Way to go, Sue!

Sue Smalley’s article Reframing ADHD in the Genomic Era, has been published in the latest issue of Psychiatric Times. In it she reframes the prevailing view of ADD/ADHD and draws our attention to the following:

ADHD is a complex and heritable trait composed of 1 or more continua of neural functioning.

Impairment is a function of the atypical nature of neural functioning and subsequent difficulties that arise from cultural and social norms.

Different genes and environments contribute to the continua and vary across individuals and populations.

Diagnosis of ADHD should include both continuous and categorical criteria.

Ok, so this might read like Greek to most of us but here’s the money quote for those of us interested in the investigation of non-pharmaceutical forms of support for children with ADD/ADHD.   Sue voiced encouragement in this mainstream psychiatric journal:

Attention and memory training, meditation, and biofeedback may provide small but positive effects on particular brain and body networks involved in ADHD.

It’s a money quote as much because of where it is published as it is for what it says.

Check out the full article at Psychiatric Times.