Common ADHD Misdiagnosis; Alternative Treatment

You probably already know that there is much controversy surrounding how children are treated for behavioral and psychological issues. In fact, if you have read JodyG's great blog post "Are Our Kids Really that Sick?" then it should be at the front of your mind. I came across an article about vision therapy, a controversial subspeciality of optometry. Optometrists claim they can treat issues in children that arise from reading difficulties. Related symptoms include, learning problems, spelling problems, hyperactivity problems, reluctance to sit and do homework- all symtoms that mirror ADHD. Vision therapy is all about how our eyes move together to process infomation. Even if you have 20/20 vision you might not be translating what you see effectively. While Optometrists do not claim to be able to treat actual causes of dyslexia/ADHD with this method, they assume that many kids with those diseases are misdiagnosed, and vision therapy has been an effective treatment for many. Convergence Insufficiency (CI) is one of many diseases that is often misdiagnosed as ADHD, dyslexia, or an anxiety disorder. Research by the NIH and the Mayo Clinic has found that vision therapy is the best treatment for this disorder.( If you click on the link for information about convergence Insufficiency there's a brief video that lets you know more about it.)

I guess what is important here is that it is important to look for alternatives other than therapy and medication, especially when dealing with children who are often misdiagnosed. So many common behavioral problems like hyperactivity and acting out can be symtoms of lesser known diseases, like CI. I think that our role as Health Activists in this situation should be as resources to parents contemplating diagnosis and treatment for their children. It is so important that they not assume their child must have ADD and realize that their are other causes. Hopefully placing emphasis on vision therapy will prompt many parents to reinvestigate their childrens treatment and diagnosis. If we can get more kids to stop being mis labeled and at the same time provide effective treatment, then maybe there is hope for other conditions.