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Topic: Learning center touts exercise for ADHD (Read 928 times)

Diane
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Learning center touts exercise for ADHD
« Thread Started on May 7, 2006, 11:54am »

Adrienne Albani had tried a number of drugs to treat her son John's attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, but all had negative side effects. In frustration, the Dedham mother enrolled her son last spring in the Dore Center, an alternative treatment program in Needham for children with ADHD, dyslexia, and other learning difficulties.

Through daily balance and hand-eye coordination exercises, John, now a seventh-grader, saw his focus sharply improve, along with his writing and reading. He no longer blurted answers in class, and found he could do his homework quietly by himself without being distracted.

Albani said she was doubtful at first of the center's contention that physical exercises like tossing a beanbag and balancing on a wobble board could improve his focus and mental processing. But after just six months in the two-year program, which costs $4,500, her son had shown impressive gains, she said.

''I was skeptical because it's not a proven treatment," she said. ''But it's helped him so much."

The Dore program is based on recent research suggesting that many learning disorders involve a part of the brain, called the cerebellum, increasingly believed to play a role in both movement and mental processing. Some studies have indicated a link between an underdeveloped cerebellum and learning difficulties, raising hope that physical drills specifically stimulating that part of the brain can reduce learning and attention problems.

The Needham center, which has 300 active clients and is one of five Dore Centers in the United States, touts its program as a permanent solution that takes aim at the neurological root of the problem rather than the symptoms.

Just as lifting weights builds muscles, repeating specific exercises can, in time, teach the brain to handle information more efficiently and reflexively, Dore proponents say.

''It's a rewiring of the brain," said Dore's David Pfeil. ''It's dealing directly with the source of the difficulties. If someone has a stone in their shoe, they don't take an Advil."

Pfeil said Dore is ''drug-neutral" but many parents are drawn to the center's drug-free approach. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 4.4 million children ages 4-17 have been diagnosed with ADHD and more than half are receiving medication as treatment.

The center's techniques, however, are not widely accepted by the mainstream medical community.

Jeremy Schmahmann, a neurologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, said there is growing evidence that the cerebellum, long considered purely responsible for motor control, also influences behavior and intellect. But the theories that learning disorders are caused by an underdeveloped cerebellum, and that Dore's exercise program can improve brain development, are unproven, he said.

Nonetheless, the Dore program has attracted parents anxious to help their children and increasingly worried about the side effects of Ritalin and other stimulants used to treat ADHD. Those concerns have escalated in recent weeks as the Food and Drug Administration is considering adding warnings to the drugs about an increased risk of cardiovascular problems.

In 2003, 7.8 percent of school-age children were reported to have an ADHD diagnosis, according to the CDC.

Edward Hallowell, a psychiatrist and founder of a Sudbury center specializing in attention deficit and learning disorders, enrolled his teenage son, Jack, in Dore after tutoring and medication failed to improve his reading skills. Like Albani, Hallowell was dubious at first, but was soon convinced.

''When I first heard about it, I thought, 'There is no way,' " he said. ''Physical exercise isn't going to help someone read."

But after four months in the program, his son was enjoying reading more than he ever had.

Hallowell, a paid consultant for Dore, said that there is a ''plausible link" between targeted exercise and brain development, but that it is unconfirmed.

''Whether or not physical exercise rewires the cerebellum, that's up for grabs," he said. ''We can't recommend it with the same certainty as medication."

The rising number of children labeled with the disorder has stirred criticism of overdiagnosis and overmedication, fueling demand for alternative approaches.

The Dore program was created in England six years ago by Wynford Dore, who was trying to find a cure for his daughter's severe dyslexia.

He assembled a research team of neurologists and instructed them to ''ignore conventional wisdom." They eventually came to believe that, with enough practice, the brain could be altered so that the disorder's symptoms all but disappear.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/article....rcise_for_adhd/

« Last Edit: May 7, 2006, 11:57am by Diane »

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dave
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Re: Learning center touts exercise for ADHD
« Reply #1 on Mar 6, 2007, 5:22pm »

Physical therapy of this type did wonders for my youngest (ADHD, emphasis on the "H"). Even now we work out on a resistance machine to help him settle down. it works really well for him.

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loie68
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Re: Learning center touts exercise for ADHD
« Reply #2 on Dec 8, 2008, 8:20pm »

I have never heard of The Dore Center.... thanks for this post Diane! I am going to look into it!

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smccpa
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Re: Learning center touts exercise for ADHD
« Reply #3 on Dec 9, 2008, 8:48am »

I have 2 kids wADHD. I have all four in TaeKwonDo. The two with ADHD just spent months and thousands of dollars in OT. What a total waste. The TKD totally gets them focused and works out the heavy work that they need to calm down the brain. The focus, physical exercise, balance and discipline is exactly what they need. My wife and I also do TKD with them. It is a great family activity. We just ordered a heavy bag for kicking and punching for the basement. We are going to set up an area for them to do heavy work in general so that when they are out of control we can just say "go do your heavy work" and they have a place to go.

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Dw has bipolar, ADHD, SAD and the "3 days of rage" during her cycle. Vyvanse and Wellbutrin for her. Vyvanse for 2 of 5 kids

Diane
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Re: Learning center touts exercise for ADHD
« Reply #4 on Dec 9, 2008, 3:10pm »

Exercise boosts the endorphins including seratonin in the brain, so it makes perfect sense that it helps anyone with a brain disorder.

Look at Michael Phelps and how exercise helped him with his ADD.

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Beth W
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Re: Learning center touts exercise for ADHD
« Reply #5 on Dec 24, 2008, 10:37pm »

I know that several of the attorneys at work with big time ADD "control" it with lots of tennis and other exercise. I don't believe they use any other medication.

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Beth - Living with a 72 yr old undiagnosed, unmedicated ADDer; kids and g-kids diagnosed and medicated, but him, no way, he doesn't have it.

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