Slower brain maturity seen in ADHD kids

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Not exactly reassuring, but informative.

Article from AP

I think it is reassuring - not everyone matures at the same rate. I can relate this information to myself and my son.

I've known this for ages. I've always felt like I'm two years younger than I am, chronologically.

I watched this on CNN with DR Gupta and he showed the "healthy brain" and the ADD brain and you could see the lack of activity of parts of the ADD brain,pretty amazing.My first thought though was....This is the "desease model" of the brain.(stay with me here,this gets a bit abstract),what I want to know is......Can they look at these two brain models and KNOW that the area of the ADD brain that are active are not processing information better then the other model?What I mean is...quantity is not quality.

I relate this more to my understanding of the AS brain function,as I dont know as much about ADD(though it seems that many aspiea are also ADD,so perhaps there is some similarities.)Lets assume for a minute that the ADD/AS brains are not "deseased" but preforming differently.(I know that is just crazy thinking,right ).Perhaps the areas of our brains that are not lighting up,allow us more energy for the areas of the brain that are lit and this makes them function better then the "NT" brain in certain functions.Let us further "assume" that if classrooms where designed to educate these ADD/AS brains focussing on the lit areas rather then the nonlit areas(current teaching is designed for the majority brain...NT),the brain would actually excell beyond what the NT brain is capable of.The current system of "learning",having an individual sit in a loud classroom and listen to someone talk
is quit different then learning that has taken place through-out most of societies time on earth.Much of past "learning" occured as one on one aprenticeships,where a child would be trained by watching and assisting the "master crafter" and learn by observation and hands on practice.The other kind of learning(if you were weathy enough)took place in your families private lybraries in quit self teaching and contemplation and person experiments of the things you were learning(ie our great inventors,many probably aspie).

The reason I think this is important is....we are raising a whole generation of kids to think of themselves as "broken NTs" instead of individuals who are "whole" but residing in an environment that is no longer "friendly" to their personal learning sytles.Instead of medicating our brains to better function in a hostile learning environment....I would rather see the "specilialists" focus on how to create a learning environment that is condusive to our learning styles.What happens instead,is often lumping the ADD/AS kids in with kids who have other learning disabilities.Until we stop buying into the belief that our childrens brains "difference is a "desease" we are limiting their potential to excel.


End rant(for now)