Just one generation ago ADHD affected approximately one in 25 students. Today, one in five high school boys are diagnosed with ADHD1. In the United States, of the overall population of children aged 4 to 17, 11% are diagnosed with ADHD according to the latest study published by the Center for Disease Control2. The increases in the rate of diagnosis don’t appear to be abating, which causes concern among parents and a valid debate.
Do we have a true ADHD epidemic in the United States (given that no other country on earth comes close to our rates) or is there an overdiagnosis epidemic? While accurate diagnosis matter for society in general, as a parent of a child who suffers from inattentiveness, it is important to understand which underlying issues can cause inattentiveness and what can be done to improve attention. Understanding the root of inattentiveness is critical to identifying a valid approach to improving attention.
WEAK COGNITIVE SKILLS LEAD TO SYMPTOMS OF INATTENTIVENESS
We rely on a host of interdependent cognitive skills to process new information, namely attention, working memory, and processing speed. Inattentiveness often masks another cognitive weakness and manifests itself as a symptom. For example, weak processing speed can lead to inattentiveness as can an auditory processing weakness or disorder. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link, and cognitive skills sometimes perform to the ability of the lowest common denominator.
When skills can operate more independently, we are able to circumvent a weakness by automatically creating sub-optimal compensatory strategies. If the gaps are too wide or relative strengths are insufficient to compensate, we fail to learn effectively. It is important that we take a holistic approach to understanding the real cause of inattentiveness.
FACTORS OF INATTENTION
Executive functions rely on automatic processing and conscious thinking to organize and integrate an individual’s actions and emotions in the same way a conductor dynamically unifies the distinct instruments of an orchestra. Attention, working memory, and processing speed are three interdependent skills and core components of automatic processing that subserve executive functioning. Our cognitive skills can form a complex web of interconnected dependencies, many of which can affect attention or depend on our ability to pay attention. Without paying attention, we can sabotage our brain’s ability to capture and transmit information for problem-solving or to adequately retrieve learned information (recall).
WEAK COGNITIVE SKILLS LEAD TO SYMPTOMS OF INATTENTIVENESS
We rely on a host of interdependent cognitive skills to process information and learn. Where such dependencies exist, as is the case with attention, these skills sometimes perform to the ability of the lowest common denominator. When skills can operate more independently, we are able to circumvent a weakness by automatically creating sub-optimal compensatory strategies. If the gaps are too wide or relative strengths are insufficient to compensate, we fail to learn effectively.
Cognitive Psychologist and author, Diane McGuinness cites research showing that for many students, instead of attentional difficulty causing learning failure, failure to learn causes frustration, disinterest, and inattention3. This is a possibility worth considering, as treating children for a problem they don’t suffer from, such as ADHD, should be avoided at all costs. Otherwise, we fail to solve the problem, while needlessly altering chemical balances in the brain by attempting a pharmacological solution.