At last the tide is turning. The American Academy of Pediatrics is now advising its members, doctors and parents that a child who has mild ADHD behavior problems should first be treated with behaviour therapy rather putting him on ADHD meds straight away. They are also recommending that when the medications fail, as they often do, then behavioral intervention is much more preferable than finding other drugs which might or might not be suitable for the poor child. Now this is sound parenting advice but it has taken a very long time to surface.

More good news has come from the White House! Gregory Fabiano has won an award for his research into ADHD in which he advocates that behavioral interventions are much more effective in changing ADHD behavior than the conventional medications. Dr. Fabiano will now be working with teachers, parents and pediatricians to demonstrate that behavior therapy has a positive effect on ADHD behavior. He goes even further in stating that his research shows that in some cases, ADHD behavior therapy is even more effective than the drugs which have harmful side effects and represent a risk for some children. He wants to work with ADHD teenagers in teaching them to drive and also to involve fathers more in seeking parenting advice and being more involved in parenting ADHD kids.

Notice that here has not been much hype about this and understandably so. The drug companies will not be rushing to offer Dr. Fabiano lucrative contracts and they may even launch a counter offensive by backing other research which will probably claim the opposite.

If behaviour therapy were to be adopted by the majority of doctors and pediatricians, then it would be a great blow to the drugs industry. I do not think this will happen but there is definitely a swing away from the hyped up drugs and parents are seeking valid alternatives in trying to improve ADHD behavior problems. They now have more than prestigious backing and honest scientific research to give them that support.