Thursday, January 01, 2004
I have created this site primarily to have a place to discuss experiences and thoughts regarding ADHD in the hopes of developing better treatment strategies for this disorder. My name is Robert Downing, and I'm a Masters Level Clinical Psychologist From St. Charles Illinois. My primary focus is the diagnosis and treatment of Attention Deficit Disorder and it's Co-occurring disorders. My interest in this area was born from my own personal experiences with ADHD, Dyslexia and the consequent anxiety associated with these neurological disorders.
I was in grade school in the seventies and was placed in a "contained learning environment" which was newspeak for a sensory deprivation chamber. Essentially I spent the better part of my grade school years in carols, which were four connected desks, each of which were divided by three walls. I suppose this was necessary because I was really unable to function appropriately in class-rooms for any significant period of time. Looking back though, I am sure the deciding factor which lead those educators whom where in charge of educational development to make the decision to place me in lock down was my inability to successfully assimilate into the "Brave New World" of a contemporary educational experiment called a "Pod".
A "Pod" was basically a very large gymnasium size room which served as some sort of living educational bio-sphere, where instead of class rooms they contained various learning centers where kids would move from one center to another to study a particular subject in some, hands on craft sort of way. It was a bee-hive of activities, colors, and noise, a little "Lord of the Flies" world where children where moving from one task to the other in some sort of mechanized way that to this day I still do not fully understand. It was very much like a tribal village. I remember colored beads and weaving, acoustic guitars and trips to Jesse Jackson's "Operation Push" extravaganzas. Anyway, it was recognized very early on that I was not doing very well in grasping the customs and social ways of the village so I was banished to a carol where I spent the remainder of my years there at Hawthorn Elementary School like Steve McQueen in "Pappion". Needless to say, I did not really get the basics. Lucky though I did discover Art and Lititure. I didn't do my school work but instead occupied my time, drawing, reading and writing stories and trying to figure out how to make a water clock.
So after all that, what was I to do but become a psychologist. I still sit in a carol like atmosphere all day but now I am visited by people who come to me to discuss there own problems and struggles. When I first got into the field I was more psycho-dynamic in my approach thus, I would limit my interactions, never self-disclose, foster the transference and attempt to make correct, insight oriented interpretations. Then one day I ran across my seventh grade report card. It was a masterpiece of failure gone mad. The Letter F and "needs improvement" were displayed in a tasteful manner across the entire report card; a real esteem booster. I was a suddenly hit with an imposter on the verge of exposure type feeling. Like at any moment parents all over the city would march into my office to brand me with a scarlet F, as a warning to other persumtious learning disabled mutants, and demand there children's records back. With trembling hands, I did what anyone in my place would do, I placed the report card in a nice frame and placed it in a place of prominence in my office.
It was then that I decided that the best possible way to help others who experienced similar circumstances was to be more open about myself regarding my struggles with ADHD and dyslexia. I found this to have a very positive impact on my clients, especially with the children. It, in my opinion, helped to frame there problems in the context of a challenge, rather than a disability or inadequacy. I began to work at helping my clients with these problems to gain increased insight into there own behaviors, and thoughts. We focused on how to find unique and personal solutions to the problems they faced. We discussed self-esteem and the internal battles to maintain it, in an environment that may not necessarily be geared towards a person with Attention Deficit.
I then ran across work being done on "Motivational Enhancement" and Meta-Cognition which are actually both unrelated to the treatment of ADHD. Motivational enhancement is a therapeutic concept designed for those suffering from addiction,in which the therapist attempts to assist the client in determining if there behaviors and actions are reflective of there own personal life goals, and if not what changes need to occur. The technique is brilliant in that it allows the therapist to by-pass the clients denial system by working within the clients own personal world-view as opposed to imposing a more functional view upon him. And Meta-Cognition is simply a area of focus in the field of education. Simply stated, Meta-Cognition is the act of thinking about thinking. Through the meta-cognitive process the goal is to assist the client in gaining a greater understanding of there own thinking patterns and cognitive approaches to problem solving and interactions.
Using the above mentioned strategies I am working to assist the client in gaining greater insight into themselves on all levels of interaction. I have found it to be very effective with both children and adults. It is my hope that this, "Blogger Project"will serve to increase an understanding of this disorder. I have no idea what to expect from this as I only just found this site today. I hope to meet others both professionals in the field and people who have intimate experiences with ADHD. I hope that this site can be a place of both learning and expression. With that said, I think Ill go have some coffee.....
Robert
