Computers Can Help with ADD
Issues
Areas
Boards
Research on the Web
are quickly becoming an integral part of our society. As prices have
fallen and computers become faster, they have been appearing in a higher
percentage of homes and offices. Those who do not own a computer can now go
on-line and even have their own web site through the Baltimore County
Library.
Among the first
self-help groups to make extensive use of computers was the disability
community. Physically challenged individuals could use computers and later
the Internet as eyes, ears hands and legs. Individuals who learn to
compensate for a deficit may, through their efforts, gain special skills
Children, parents and adults affected by ADHD can benefit from computer
technology.
At this point,
there are computer applications devoted to most types of interests and
activities.
and Computers: Computer-based
educational software can help children learn academic subjects. The best
programs provide immediate feedback and appealing, changing visual and
auditory input. Many feature cartoon characters who function like an
encouraging tutor. Often, parents and teachers can use easily available
commercial software for academic remediation and for enrichment. The newer
educational software allows a parent to customize the program by changing
the difficulty deleting voices, and changing the reward frequency. In other
cases, educational specialists may use software designed to remediate a
specific problem.
Many parents feel
intimidated by computers and the Internet and allow their children free
reign with software and Internet surfing. It is better to supervise and have
ground rules. Some software programs and Internet sites contain
over-stimulating graphic violent or sexual themes. Children with ADHD may be
more vulnerable to the adverse effects of over-stimulation.
The use of a word
processor or a voice recognition program can help individuals who have
difficulty with getting their thoughts out on paper. There are a number of
excellent children’s typing programs available. The voice recognition
programs are mostly aimed at adult professionals. Some of the newer versions
have adaptations for adolescent voices and reading levels. A pre-adolescent
child might be able to
use some of them but would need excellent reading skills and close adult
supervision.
The Internet:.
This is the physical aspect of the global network, a giant mass of cables
and computers. The Internet can bring vast amounts of information to your
fingertips almost instantly. The key is knowing how to search for
information. If one wanted to find out more about ADHD, one could literally
find thousands of related sites, some misleading or having little to do with
ADHD. This can be frustrating but stick to it. Here are some helpful clues.
Three of the more common types of information
on the Internet include Web Pages, Bulletin Boards, Chat areas and
Instant Messaging.
Areas: I personally do not use chat areas much, but I know many
individuals who use them frequently. Because they are occurring in real
time, they are more spontaneous but harder to monitor or censor. In some
chat areas it is expected that one’s on-line identity is different from
one’s identity ITRW (in the real world) If you use these, exercise caution
and monitor children who go on-line, and don’t let it become a substitute
for real social contact. Instant messaging has become a common way for older
children and adolescents to talk to each other. One can often
Boards: People leave messages on bulletin boards and one can read
the listings at any time. These are often devoted to particular themes and
have someone monitoring to make sure that individuals stay on topic. A
listserve is a bulletin board that is limited to certain individuals and a
specific topic. Individuals who sign up for these, receive messages from
others on the list and can either be contribute their own input or be
“lurkers” (those who listen but do not contribute.) There are
several ADHD-related listserves. To get on a listserve for parents of ADHD
children, send e-mail to [email protected]
and write “subscribe add-parents” in the body of the letter. The
Add-Parents support listserve is a very active list and sometimes gets way
off topic. However, a parent new to ADHD can get a wealth of information and
support from other parents. For a listserve for adults with ADHD, send
e-mail to [email protected]
In the body of the letter put “subscribe addult your name”
Pages: These are sites
containing printed or graphic material continuously posted on the World Wide
Web by an individual or an organization. A Personal Web Page is a site
devoted to hobbies and interests of an individual or a family. Companies,
schools and organizations may have web pages for advertising or for
dissemination of information. The way web sites are linked makes it easier
for those with intuitive, non-linear thinking, to navigate and find
information. It can be stimulating and exciting to hop from topic to topic
and continent to continent in seconds. Because of the rapid (if you have a
fast modem) gratification, one can stay interested. Some may become so
absorbed that they need to set a timer to limit sessions.
How to Do Research
on the Web: The web can be a
good source of information on ADHD. To search for such information, one
would first go to a Search Engine such as Altavista http://www.altavista.digital.com
or Web Crawler www.webcrawler.com/
or Hotbot www.hotbot.com Webcrawler and
Altavista are nice because they can do a natural language search. One simply
enters “What are the causes of ADHD?” The search engine would then
list sites with articles about the causes of ADHD. If you then wanted to
narrow the search to neurological causes, on Altavista, you press the
“refine” button and enter keywords such as neurological. Hotbot is
less selective but gives longer lists.
If you wanted to
get more technical articles on ADHD from the medical or educational
literature, there are three large indexes to consider. The National Library
of Medicine, gives access to free searches of the Index Medicus, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/PubMed/syntax.html
a large number of internationally known medical journals. ERIC www.aspensys.com/eric/
is a large index of educational journals. http://www.cec.sped.org/ericec.htm
is devoted to issues related to disabilities and gifted education.
ERIC and Medline
use a search method which uses Boolean Search Operators. Basic information
on this type of search. http://help.hotbot.com/faq/advanced.html#
(Feature #10) would be enough for most searches. For those who wish to do
powerful or complex searches, the National Library of Medicine has a page,
“Syntax of Complex Boolean Expression” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/PubMed/syntax.html
For more detail on how to do medical/technical Internet searches see the
related web article at http://www.ncpamd.com/webtools.htm#
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County Psychiatric Associates
Our practice has experience in the treatment of Depression, Attention
Deficit Disorder (ADD or ADHD), Separation Anxiety Disorder, and other
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