Are you concerned about putting your preschooler on medication for ADHD? Wondering if there is any effective alternative to meds?
Many parents of young kids are.
A recently published study done at Queens College of the City University of New York showed lasting improvement in ADHD symptoms in preschoolers after 5-8 weeks of a new treatment program. In this treatment or training program, the preschoolers and their parents play for 30-45 minutes a day specially designed games that help to exercise and train the child’s capacity for attention, self-control, and planning. Follow-up three months after the training ended showed that the improvements lasted.
The authors attribute the improvement to changes in brain function that result from intensive exercise and training of brain circuits controlling attention and self control through the prescribed games.
This work is still in its early stages and more studies are needed. Still the results are promising enough that we have integrated them into a family therapy program for preschoolers with ADHD, in consultation with the senior CUNY researcher. The program will combine well proven behavioral management treatment and this ground-breaking play based training, as well as treatment of any sleep problems there may be, and attention to diet and exercise.
At the NeuroDevelopment Center, we follow advanced research on brain plasticity and cutting edge ways to utilize the brain’s amazing capacity for change to address neurodevelopmental disorders. Our preschool ADHD treatment program is another example. We will provide updates on this new program in this space. Stay tuned.
