You Can Be Smart and Have ADHD

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You Can Be Smart and Have ADHD

adhd evaluation & testing

Many believe that an ADHD diagnosis is a reflection of one’s intelligence or potential to thrive academically. Dr. Thomas E Brown, a world leader in ADHD at Yale University, asserts that this is unequivocally not the case in Smart But Stuck. In fact, he notes that there are many adults and teens that have superior intelligence, especially in verbal IQ scores. Dr. Brown argues that ADHD is a complex syndrome that features compromised use of one’s executive functions to self-manage activation, focus, effort, emotion, memory, and action. Under this model, one can be extremely bright but fail to modulate actions and emotions in a successful manner. (To learn more about ADHD, click here).

While ADHD can adversely affect academic and social pursuits, the good news is that proper management, with or without pharmaceutics, can help a “smart but stuck” individual become “unstuck”. In his book, Dr. Brown relays the stories of multiple individuals that sought therapy after disappointing performances at work. One story follows a young student that excelled in high school only to severely struggle passing and attending courses at a prestigious university. Another recollection tells the tale of a thirty year-old computer programmer that loses his job and wife despite being a brilliant computer scientist. Each case is a nonfictional account of those who are objectively intelligent, but experience severe setbacks or shortcomings. In short, it is not enough to be smart in order to succeed.

In addition to giving the reader a personal account of his patients, Dr. Brown highlights the source of the patient’s problems and shortcomings. Specifically, the context of one’s personal history and disruptions in executive functions are highlighted. Organization, working memory, focus, and emotional regulation are independent of intelligence. However, to become “unstuck”, it is imperative to address the impairments of executive functions. Most often, this requires the assistance of professional help.

Dr. Brown ends each chapter with a bullet point analysis of actions that resulted in patients becoming “unstuck”. While it can be challenging to overcome the obstacles presented by ADHD, counseling can lead to successful outcomes. Smart But Stuck showcases the stories of students and employees achieving at a high level in competitive universities and jobs. Fundamental to becoming “unstuck” is proper diagnosis and management of ADHD. At Pathways, Dr. Jay Gordon runs a comprehensive ADHD evaluation and management program. With a strong team of experts, Pathways is more than happy to help smart individuals become “unstuck” by arranging testing (IQ/ cognitive abilities) and personalized management that may include therapy and, if necessary, medication.

Smart But Stuck on Amazon:

The Pathways team of professionals has helped thousands of people with brain injuries. We are Dedicated to effective and compassionate care for individuals with neurological challenges.

LET’S GET STARTED

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You Can Be Smart and Have ADHD

Mediterranean Diet – Good for the Brain

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Mediterranean Diet – Good for the Brain

Mediterranean Diet - Good for the Brain

The Mediterranean diet is high in vegetables, fruits, olive oil and whole grains, and moderate in protein and animal fats. The Mediterranean diet has been shown in many studies to be beneficial in reducing the risk for diabetes, heart disease and stroke. A new study shows it may also be good for the brain.

Researchers measured brain volume using magnetic resonance imaging in 401 people when they were 73 years old and again when they were 76. They also ranked how closely their typical diets followed a Mediterranean one. All were healthy and free of dementia at the start of the observational study, in Neurology.

After adjustment for education, diabetes, hypertension and other factors, researchers found that the more closely they adhered to a Mediterranean-style diet, the less the loss of brain volume. Those with the strongest adherence averaged 10 milliliters greater total brain volume than those with the lowest. That effect is large — about half the effect of aging, which is the most significant cause of brain shrinkage…read more

Excerpt from New York Times. read the full story here

The Pathways team of professionals has helped thousands of people with brain injuries. We are Dedicated to effective and compassionate care for individuals with neurological challenges.

LET’S GET STARTED

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Source: Pathways Neuropsychology
Mediterranean Diet – Good for the Brain

Conquering Negative Thinking

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Conquering Negative Thinking

neuropsychology health rehab Excerpt from New York Times. read the full story here 

Here’s a New Year’s challenge: Make 2017, the year that you quiet all those negative thoughts swirling around your brain.

All humans have a tendency to be a bit more like Eeyore than Tigger, to ruminate more on bad experiences than positive ones. It’s an evolutionary adaptation that helps us avoid danger and react quickly in a crisis.

But constant negativity can also get in the way of happiness, add to our stress and worry level and ultimately damage our health. And some people are more prone to negative thinking than others.

With practice you can learn to disrupt and tame negative cycles.

By acknowledging your negative cycle and accepting it, you are on your way to taming your negative thoughts. Acceptance is the basic premise of mindfulness meditation…

Excerpt from New York Times. read the full story here

The Pathways team of professionals has helped thousands of people with brain injuries. We are Dedicated to effective and compassionate care for individuals with neurological challenges.

LET’S GET STARTED

The post Conquering Negative Thinking appeared first on Pathways Neuropsychology Associates.


Source: Pathways Neuropsychology
Conquering Negative Thinking

The Importance of Speech Therapy for Adults – Helping You Beyond Speech

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The Importance of Speech Therapy for Adults – Helping You Beyond Speech

Pathways Neuropsychology Associates are beginning a blog that will highlight the various services offered, and who and how they can benefit. We will be featuring not only the specific clinical staff, but also the latest treatments and interventions, and the new evidence-based research. You can always contact us with any questions, and visit the website. For now, welcome to the “Cognition Corner.”

When many of you think of Speech Therapy, you may picture a very nice person sitting at a child’s table in a school helping either yourself or a friend to say your R’s correctly. That is the view for many of us. But this is going to serve as a public service announcement about the importance of speech therapy for adults, and as a vital team member to help in the recovery after something neurological happens such as a brain injury or stroke.

If you or a loved one are faced with a medical problem/condition that leads you to have problems with concentration, memory, math skills, and you are unable to complete your daily responsibilities, or even return to work; there are several people you would think to make appointments with.

You would make appointments with: your doctor, a neurologist, a neuropsychologist, possibly a lawyer or social worker, maybe even your pastor or clergy. You may not think about one of your stops along your road to recovery being at a speech pathologist’s office. But that is exactly one of the stops you should make!

From a mild concussion suffered during a soccer game, to a severe hemmorhagic stroke that has left your right side paralyzed, speech therapy is there for you just like any other rehabilitation service.

As per the American Speech-Language and Hearing Association (ASHA), it is within a Speech Pathologist’s scope of practice to, “play a primary role in the screening, assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of infants, children, adolescents, and adults with cognitive-communication disorders.” A Speech Pathologist has the knowledge and training to help someone identify what their deficits may be and what daily activities they may be impacting, as well as develop an individualized treatment plan that will target the cognitive-linguistic and executive functioning skills they will need for increasing quality of life, and returning to everyday activities such as work and school.

If you have difficulty following complex directions- speech therapy can help.

If you aren’t able to organize yourself and manage your time well, speech therapy can help.

If you are an accountant, and are having trouble with computation skills, speech therapy can help.

If you are a CEO, and you find yourself with no filter when talking and you are in danger of losing your job, speech therapy can help.

Those are just a few scenarios. No matter what your diagnosis or background, if you are finding problems with your: memory, attention, problem solving, self-monitoring, household chore management, there will be something in speech therapy for you.

The field of speech pathology has really grown over recent years, and the use of technology, tablets, and virtual reality has enabled SLPs to simulate functional tasks pertinent to your everyday activities. We can help you map out a bus route to work using google maps, or we can help you get cognitively enriching apps on your tablet through ITunes. And there are other devices out there dedicated to helping improve attention and cognition. Available technologies will be the subject of another blog post.

If you think you or your loved one would benefit from the strategies and activities that going to speech therapy can offer you, then talk to your doctor and get a perscription today! And call our number to schedule an appointment for an evaluation. Hope to see you soon, to be able to be on your road to recovery with you.

Kristen Schreirer, MA, CCC-SLP, CBIST

We Are Here To Help. Let’s Get Started!

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (2005). Roles of speech-language pathologists in the identification, diagnosis, and treatment of individuals with cognitive-communication disorders: position statement [Position Statement]. Available from www.asha.org/policy.

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Source: Pathways Neuropsychology
The Importance of Speech Therapy for Adults – Helping You Beyond Speech