This article is based on a story posted at CBN.com. The article states that scientists have found a direct link to show that Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is genetic. A study shows that:
“Children with ADHD are twice as likely to have missing or extra chromosomes, according to the study published Thursday in the medical journal The Lancet.”
The article points out that:
“ADHD is one of the most common child mental disorders and is estimated to affect around 3 to 5 percent of children globally.”
So where is the hope? I personally do not understand the difference between Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Attention Deficity Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), but I have some hope for parents of children with ADD. There is a book entitled, “Driven to Distraction: Recognizing and Coping With Attention Deficit Disorder from Childhood through Adulthood” by Edward M. Hallowell, M. D. and John J. Ratey, M. D. As someone who is married to a person I consider the poster child for ADD, I love this book. Both the authors have ADD and the book has a lot of examples of simple things you can do as a person with ADD or the parent of a child with ADD that make life run more smoothly. The book is available at Amazon.com. I strongly recommend it. It gave me hope to know that two men with ADD could successfully get through medical school and become doctors. My husband is a successful computer person. I would also like to add that one of my daughters has ADD and is a successful electrical engineer. ADD seems to work differently in girls than boys, but I can say without a doubt that every child I have met with ADD is a bright child. We just need to learn to help them deal with their uniqueness. I am currently watching that process with one of my grandchildren. In my family ADD evidently is genetic.