Washington – For a year, a kitchen timer went everywhere 3-year-old Eddie Fitzgerald did: home, playground, day care.
Counting down the time before he had to switch activities – fun ones or not so fun – helped the Pennsylvania youngster control outbursts spurred by attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, known as ADHD.
New research suggests simple techniques that give more structure to a preschooler’s day can offer a nondrug alternative to help the tiniest sufferers of ADHD.
The research highlights a poorly understood problem. Yes, frazzled parents know it’s normal for preschoolers to be hyperactive and impulsive and have problems paying attention. But some are too hyperactive, too impulsive and too inattentive – they can develop hallmark ADHD symptoms that young.
“We looked at the preschool years as an important window of time in the development of these children,” says Lehigh University psychologist George DuPaul, who co-authored the work.
“We know ADHD carries long-term risks,” including difficulty in school and making friends, he said. “Wouldn’t it make sense to intervene as early as possible?”
Between 3 percent and 5 percent of school-age children are thought to have ADHD; for preschoolers, fuzzier estimates range from 1 percent to 4 percent.
Identifying the littlest patients is difficult.
“Do not be too quick to jump on the bandwagon in making early diagnoses,” says Dr. Louis Kraus, child-psychiatry chief at Chicago’s Rush University Hospital.
“Lots of young kids don’t listen and drive their families crazy,” says ADHD specialist Stephen Hinshaw of the University of California at Berkeley. “But when they’re booted out of preschool, cause head injuries because they’re running in front of cars or falling off kitchen appliances … this condition is going to get this kid in serious trouble.”
ADHD drugs are not formally approved for use in preschoolers, and while they may help some, side effects are more common in younger children, including a worrisome slowing of growth.
Thus, Lehigh’s hunt for alternatives is sparking interest. The five-year study, paid for by the National Institutes of Health, provided a range of behavioral- only therapies to 135 preschoolers with severe ADHD.
Families were given either parent-education classes only or parenting classes plus visits by researchers who customized techniques for each child.
After a year, aggression and other problem behaviors had dropped, and learning improved, by about 30 percent, the researchers report this month in a journal of the National Association of School Psychologists.
Tips to help kids with ADHD
Some techniques to help 3- to 5-year-olds with ADHD, at home and at preschool or day care:
Source: Lehigh University
