ADHD: Children must Squirm to Learn!

In his experience working with young students, adolescents, and adults who have been diagnosed with attention deficit disorder (ADD) or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) Dr. Charles R. Davenport has found that allowing physical movement makes it easier to learn and pay attention.

Recent research from the University of Central Florida found that leg swinging, foot tapping, and chair schooling movements of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is actually critical for ADHD kids to learn. “The typical interventions target reducing hyperactivity. It’s exactly the opposite of what we should be doing for a majority of children with ADHD,” Mark Rapport, one of the study authors, said in a statement. “The message isn’t ‘Let them run around the room,’ but you need to be able to facilitate their movement so they can maintain the level of alertness necessary for cognitive activities.”

In a classroom setting excessive movement can be seen as interfering with other students ability to learn, students willful disobedience, or proof of insufficient attention. When the students are told to “stop moving and pay attention” they likely have bad feelings about being called out as well as intensifying feelings of discomfort in trying to sit still which can be a monumental task for students with ADHD.

Sometimes the solution is not to work harder but to work smarter where we can use our understanding of our strengths and weaknesses to thrive. People with ADHD are never going to feel comfortable sitting perfectly still, at least not without stimulant medication. This is not necessarily a bad thing that can transition into not only a problematic situation academically but can also have significant emotional fallout.

please contact Dr. Charles R Davenport if you or someone you know struggles with ADHD or ADD.

Acetaminophen: reduces pain but also pleasure…

many of us are familiar with acetaminophen and its powerful ability to reduce pain and fever. This over-the-counter medication has also been found to reduce painful emotions and more recently it has been suggested that it may reduce positive feeling as well.

Recent research published in Psychological Science in the journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

this research found that using Tylenol or similar products might have a further reach that had previously been understood. Geoffrey Durso, a doctoral student in social psychology at Ohio State University and the lead author of the study. “Rather than just being a pain reliever, acetaminophen can be seen as an all-purpose emotion reliever.”

The study had control subjects which were given placebo and the remainder were given 1000 mg of acetaminophen. The subjects were then asked to rate photographs as pleasant or unpleasant. The researchers followed up to test a small group of 85 people to see whether the change in judgment from acetaminophen applied just to emotion or whether the drug blunted peoples of evaluation of magnitude in general. This finding suggested that acetaminophen did not alter individual’s sense of magnitude.

Although overwhelming emotion can be very troubling in our having happy fulfilling livesemotions are critical sources of information from our body. Just as physical pain tells us something is wrong so does emotional pain. Just as taking Tylenol to make a headache go away can be problematic if the headache is from a tumor or hypertension numbing emotion can be equally risky. Dr. Charles Davenport works with patients of all ages to provide counseling and therapy services to better understand their own personal difficulties and how they can thrive.

Narcissim: Am I a Narcissist?

A recent press release by the American Psychological Association (APA) discusses an article published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology Narcissism and the Use of Personal Pronouns Revisited.

Common belief is that words such as “I” and “me” being overused is evidence of  narcissism. however, empirical research for this belief is at best sparse and at least inconsistent.

Generally narcissists are described his people  who have an unrealistically positive sense of their own goodness, superiority, and self-importance. Most people who are narcissists are not reading this article wondering if you may relate to them, as the nature of narcissists predispose them to be certain there is nothing wrong with anything related to them.

This most recent study found no association between pronoun use and narcissism. There are some limitations in the study given the relatively small sample size from the United States and Germany. Other limitations include the assessment tool used to detect narcissism. These limitations aside, it is probably safe to say that the use of personal pronouns does not mean someone is narcissistic.

Many times characteristics of narcissism stem from misguided attempts to protect ourselves from vulnerability that we may not be good enough in our own eyes or in the eyes of others. This set of defenses leaves the person certain that there are wonderful at times wondering why things are not more how they would like them in their lives. Frequently, it is in these situations folks may begin seeking treatment. In fact, there may be gradations of narcissism. those who are completely entrenched in their insistence that they are right frequently do not seek out counseling or therapy in less things are in particular crisis. It is also frequently the case once the acute crises resolved these individuals discontinue therapy and resume their certainty of their excellence. Sometimes living with her growing up with a narcissist results in individual realizing that the best way for them to be unscathed is to mirror the narcissistic values. When this happens these individuals may look like narcissists but they’re much more curious about themselves and their lives and tend to benefit significantly from individual therapy and counseling. Dr. Davenport does much work with these kinds of folks frequently looking at how they can live happier more fulfilling lives without having to rely exclusively on outdated and frequently misguided self protection techniques.

It is likely we all have aspects of narcissistic defense. Dr. Davenport recommends that we consider counseling or therapy if any of these characteristics interfere with someone’s life being how they would like it to be.

Students: How much homework is too much?

It is the bane of many students (and at times their parents and teachers) school lives… homework. Students can feel overwhelmed, anxious, sad and avoid school work at all costs. Que the parents, who frequently want their child to be successful in school, to remind, remind again, and resort to punishment or restriction to try to entice school work to be completed. This does not even touch on the added time and energy needed to study for tests and complete extracurricular activities.

So, how much homework is helpful? Recent research published by the American Psychological Association (APA) and discussed in a press release finds that more than 70 minutes is too much for adolescents. The full journal article, Adolescents’ Homework Performance in Mathematics and Science: Personal Factors and Teaching Practices,  is available here.

The study on adolescents and homework found that of significant importance is that the homework be “systematic and regular with a focus on instilling work habits and promoting autonomous, self regulated learning” according to Javier Suarez-Alvarez, graduate student, co-lead author with Ruben Fernandez-Alonso, PhD, and Professor Jose Muniz at the University of Oviedo in Spain.

When the focus in on work volume students were not found to perform as well. Once teachers assigned 90-100 minutes of homework per day this study found that performance significantly decline in math and science.

Helping students to feel confident in having  the skills to take on challenges is likely to aid in their  autonomous functioning. This study found that autonomous learners scored better than students who needed help.  Suarez-Alvarez suggested that self-regulated learning is strongly connected to academic performance and success. Self regulation and sparking the interest within a student is something Dr. Davenport finds is very helpful to foster in most all students. Finding the drive and regulation from within can be so powerful in helping students thrive and avoid academic apathy, anxiety and depression.