ADHD: What is it? And what can we do about it?

Sarabjit Singh, MD and Colleen Cullen, PsyD

Drs. Sarabjit Singh and Colleen Cullen will talk about Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), which is one of the most common pediatric psychiatry disorders. The focus of the talk will be to mention presenting clinical features, course of the disorder, and how the diagnosis is made. Specifically the need for collateral information to be obtained in order to ascertain the level of impairment in different settings, along with the necessity of both subjective ( e.g. Phone calls teachers, classroom observation) and objective information-such as rating scales, will be discussed. Next they will discuss other conditions that may co-occur such as- Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Anxiety Disorders, Learning Disorders, Substance Use Disorders and Mood Disorders. Finally, they will talk about treatments-both pharmacological and psychotherapy (behavioral, parent-child interaction therapy, group therapy, social skills training etc.), which are often used in conjunction with medications to treat ADHD, to help minimize the impairment stemming from the disorder.  One of the key elements of treatment besides medication is giving psychoeducation to the parents of the child with ADHD about the disorder, including but not limited to the short and long term side effects of medications, prognosis and long term outcomes of treated vs. untreated ADHD. Also, parents often need assistance in parenting the child, and hence treatment should focus on helping families with parenting skills. The aforementioned interventions will be addressed in detail. The talk will end with concluding remarks on ADHD and the evidence based treatments, along with future directions.

For further information please click here http://childrensnyp.org/mschony/diagnostic-treatment-services.html or call 212 305-0924