typically whole to part learners.

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Understanding ADHD

They are typically whole to part learners.

  • Big picture first
  • Then the framework
  • Then the details last.

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Understanding ADHD

  • The hunter-gatherer’s job is to survive right now.

​

  • He needs to be very aware of everything around him.

​

​

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND

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Understanding ADHD

​

  • His brain has been designed to take in a large amount of data very quickly.
  • Through all five senses

​

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY

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Understanding ADHD

They’re constantly scanning their internal and external environment.

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Understanding ADHD

Like a radar

Constantly scanning

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Understanding ADHD

Any time anything changes their attention immediately goes to that thing.

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-ND

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Understanding ADHD

For them to be able to survive they need to be very aware of everything that is going on around them!

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY

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Understanding ADHD

  • They don’t spend their extra mental energy prioritizing a list of things to do.

​

  • They very much live in the moment!

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-ND

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Understanding ADHD

  • They also don’t spend a lot of energy keeping a calendar…
  • What’s going to happen tomorrow, next month, next season, or next year.

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND

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Understanding ADHD

  • Keeping a calendar is a waste of time.
  • Their world is constantly changing and they are constantly on the move.

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC

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Understanding ADHD

If you don’t survive right now,

None of the planning matters!

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Understanding ADHD

They spend most of their energy being:

  • Creative
  • Solving problems
  • Coming up with solutions on the fly
  • Thinking outside the box

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Understanding ADHD

They have this amazing ability…they’re going to sense all the changes that are going on around them.

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Understanding ADHD

  • They hear the water
  • See the berries,
  • Or notice the cougar sneaking up behind them.

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

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Understanding ADHD

They need to know if there’s a funny smell in the breeze, or if the wind changes.

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Understanding ADHD

They need to know if there’s a change in the temperature or in the humidity or see the storm clouds are rolling in.

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY

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Understanding ADHD

All of that information is very valuable for them. They take it all in, they process it very quickly , and they pull out the nuggets they need.

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

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Understanding ADHD

They discard everything else, make a new plan and move on. It’s very dynamic, very active.

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Understanding ADHD

When you take the ability to process their environment rapidly and put it in a classroom, it becomes a problem.

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Understanding ADHD

They cannot turn off the radar.

They’re still going to process everything that’s going on around them.

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Understanding ADHD

  • They were designed to learn with all their senses.
  • In a standard classroom we limit them to two:
  • hearing
  • seeing.

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Understanding ADHD

The average K-12 classroom has about 25 kids:

​

  • They’re all moving,
  • They’re all making noise.

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND

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Understanding ADHD

  • There are people walking up and down the hall.
  • Guys are mowing the grass.

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY

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Understanding ADHD

  • The birds are flying by
  • The lighting is changing as the clouds go by
  • The temperature in the room is going up and down
  • The blower fan is going on and off

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Understanding ADHD

  • The teacher is talking
  • They’re thinking about things in their own mind
  • The tag in their shirt is itchy
  • The kid next to them smells funny

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Understanding ADHD

They’re processing all of this information continuously!

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Understanding ADHD

So they’re going to have a hard time absorbing the “important” information.

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

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Understanding ADHD

If we take the farmer and put him in the wilderness he’s not going to perform very well either.

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Understanding ADHD

He’s going to focus on his map and his compass. He’s not going to be aware of all the stuff going on around him.

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Understanding ADHD

He’s going to get caught by the storm, or starve, or eaten by the cougar.

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Understanding ADHD

So again, one is not better than the other, they’re just different. When they’re in the right environment they thrive, but in the wrong environment they struggle.

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In my practice: ��Over half of adults with newly diagnosed ADHD who are treated with appropriate medications will receive a raise in pay or promotion within 6 to 12 months. Of the other half most of them are self employed.

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Understanding ADHD

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Understanding ADHD

Hyper Focus:

A state of focus so intense, that the world around you and even time itself disappears.

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Understanding ADHD

A state of focus so intense, that the world around you and even time itself disappears.

This is the thing that throws everybody off.

​

  • If people with ADHD could never focus there would be no controversy over the diagnosis.
  • The problem is they can focus, and sometimes they can focus very well for a long time.

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Understanding ADHD

  • It’s very confusing for the farmer brains, when they’re looking at this trying to explain what’s going on.
  • For them, their focus is based on priority.

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Understanding ADHD

  • The more important the task, the more they focus on it.
  • They have the ability to turn their focus on and off.

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Understanding ADHD

  • They assume that’s true for everyone, but it’s not.
  • The hyper focus of ADHD is automatic, it’s not a choice.

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Understanding ADHD

  • The person with ADHD can’t turn the focus on or off when they want to.
  • It just happens.
  • It happens when the cougar shows up.

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Understanding ADHD

  • The hunter-gatherer sees the cougar, “oh crud, there’s a cougar.”
  • The radar immediately turns off, and they go into hyper focus mode.

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Understanding ADHD

  • They will stay on that task until they take care of business.
  • Or something more threatening comes along.

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Understanding ADHD

The hyper focus of ADHD is triggered By a sense of urgency!

  1. Things that are new, novel, or intriguing.
  2. Things that you are interested in.
  3. Competition
  4. Video games
  5. Shopping

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

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Understanding ADHD

When they are hyper focused, their sense

of the passage of time changes.

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Understanding ADHD

When they are hyper focused, their sense

of the passage of time changes.

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Understanding ADHD

When they are engaged and hyper focused 5 hours can feel like 5 min.

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Understanding ADHD

The opposite is also true.

When bored 5 minutes can feel like an eternity.

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Understanding ADHD

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Understanding ADHD

Treatment

  1. Proper Diagnosis
  2. Proper Pharmacotherapy
    1. Proper molecule
    2. Proper delivery
    3. Proper dose
    4. Proper timing
    5. Proper frequency

​

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Understanding ADHD

Treatment

But stimulant medications are bad for you and lead to addictions!

False and False

​

When used correctly the stimulant medications are very safe and reduce the risk of addiction.

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Understanding ADHD

Treatment

False and False

​

When used correctly the stimulant medications are very safe and reduce the risk of addiction.

  • One of the problems people with ADHD have is remembering to take their medication.
  • I have never met a junkie that forgot to take his next fix.

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Understanding ADHD

Treatment

What about side effects and the zombie kids?

Misuse of, or over medication.

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Understanding ADHD

Treatment

Other things you can do to help treat the symptoms of ADHD

  • Working with your brain instead of against it
  • Exercise
  • Getting good sleep
  • Making the environment work for you

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Understanding ADHD

Treatment

Other things you can do to help treat the symptoms of ADHD

Finding the best time for your focus

Nutritional supplements

Good communication skills

Technology

Open storage

​

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Q & A

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A Special thanks to my loving wife Heather.

She makes my life easy so I can teach

Scan the QR code for a copy of this PowerPoint

ADHD Letter From the Teacher

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ADHD/ADD What is it really?

  • Please understand the difference between discipline and punishment.
  • training that corrects, molds, or perfects the mental faculties or moral character

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ADHD/ADD What is it really?

  • Please understand the difference between discipline and punishment.
  • training that corrects, molds, or perfects the mental faculties or moral character
  • suffering, pain, or loss that serves as retribution