We have seen previously that the Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) presents a series of manifestations that can make the academic performance of the child with ADHD may be below what is expected for their age, or even that social relationships are seen also compromised by the character of the child.
For this reason, it is necessary to identify the symptoms as early as possible so that, through a intervention in children with ADHD as specific as possible to favor the optimal development of all their skills.
Previously, the problems associated with hyperactivity were supposed to disappear during adolescence but, although it is true that many hyperactives improve due to the physiological maturation of adolescence, many of their problems, especially when they have not been treated, are maintained during Youth and adulthood.
Generally the Pharmacotherapy It has been the usual vehicle (sometimes not considering other possibilities) to treat ADHD. Currently, other methods are also contemplated, such as behavioral and cognitive-behavioral education, to improve attention and help control excessive motor activity, improve social relationships and cope with tasks of success.
Also the reinforcement of poor school skills and the adaptation of the objectives to the needs and abilities of the child improve their school adjustment and collaborate to a better performance. We must not forget that ADHD is a complex problem that requires intelligent solutions and integrative approaches, adapted to each child.
Treatment characteristics
It is very difficult to say which treatment is the best and which is the worst to address a child with ADHD. It may be that a child does not respond favorably to one type of treatment while another works well enough, while in another case, the treatment is completely different.
Therefore, when initiating any type of intervention, it is necessary to take into account, without excluding any, the common aspects shared by interventions aimed at treating the complex problems defined by this disorder.
One of these aspects is that of individualization. This means that there is no universal treatment for ADHD, since children's responses to it vary greatly from one case to another. The variability of the symptoms, the type of associated problems that may arise or the different family factors in the development of the disorder make an individualized treatment necessary for each particular case.
On the other hand we have the contextualization, since when the treatment begins we must take into account the peculiar aspects of the context where it will take place: the way of reacting and interacting with parents and other people close to the child, the requirements or resources available to them.
He interdisciplinary work It is very important, since there must be a coordinated treatment action among all the professionals involved in the lives of these children. Early intervention in children with ADHD can be developed from different approaches that can be combined according to the special needs of each specific child.
Types of intervention
In children with ADHD who attend the Early Childhood Education stage, fundamentally, they work with behavior modification techniques, which are especially appropriate techniques for the treatment of children in Early Childhood Education due to their adaptation to the level of development. Among the most recommended behavioral techniques for children with ADHD of this age are praise, positive reinforcement, token savings, extinction, or time-out.
In addition to helping them regulate their behavior from the outside through these behavior modification techniques, it is also important to teach them to control themselves. Therefore, it is important that one of the objectives of the treatment is the develop cognitive self-regulation skills.
Another important component of intervention in children with ADHD is to provide help in the area of social skills, determining the real needs in children's social skills.
Sometimes you also resort to Pharmacotherapy, being the psychostimulants the most used drugs at present for the treatment of ADHD. Stimulants enhance the action of different neurotransmitters such as dopamine and norepinephrine, stimulating areas of the brain related to attention, activation and inhibitory processes.
Intervention within the family environment is also very important since there are several factors such as stress, conflicts or inappropriate disciplinary practices that increase the risk of children to suffer from behavior or learning problems and that will hinder the success of children. interventions
As you can see, there is no single model of intervention in children with ADHD, so it is necessary to carry out an exhaustive study of each particular case to see what type of methodology is the most appropriate and thus achieve greater performance.
