Well, this looks like it could be a true boon. ADHD is something I've been dealing with pretty much my entire life. And while I was able to benefit from the late Motke Pomerantz' Perceptual Therapy, there are very few qualified practitioners of the system. A device that's certainly within the price range of any school or educational facility, which geneuinely helps with ADHD (unlike prevalent medicinal methods, but that's a rant for another time), could be a tremendous help to people with ADHD, and their families.
I hope it pans out, and I hope it's brought over here. Also, the concept of moving objects on a computer screen with one's mind, through an oversized bike helmet is just soooo cooool.
Link via Engadget.
Saturday, July 31, 2004
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5 comments:
Interesting that they want to use the helmet for both autism and ADHD. Both seem to involve (among other items) a tendency to hyperfocus, as well as the scattered attention and multi-threaded thought stream.
I wonder if there is an etiological link between the two diagnoses/disorders. There's certainly a huge rise in the diagnosis *of* them (autism is up from 1 in 10k to 1 in 350).
Thanks for the link, in any event.
Dena
(yeah, me.)
What I know of ADHD and the various diagnoses on the autistic spectrum seems to indicate that a causal link is quite likely. Both seem to have a lot to do with problematic wiring in the brain.
However, I believe a large part of the huge rise in diagnosis of both is related to having better diagnostic tools. Two of the loveliest children I know have been diagnosed with PDD-NOS. Twenty years ago, I doubt if either would have been diagnosed as anything but very bright children who talk funny and don't socialize well.
Also, it is very good to hear from you. I trust and hope all is well.
The mother of one of these 2 lovely children suspects that he also has ADHD. I personally don't think this is the case, but in general I do believethat ADHD is often accompanied with another disability, such as a learning disability. Didi, for example, is also learning disabled.
Tammy
No, Achmo said:
When you do get the helmet, can I borrow it? What, can't a person without ADHD use the mind control helmet? I really want to.
I suspect that the rise in diagnosis comes not only due to better tools and finer sieves but also due to more extreme expectations of conformity. Classroom time has skyrocketed, especially if you measure "activities" along with straight school stuff.
PDD-NOS seems to mean "gosh, he [almost always a he] seems odd, let's say it's probably some kind of autism", which serves to reduce those expectations and allow the child (and family, and teachers) some breathing space. It is a very healing diagnosis... Thirty years ago, the same kid would draw a "bright but not cooperative" diagnosis (I did). Forty years ago, the mother would be branded a "refrigerator mother".
I've watched the recovery of my own son, after his Asperger's Syndrome diagnosis - and once we got him out of his school district. (You know I've made it to the US, right? I lost all my old correspondence to a head crash, so I don't recall if we spoke/wrote since then.) Here, in a rural, 2-horse school, my boy finally thrives. It's an alternative program, where his hyperfocuses are an advantage. Once we could remove the blame and guilt trips, the student thrived.
All is well, indeed. Feel free to email - I believe you know my address, which is my_name@my_surname.net Just the six-letter surname, not the whole hyphenated gala version.
And, Tammy, I suspect you're right about the ADHD always being accompanied by other disabilities. In fact, the difficulties in attention and concentation and the fidgetiness could easily be the *result* of such disabilities, don't you think?
Dena
(still me, happy for some dialog with you)
(I've kinda missed you)
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