Adhd Pros And Cons

Young children often face an array of challenges that may affect their education. These problems may be caused by bullying, problems at home, or even a diagnosed disorder. Some disorders, such as ADHD, cause a child to have problems focusing on school and developing healthy relationships with their peers. While there are treatments for these disorders, the choice in type of treatment is heavily debated. Some feel that children who suffer from ADHD should be put on medication, while others are more keen to behavioral treatments. School age children with ADHD should be given behavioral treatments before they are exposed to medical treatments. Many children suffer from ADHD. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, more commonly known as ADHD,
is a neurodevelopmental disorder. Those who have this disorder often have difficulty paying attention to their surroundings, tend to be overly active, and suffer from impulsive behavior (Perry). Between the ages of seven to eleven, there are noticeable groups that children with ADHD can be divided into. Sixty-nine percent of these children are male and seventy-nine percent are white. Also, seventy-five percent of the children in this group live with both their parents. The type of ADHD these children have can also be divided. Seventy percent of the children have the combined inattentive hyperactive type, while thirty percent just have the inattentive type (Cha). The cause of this disorder is still unknown. However, it is believed that a mix of different environmental and genetic factors may contribute to it (Cha). Since the main symptoms of ADHD are inattentiveness and hyperactivity, children often have difficulty in school. The child's inattentiveness will cause their grades to lower while their hyperactivity may lead to them getting in trouble with their teachers. For these reasons it is important for a child to receive a treatment that will lighten the symptoms of their disorder. A diagnosis of any disorder is important for any child so that they may receive the treatment they need. As of 2011, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that eleven percent of children between the ages of four to sixteen, approximately 6.4 million, in the United States were diagnosed with ADHD (Perry). However, if the number of diagnoses was counted for 2016, there would surely be more. Over the past fifteen years, the rate of diagnoses for ADHD raises approximately from three to five percent every year. The cause of this does not necessarily mean that more children have ADHD every year. More that teachers and parents of these children are noticing the signs of ADHD more frequently causing more children to be tested for this disorder (Newmark). However, it is estimated that approximately twenty percent of all children diagnosed with ADHD are actually misdiagnosed. It is believed in these cases that normal developmental immaturity was not taken into account during the diagnoses (Newmark). Also, the constant demands that children born in this generation face cause them to be run down and lacking attention. These demands include homework, schooling, having two parents at work, and time to just be a kid. Since children are lacking attention it is more possible for them to be misdiagnosed with ADHD (Newmark). While it is important for children to be diagnosed as soon as possible if they have a disorder, it is just as important that children are not misdiagnosed. The pros of behavioral treatment greatly outweigh the cons.
Behavioral treatment works on a 'reward and consequence' system. When a child is behaving in a way that is seen as beneficial to them, then they are rewarded. An example of this would be letting the child watch the television after they spent a certain amount of time paying attention a specific thing, such as their homework. When the child is seen behaving in a negative way, such as not paying attention, then the child is reprimanded. For example, if the child will not do their homework then they are not allowed to watch television that night (Carey). This type of treatment is better for the families of the child because behavior therapy is the cheaper option when compared to medication (Carey). When a child is first exposed to behavioral treatment, then later introduced to medication in lower doses, the cost of the complete treatment costs, on average, seven-hundred dollars less than if the child was never exposed to behavioral treatment (Carey). The only con to behavioral treatment is that the effects of the treatment may take longer to be known than if a child took medication. For these reasons, a child should first be introduced to behavioral treatment rather than medical
treatment. The cons of medical treatment outweigh the pros. Those who have ADHD are given a medicine called methylphenidate. However, this medicine is better known under certain brand names such as Concerta, Methylin, Ritalin, and Medikinet (Perry). It is believed that methylphenidate, the medicine commonly used by children who suffer with ADHD, may be able to relieve the child of some of the core symptoms of ADHD, such as hyperactivity and inattentiveness (Perry).