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Listen here to this month's feature article with
Dr. MaryJo Wagner, The Learning Doctor.
The article's called
"Our Kids, ADHD, and the FDA"
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A Newsletter that
Helps You Help Your Children
Brain-based Learning Resources
for Teachers, Parents and Anyone who Works
with Kids
Vol. 2 No. 3
February 2007
published and edited by Dr. MaryJo Wagner
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Here's what you'll find in your February Brain Boosters for
Your
Kids Newsletter
Workshops and TeleChat
Schedule:
Next
Brain Gym Basics TeleChat starts March 7, 2007
Teachers, click here to sign up.
Parents, click here for Brain Gym Basics.
Feature Article:
"Our Kids, ADHD, and the FDA"
Brain Quiz: Special Freebie just for you. A whole year's
worth of Brain Quizzes you can get today. If you didn't
pick this up last month, you can still get it. But grab it now
before it disappears with your March "Brain Boosters for Your
Kids."
Resources You can use: In addition to
Brain Gym,
Dore,
Tomatis,
Biofeedback and
EEG Neurofeedback all
help kids with ADHD.
And Remember: If you've taken Brain Gym Basics, a one-day
Introduction to Brain Gym, or the 3-day Brain Gym 101 from me or
anyone else, you can get a
FREE
Brain Gym balance over the phone with me, Dr. MaryJo Wagner, The
Learning Doctor.
Brain Gym Tidbit:
What to do when they're frightened (or worried or nervous or
uncomfortable, or driving you nuts).
Please add
mjw@mjwagner.com to your white list or address book in your
e-mail program so you won't have trouble getting future issues
of Brain Boosters for Your Kids. I know it's hard to believe but
sometimes SPAM filters eat up your Brain Boosters Newsletter!
Read back
issues of the Brain Boosters for Your
Kids Newsletter
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Note from The Learning Doctor |
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Hi:
There's still lots of snow on Chair Mountain
in our back
yard but it's
melting fast.
And in other
news, the Food and Drug Administration made
front
page headlines: All drugs approved for the
treatment
of ADHD must warn of
possible
cardiovascular and
psychiatric risks.
So obviously
this month's feature article needs to focus
on ADHD and
drugs. And next month we'll
continue looking at ADHD.
Please pass the
article around to other teachers, PTA
associations, parents, pediatricians, and
family physicians. Let them know that
the FDA has issued warnings about Ritalin,
Adderall, and other ADHD drugs. Doing so
might just keep a kid you love from a
serious and sometimes life-threatening
reaction to one of these drugs.
If you haven't
done it already,
checkout my e-book series The
first chapter of "Smart Kids" will be coming
to you this week as your February Brain
Boosters Supplement. It's free.
You can still
get in on my 50 per
cent off pre-publication offer for the
Brain Boosters e-books
plus a bunch of bonuses--even a free Brain
Gym Basics TeleChat.
So let's get on with this month's feature
article. Find our why the FDA is telling
drug
companies that they must warn parents and
doctors about ADHD drugs.
MaryJo
P.S. Want to discover Brain Gym so you can
stop tearing out your hair when kids just
can't seem to settle down? The easiest way
to learn Brain Gym is on the telephone.
Check out the
Brain Gym Basics TeleChat which starts
on March 7.
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Workshop and
TeleChat Schedule |
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Brain Boosters for Your Kids TeleChats in
March
We offer free TeleChats, single TeleChats, and
our popular 4-session,
90-minute series, Brain Gym Basics. The 4-session series
are available for graduate professional development
credit for teacher recertification and
salary upgrade from the University of
Colorado. Check out the
TeleChat
schedule.
Watch for two more
4-session series we've got in the works for
this Spring: "Smart Kids: Brain Boosters for
School Success." And "They're Driving Me
Crazy: How to Manage ADHD."
"Brain Gym
Basics," 4 evenings beginning
Wednesday, March. 7 from 6 -7:30 Mountain time.
(Teachers, you can receive graduate professional
development credit for recertification and
salary upgrade from the University of
Colorado for "Brain Gym Basics.")
Teachers, sign up today and get
Information about the
Brain Gym Basics TeleChats
Parents, sign up today
and get information about the
Brain Gym Basics TeleChats.
All classes,
even
FREE
classes, include handouts and templates you can duplicate to
use in your classroom and at home. Plus a
Web audio recording you can listen to later.
Always sign up
for the TeleChats even if you're busy that
evening--you'll still get the handouts and
can listen to the audio at your convenience.
Of course, on the live call, you can ask
questions.
Brain Gym Classes
Boulder, Colorado: March 3, 2007 (1-day Intro)
Start
making your summer plans today. Come to
beautiful
Colorado for your vacation and while you're here, take a Brain
Gym class.
Evergreen, Colorado: June 25-27,
2007 (Near Denver)
Basalt, Colorado: July 16-18 (Near Aspen)
Estes Park, Colorado: July 24-26, 2007 (Near Boulder)
Castle Rock, Colorado: August 7-9, 2007 (Near Colorado Springs)
To register for these and other Brain Gym classes and
to get
more
information, go to
www.BrainGymClasses.com.
Or take a Brain Gym class
FREE.
For more
information, go to
http://www.braingymclasses.com/FreeBrainGym.htm
Set up a class in North Dakota,
Arkansas
or any one of the lower 48 and we'll come to
you. You don't have to come
to Colorado.
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"Our
Kids, ADHD, and the FDA
"
Dr.
MaryJo Wagner
Summary: The FDA issued a warning on
February 21, 2007 that stimulant drugs used to treat
ADHD may cause serious cardiovascular and
psychiatric problems. Managing ADHD without drugs is
now a priority for teachers and parents.
Many teachers, parents, doctors, and even physicians
on the Food and Drug Administration’s Advisory
Committee have been concerned for some time about
the side effects of stimulant drugs like Ritalin.
As
I reported in the
September 2006
issue of “Brain Boosters,”
from 1999 to 2003, 81 deaths and 54 nonfatal
cardiovascular events such as heart attacks have
possible links to Ritalin and similar drugs.
During the same period 78 million prescriptions were
written for children up to the age of 18. Today two
million kids a month take these drugs.
Finally yesterday, the
FDA told drug manufacturers that they must
include patient guides on stimulant drugs used to
treat ADHD. This means you’ll get one of those
“About this drug” inserts if you pick up a
prescription for Ritalin.
And a couple of weeks ago, the FDA Advisory
Committee voted to recommend a
black
box warning label for ADHD drugs. Although the FDA
doesn’t have to follow the recommendation, it
probably will.
Now this is serious. Despite pressure from drug
companies, the government is telling us that
these drugs aren’t safe
for our kids.
But what is Attention Deficit Hyperactvity Disorder
really? Is it a disease like some doctors,
therapists, and drug companies would have us think?
Or is it merely a descriptive label we apply to kids
(and adults) who can’t focus? Especially those kids
who drive us crazy with their behavior.
We
don’t have blood tests or other lab tests for ADHD.
No real physical symptoms like a fever, sore throat,
or chills. No virus, no infection, no brain tumor.
All we’ve got are brain studies like Pet scans,
functional MRI’s, or EEGs that show us what’s going
on in the brain.
Its' a
chicken and egg question: Does the
brain pattern cause the behavior or does the
behavior cause the brain pattern? The answer’s a
little of both.
As
behavior is repeated over and over, the brain gets
that pattern, remembers it, sends out the
appropriate chemicals, hormones, and
neurotransmitters and helps us continue the
behavior.
So
given how we “test” for ADHD and the results, I’m
not convinced that ADHD is a disease. It’s a
convenient label. And although labels can stigmatize
children, they remain an easy way to talk about
behavior that lots of kids are exhibiting. When I
write the word “ADHD,” you know what I mean. And
you know who’s “got it.”
There’s no doubt that millions of kids have been
helped by stimulant drugs like Ritalin. But given
how dangerous these drugs are, many parents and
pediatricians will soon be saying “no” to drugs.
What
next? How do we manage hyperactive children who’ve
been managed before by these drugs.
Luckily we have a variety of proven non-drug
alternatives including
Brain Gym®,
Dore®,
The Tomatis Method®,
biofeedback, and even behavioral therapy. Although
Brain Gym’s the easiest and certainly the least
expensive, the other techniques and methods also
effectively help reduce ADHD-labeled behavior.
(See the "Resources You Can Use" section below for
more about these techniques.)
Warning:
You must consult your child’s pediatrician or family
physician before taking your children off their ADHD
meds. However, just in case your doctor hasn’t read
the latest from the FDA, take the
FDA’s press release with you to the appointment.
Teachers, the same warning applies to you. If
parents are concerned about their child’s ADHD meds,
tell them to consult their child’s doctor.
© MaryJo Wagner, 2007
MaryJo
Wagner, Ph.D.
The Learning Doctor
"Helping You Help Kids Learn"
mjw@mjwagner.com
www.BrainGymClasses.com
www.brain-based-learning.com
Sign up today for the
Brain Boosters newsletter to
help your kids learn.
* * *
You're always welcome to duplicate this article,
distribute it to
parents and pass it around to teachers.
But this article needs to get
out there ASAP to all teachers, parents, PTA groups,
and physicians. Our kids' well-being might just
depend on it!
Got a school or PTA newsletter or e-zine? Your own
parent, teacher, or learning Web site? A community
publication? You can reprint this article.
Just print the whole article with my name under the
title and my contact information at the bottom. When
the report is published, please send me a copy or
the url to find it on the Web.
* * *
In next couple of feature articles we'll talk
more about what ADHD is, what it isn't, and what to
do about it.
And coming in May: A
four-session TeleChat on ADHD, “They’re Driving Me
Crazy: How to Manage ADHD.” Plus a free
Introduction to ADHD TeleChat. Watch for the
announcements in your e-mail.
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 Wow!
A Whole Year of Brain Quizzes.
You get a year's worth of great info about your
brain and your kids' brains. Its' fun, it's
FREE
and it won't be available much longer.
Get
your Brain Boosters Quiz-a-week
Test what you know. Try it out with your
friends and colleagues. See what they know.
Bet you'll find some surprising answers.
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Readers Tips
and Questions |
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Don't be
shy. Send us your tips and questions.
E-mail them to me at
mjw@mjwagner.com I'd love to
put your
question or tip in the March issue of "Brain Boosters for Your Kids."
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Managing ADHD
By now, you know my choice:
use Brain
Gym for ADHD. It works. It's
quick. It's easy.
Doesn't cost anything. You don't have to drive
across town to an expert or buy equipment or
software.
And you can use Brain Gym at
home with one child or at school with an entire class. (Some schools
even have the entire school doing Brain Gym during morning
announcements.)
But to be fair, other non-drug
alternatives work too. They alleviate or at least lower ADHD behavior,
one child at a time.
However,
they're expensive, involve
going to a center where a therapist or counselor works with your child,
and/or purchasing special equipment or computer software. Sometimes your
insurance company will pay. Often it won't.
Many
of the treatment centers suggest a minimum of 40 to 60 visits to "cure"
ADHD.
That
said, let's looks at some of these techniques for dealing with ADHD
behavior.
The best known non-drug
resources, in addition to Brain Gym, for helping kids with ADHD include
Dore,
The Tomatis Method, Biofeedback or EEG Neurofeedback.
Dore®
is a specific program that focuses on sensory and physical activities
stimulating the cerebellum , rather than the whole-brain.
The Tomatis Method®
focuses on the ears.
Biofeedback and EEG neurofeedback are general terms for hundreds of
different centers, programs, computer games, and hand held devices.
I'm
giving you two Web sites where you can read about these techniques. But
if you're interested, just Google either term to find centers and
practitioners in your area.
Biofeedback uses sensors
placed on a child's head and computer games to change the brain's
responses by altering brain waves.
EEG
neurofeedback, basically the same thing as biofeedback, but usually
includes an EEG performed by a qualified technician as part of the
initial interview. With the EEG results, a neurofeedback practitioner
can see exactly what's going on in your child's brain.
Bottom line, whether you and your kids are doing Brain Gym or choosing
Dore, Tomatis, or biofeedback, the principle's the same. You're changing
the brain patterns and reorganizing how the brain processes and reacts
to information, sensory input, and physical stimuli.
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