I do have a few areas that I consider my specialties. One of these is diagnosing and treating adults with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD or ADHD, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) or Learning Differences like Dyslexia. This mostly includes older high school students, college students, singles, husbands and wives, seniors and the occasional elementary school student.  

Why is this my specialty? Because it was introduced to me by one of the best in the business, Dr. Lynn Weiss, and because, in addition to my formal training and experience in Psychology, “it takes one to know one” – I raised a son with ADD, on my own, and another with Dyslexia and Diabetes. I know firsthand what ADD means to a child’s life. In addition, soon after my son was diagnosed with ADD, Lynn Weiss diagnosed me with ADD. Over the past 20 years, I have learned firsthand what having ADD has meant to my life – both good and bad – so I now feel I have a good idea what it means to your life – both good and bad.  

Over the past 10 years, ADD/ADHD appears to have had a tendency to be over-diagnosed in children, but under-diagnosed in adults. In many cases, this seems to have led to children being overmedicated and adults under-medicated. Adopting a traditional, conservative, scientific approach in my practice, I believe can help correct these problems. Here is how: 

First, if you, your husband or wife, or your son or daughter has been diagnosed with ADD, lets make sure. Lots of symptoms of ADD are also symptoms of other problems – some more serious, many less serious. Lots of well-intended professionals make mistakes. Let’s reject or confirm the diagnoses by searching in-depth and detailed historical accounts of early childhood, later childhood, teen years and beyond, by reviewing results from traditional psychological tests and scales that are well-accepted by the profession, and by measuring cognitive processing using sophisticated, neurobehavioral tests. If it is not ADD, then let’s identify another explanation for the behavioral problems and determine if, and how, it will be best treated. It may be Dyslexia or some other type of reading disorder, or a writing disorder, math disorder, speech or communication disorder. I want to clarify, that although this possibility exists and is well worth the time, money and effort to check, diagnosing ADD correctly is largely a matter of taking a good clinical history, and most healthcare professionals who take a good clinical history will get the diagnosis right. 

Second, if we confirm the existence of ADD, let’s define the specific type of ADD. Different types often respond better to different treatment approaches and may also respond better to different medications. I am not a medical doctor and cannot, and do not, prescribe medication, but I have found that many doctors are willing to consider altering the medications they prescribe if our test results support the changes. What is more often the case, however, is that many of the same tests we use to identify ADD in a patient, are often sensitive enough to measure the impact of medication at different dosage levels, so if you or your child is on a medication that seems to be working, we may be able to determine, with cooperation from your medical doctor, if that medication will work better at a higher or even lower dosages.   

Third, the services that I offer a patient with ADD that I feel have the greatest potential for impact are those that relate to counseling, therapy and coaching. Although these all sound alike they are actually very different. Many professionals may inadvertently focus on one more than another; I am committed to this three-pronged approach.

Coaching is an educational and motivational approach that attempts to teach you ways to deal with ADD on a daily basis. To a large part anyone with ADD has taught themselves ways to accommodate. Coaching attempts to extend this process by helping you learn more ways that work better.

Therapy focuses on cognitive training. This includes neurobehavioral training that attempts to improve your ability to pay attention, remember things, to react faster, be less impulsive, along with other cognitive skills.

Lastly, counseling helps put the impact ADD has had on your life in proper perspective. It attempts to repair how it might have damaged your self-confidence and self-esteem, to help motivate you to “own your ADD” for the rest of your life, for both better as well as worse, and finally to benefit “from it” instead of accommodating “for it”. Keep in mind that many great women and men had ADD or Learning Differences like Dyslexia, and their success, to a large part, came from their learning to use it to their advantage. “Owning your ADD” may not lead to you to wealth and career success to the extent it did them, but it can lead to piece of mind, less stress and to “living more simply”.

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