ADHD - Panorama, 12 November 2007

Well, this programme has certainly put the cat amongst the pigeons, as if parents with children suffering with ADHD hadn’t got enough to worry about! Yet this is another extremely good reason (as if there weren’t enough already) for benchmarking all interventions for learning issues.

Every type of programme whether it is prescription drugs, reading programmes (phonics or otherwise), coloured lenses, fish oils or exercise programmes (like Dore) must be subjected to full scrutiny. Such benchmarking should include the symptoms that will benefit (or not), possible side effects, the degree of which the results are lasting, etc.

Our Government seems to manage to come up with benchmarking for so many things that are far less important than our children’s education yet somehow there is an industry out there that has succeeded in stopping it happening up to now.

At Dore we have been lobbying for this for some time and make a point of going public about all our research. It is seriously negligent of other organisations that are in this field to have a different attitude.

“Entrepreneurs are more likely to be Dyslexic”

This isn’t a surprise at all!

Very often the brighter people are the more likely it is a condition like Dyslexia or ADHD is going to hamper their ability to learn in the traditional way.

Whilst most regard Dyslexia as a problem we regard it as a mask to a great deal of hidden intellect. Many entrepreneurs failed rather poorly at school, which certainly wasn’t their teacher’s fault or their own - it was the fact that they can’t learn in the traditional way.

The wonderful thing is we are getting better these days at removing the “negative symptoms” and enabling that hidden talent and creativity to be harnessed to an even greater extent.

“The Solution to Dyslexia”

A few people have mentioned this headline to me and asked whether it is a cure…

Well, it will probably significantly help with reading - it has to with that level of one to one tuition. Will it help with other symptoms? Very unlikely, but of course it is better than doing nothing.

The scheme is called “Springboard for children” which has been used in a few State schools across the country. It requires, amongst other things, one to one teaching for two hours a day for, typically, two years. It focuses of course on the process of reading - which is only one of the many symptoms that someone with reading issues normally has. This scheme is a hugely expensive resource which very few education authorities will be able to afford.

The educational world still needs to learn that there are three key elements to the process of learning. One of these is teaching. Another is “practice”. The third is “the ability to acquire, retain and recall a skill”. If that third ability (the one that Dore transforms) is not fully developed then it makes both “teaching” and “practice” much, more difficult.

When individuals have benefited from the Dore Programme “teaching” becomes much easier, the amount of “practice” dramatically decreases and “learning” becomes an altogether easier process.

The “Springboard for children” project is dealing with the symptom end of the problem whereas Dore deals with the “root cause” of the problems. By tackling the root cause the programme significantly helps with the development of so many of the other skills which are a problem for children with learning issues.

I hope this helps people understand the scheme and that it will only really significantly help reading and not all the symptoms associated with Dyslexia.

57% Think ADHD is Just an Excuse ……

You can bet your bottom dollar that very few of that 57% will have children with very poor attention, poor behaviour, etc.

Anybody who has had a child that does struggles with concentration will understand that it isn't a choice they are making, just like they do not choose to be disorganised and they don't choose to have poor short term memory. The physiological differences between these children and children that do not suffer from such symptoms are easy to measure.

So, if you're one of the 57% who thinks ADHD is just an excuse please look at the research on the development of the cerebellum, you will become far more understanding and tolerant with those who have been labeled with ADHD.