Attention Deficit Disorder is a condition that mainly effects the central nervous system. This is a surprisingly common disorder, which primarily effects children but can be carried on to adulthood. Around 4 to 20 % of school age children are diagnosed with ADD, that is close to 2 million children just in the USA. It is important to know that in no way does this disorder originate from parental shortcomings, it is a biochemical imbalance.

Most children with ADD or ADHD can not be diagnosed til around three years old, because the symptoms before this period could just be your child being a child.  Even at three years of age it is often hard to diagnose, it become more noticeable when the child reaches school age. Many time the symptoms of ADD can decrease or even disappear when you child reaches adolescence. Some children, though they may cause thier parents a lot of grief in their childhoods later become energetic creative adults.

Symptoms of Add or hyperactivity;

• short attention span,
• impulsive behaviors,
• inappropriate responses,
• poor concentration,

Additional possible symptoms;

• inability to cope with stress,
• absentmindedness,
• temper outbursts,
• sleep disturbances,
• inability to follow through or complete tasks
• forgetfulness
• speech or hearing impairments,
• head knocking,
• nail biting,
• any forms of self injury
• difficulty concentrating
• inappropriate jumping and running,
• lack of coordination,
• neurological abnormalities, including electroencephalogram irregularities.
• poor vision

Caution some of these symptoms can be confused by teachers. Children that are assumed to have ADD or ADHD may, in fact, be suffering from other problems such as poor vision or hearing or some language problem.

If you think that your child may have this disorder talk to their teacher to see if they see the same symptoms at school. Many teacher are in fact the ones who recognize that some children suffer from this disorder. There are many things that have been linked to cause ADD, but the disorders is still not fully understood. Some of the things that have an influence on you child getting ADD or ADHD are;

• genetic predisposition, if others in the immediate family have the disorder.
• drinking alcohol during pregnancy
• smoking during pregnancy
• drug or chemical use during pregnancy
• heavy metal poisoning
• food allergies
• synthetic chemicals,
• oxygen deprivation
• drastic swings in blood sugar levels due to a glucose intolerance
• phosphate additives

Many doctors will give stimulants to help to balance the biochemical imbalances, such as amphetamines and/ or methylphenidate. It is believe that the mid-brain may be under-stimulated, which causes the hyperactivity and lack of concentration, this causes a lack of control.

Many who do not have Attention Deficit Disorder have a hard time understand what it is like. To help you to better understand what is going on inside of your child’s head, imagine trying to have an important conversation on the phone while the television is blasting, your baby is screaming, construction workers are using jackhammers on the road right out side your door, and some one is ringing the door bell. To people who do not have ADD or ADHD this may sound extreme but this is what it is like. People without ADD can focus on one thought or one thing with out having many other thoughts run through their head. Children and adults with this disorder however seem to have many thoughts notice every sound and then think about those all at the same time. All the noises that i described to help you better understand what it is like to have Attention Deficit is what goes on inside the head of a victim of ADD and ADHD.

Dietary Guidelines-

• Food additives can play a large role on hyperactivity and ADD. In 1973,Benjamin Feingold M.D. presented extensive research that links certain food additives to the hyperactivity in children. Another study was done by the United Kingdom’s Food Safety Agency (FSA), on additives found in fruit drinks that showed the same results. Additives can seriously effect you child’s hyperactivity. These include sunset yellow coloring (E110), tartrazine (E102), carmoisine (E122), ponceau 4R (E124) and sodium benzoate (E211) or a mix of sunset yellow, quinoline yellow (E104), allura red (E129) and Sodium Benzoate, BHT, BHA, emulsifiers, nitrates and sulphites, all induce hyperactivity in children.
• Eliminating what sugar from you diet can be helpful because studies have shown that hyperactive children have a impaired glucose tolerance. My hyperactive children have a tendency towards hypoglycemia that supports the negative emotional effects which sugar can induce.
• Eliminate carbohydrate- and sugar-rich breakfast, research has shown that children eating breakfasts that are carbohydrate-rich and sugar-rich have shown increased hyperactive behavior.
• Eliminate food additive allergies. It is very possible to be allergic to the additives themselves, such as BHA, BHT, Red dye, yellow dye, blue dye, preservatives, cow’s milk, chocolate, many flavorings, nut, fish, eggs, dairy products and the  list goes on and on.  These food allergies can cause emotion mood swings, which can be avoided if the allergy is found and eliminated.
• The phosphates that are normally found in soda pop have been linked to muscular hyperactivity.

Any nutritional supplement dosage should be adjusted, these doses are for adults.

Omega-3 Fatty Acids- suggested dose-Take as directed and use a Vitamin E supplement with fish oils. Omega-3′s have shown some improvements for people with ADD.

Gotu Kola- Suggested dose-Take as directed, using the standardized guaranteed potency. Due to the anti-anxiety properties, this helps to stay focused on tasks and improve concentration.

Valerian Root- Suggested dose- Take as directed. This is used in Germany with great success to treat many types of childhood behavioral disorders.

Gaba(Gamma-amino butyric acid)-Suggested Dose- Take as directed. This has been proven to decrease hyperactivity in children, as well as befitting with children learning disorders.

Vitamin B6- Suggested Dose-50 mg with each meal. This vitamin is extremely important for normal brain and mental functions. Most who suffer from a learning disorder and many other mental disorders commonly suffer from a Vitamin B6 depletion. It has even effectively treated some mental conditions that psychotropic drug therapies could not.

Other things that can be done to help are,

A structure and well-disciplined home environment. Consistency is the most important, daily schedules can be very helpful. doing the same thing each day helps the child to remember and complete  tasks. It is important that hyperactive children are taught to do just that, remember and successfully complete tasks.

It is important that parents explain and agree on rules, expectations, and discipline and so on. punishments should be consistent regardless of which parent hands it out.

Break up task that the child has to complete into individual steps. You must give specific directions, general direction are often to much for the child to comprehend, for example; instead of “Clean your room” you could say, go put all the toys in the toy box, then go make your bed. A child that is of reading age you could make a list then laminate it for them to use more then once. It is also a good idea to use a reward system with these task, make a chart with each task and add stars for each one, after so many the child gets to go to the  movies, or gets to go to the zoo, or even gets a piece of candy.

Counseling is very helpful, this givens you and your family and child a place to go and talk about how you feel, get advise when you need help, and can also teach you and your child ways of living with a disorder.

Some studies say that light jogging regularly can be as effective as low dose medications, when it comes to controling hyperactivity.

Self esteem can often be a problem with anyone with a mental disability. Often little things that are said can make the biggest difference. Instead of telling your child that they are bad for something, tell them that they are making mad choices. Make sure to praise children when they remember to do the right thing on their own. What your child thinks of themselves is normally what the parents tell them. If they are told that they are bad, mean, and stupid they believe that are those things.