Article: Is ADHD a spectrum disorder?

[akafred]

Really interesting articles about brain scans and 3 areas of potential brain connection glitches that cause ADHD. We win the trifecta in our house :/.

www.additudemag.com/adhd-is-spectrum-disorder/?utm_source=eletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=may&mc_cid=bed29a4af6&mc_eid=4c06e5aca1

[mrsbuttinski]

This concept pops up from time to time. The Amens Clinic has taken this line for a long time. Years ago one of DS's classmate's mom was sharing this with me; she believed her son had the so-called "ring of fire" presentation. He was an irritable bastard of a kid.

www.amenclinics.com/healthy-vs-unhealthy/attention-deficit-disorder-addadhd/

I don't really know that neuro-imaging is to a point where it is definitive. And I'm not alone in that. Some folks I know would say the images are a bit like looking for your car keys using google earth- we're not quite there yet.

www.quackwatch.org/06ResearchProjects/amen.html

Not sure I'd go with spectrum, but there are certainly different presentations and, of course, the symptoms of ADHD manifest differently based on personality, behavior mods and expectations, IQ, stress level and across the life span. I see real differences in how DS's ADHD manifests at 23 than it did at 6 and in my mother in her 70s compared to her mid-30s. I know a couple of young adults who had significant symptoms who seem to have "out grown" the dx over time and others who have become more symptomatic as their careers became more stressful with advancement and more managerial positions.

[akafred]

The funny thing is the article has very little to do with it being a "spectrum" or not. It wouldn't surprise me though. Looking at my brother'a kids, one is a "trifecta" kid and one is much calmer but more inattentive. But he is also impulsive and has hyperactive bursts, it just isn't nearly as "severe" as his brother's in that way. He could probably manage without meds, just not as well as he does with meds. His brother could definitely not manage without meds. In fact he barely manages with them. (And both of them have been lucky enough to have their meds easily managed, something we have not been lucky with.) He is a senior now and has no placement for college. He's an athlete (baseball) and fully expects his coach to just find him a college team to play for. He's very talented and that probably can and will happen, but he has taken zero initiative in actually filling out applications, etc. A victim of always having a safety net, maybe.

I think it's understood that brain imaging isn't there yet for diagnostic purposes but it is certainly providing clues about the areas of the brain affected and the connections between them that lead to the dysfunctional symptoms.