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Home Page Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
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12. If left untreated, what is the typical progression that a young child with ADD takes as they get older?Usually younger children really want to please. They want to get good grades. However, if mentally, they are not able to keep up with their peers or parental expectations, they will try for a time, but after years of trying, they start to give up. We find that typically a child will try hard in school from 1st to 4th grade. Often their shear innate intelligence will compensate for their learning disabilities / cognitive challenges and they may do okay in grades one and two, and then struggle by in grades 3 and 4. Often they are put in special education in 3rd or 4th grade. Between the 5th to 7th grades, they start falling behind their classmates, they recognize there is something wrong, they feel different then their classmates and they start withdrawing. By the age of 14 or 15 their motivation is all but gone. We deal with a fair number of teens who have gotten cynical after having been tested multiple times, been put through multiple programs, only to have nothing work (yet) for them. This is understandable. As a cognitively challenged child enters adolescence and the hormones begin kicking in, often parents find that the struggling child that seemed compliant, now becomes rebellious and wants to do their own thing. They begin withdrawing from their parents, seeking life in a fantasy world of the Internet, computer games, books or TV/movies. They just don’t care any more. They are more subject to angry outbursts. They start taking things that are not theirs, both at home and other places and often begin lying. They often get into trouble with the law. Studies have shown that a high percentage of delinquents in penal institutions have cognitive problems/learning disabilities. An award winning researcher in neuroplasticity stated that 50% of children that fail 1st grade later commit a felony. These kids can’t seem to understand consequences or the results of actions, so they often do crazy things, unaware that they could be hurting themselves, others or things. They are more accident prone, and will likely wreck a car or be in an accident before too long. They are more likely to engage in harmful behavior such as smoking, drinking, doing drugs, or promiscuous behavior. They probably don’t like themselves and have low self-esteem. Girls are more likely to become pregnant out of wedlock. They may “have to” get married earlier than planned. Marital issues that normally wouldn’t be that big a deal, become of great importance and result in angry outbursts. When finally the other partner has had enough, divorce results. Most of these marriages often end within 5 years, leaving behind the next generation of cognitively challenged children. The young adult has trouble holding down a job, so money often becomes a sticking point in the relationship. Fortunately, it doesn’t have to be this way.
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