January 16, 2020 - EyeClarity Blog
While training at the Gesell Institute, one thing I noticed was how closely we looked at the birth process. Things like prolonged labor, a C-section delivery, forceps delivery, an epidural or another form of anesthesia, vacuum extraction, or if the cord was wrapped around the baby’s neck during birth, sometimes created interference in the child’s brain development and sensory-motor development. As a result, later on, the child experienced problems that resemble ADHD. Difficulty during the bonding period can also be a risk factor for developing symptoms of ADHD. If the mother has trouble connecting during breastfeeding, this slows the development of the child’s sucking reflex which can affect other primitive reflexes that children need to develop and use when they are infants. Primitive reflexes are useful to infants and babies until they are aged 1 to 1 and a half at which point they should be extinguished. Often, these primitive reflexes linger and they affect brain development in such a way that when the child begins going to school and starts learning to read, the reflexes are still dominating our sensory and motor experience. They are controlled by our “reptilian brain”, so when said child is put under stress, similar to the stress and pressure many children experience in school, their fight, flight, or freeze survival response is activated.
Outside of primitive reflexes being a risk factor for ADHD, another thing I like to consider is whether or not the child is being overdiagnosed. There is so much pressure from society, school, and families that children need to excel in school at younger and younger ages. This creates an extremely high expectation for kids to perform, and if their sensory-motor systems, like their visual or visual-auditory systems, and not fully developed, when they’re put in pressurized learning situations, they are either going to focus harder and try to engage or they are going to flee. Their minds will say, “Get me out of here! I can’t be in this situation!” and their behaviors will show that their sensory systems are not able to meet the demand that is being placed on them.
Other things that are commonly misdiagnosed as ADHD are low blood sugar, allergies (specifically to wheat gluten, chocolate, and dairy), endocrine imbalances in the thyroid or adrenal glands, and metabolic problems with processing glucose, carbohydrates, protein, and fat. These should all be tested and ruled out before diagnosing a child with ADHD.