New Research Offers Insight Impulsivity

[misty]

New Research Offers Insight Into Cause Of Impulsivity in ADHD
Posted May 16th, 2007 by amber

We have often felt sorry for those impulsive children who blurt out the first thing that comes to their mind when asked a question, especially if they are about to get into trouble. As most parents know, that first thing that comes out as the answer is usually a lie. And then the child has to spend the rest of the hour covering up the lie, that both he and his parents know is a lie. This is a classic scene of a child with ADHD getting into trouble because of his impulsivity.

As a remedy, we encourage parents to warn the child that they are about to be asked a very serious question, and that their honesty is absolutely required. And that the child is not to answer the question for 30 seconds after being asked, so that they can clearly think about what they want to answer and get it right the first time. This works.

But it is not what this article is about...

Impulsivity in ADHD

Impulsivity in ADHD is seen in two ways: (1) either doing or saying something without thinking first; or (2) not saying “no” to yourself, inhibiting yourself, when you ought to do so.

It seems that a person with impulsivity as a part of their ADHD has a normal ability to say “Go” at the neurological level, but their ability to say “No” or “Stop” comes just a fraction of a second slower. As a result, things are often done, or said, without much self-control practiced.

Vanderbilt Research on ADHD

There is some very interesting new research out of Vanderbilt University’s Center for Integrative and Cognitive Neuroscience that helps to explain impulsivity in ADHD. From their press release, here are the basics of the study:

adhdnewsletter.com/impulsivity

[charliegirl]

As an adult ADHDer, I think that we need to do more than tell our kids they have to wait 30 seconds. Sometimes when you are feeling pressured to answer, the responses get mixed up, sort of like alphabet soup and the first one to come together pops out.

Personally, I don't believe in accusing an adhd child of lying if they answer incorrectly the first time. I believe in asking "is that what you meant to say?" Give them a chance to explain.

I know from experience that when I am put on the spot about something, the way it is presented is different from the reality of what happened that I will say "no, I didn't do that" and then realize that I did do it, but the circumstances were not what the question sounded like.

As an example, I was accused of telling someone at work something that sounded really mean. I, of course, said I hadn't said that. What I had said had been taken completely out of context and once put into context, there was nothing inappropriate about it. The person I said it to didn't take it wrong but someone who wanted to cause trouble tried to use it.

When given the chance to explain, you can get the facts straight and understand what is meant or what really happened, not what you thought the ADHDer meant.

A huge majority of the time, an ADHD child isn't lying and as soon as the words pop out of their mouths, they realize they answered wrong and it wasn't what they meant. When given the chance to retract and/or explain without feeling pressured or accused of deliberately lying, they are comfortable and less likely to choke under pressure in the future.

If you get on their case and accuse them of lying, they are going to be even more stressed in the future and even more likely to blurt out a wrong answer next time.

[misty]

I went on to the website they suggest & read even more about this & its just fascinating!

www.vanderbilt.edu/exploration/stories/neuronrace.html

Thats the link to the story & there are a lot of other subjects to explore while you are there!

[jill]

Thanks for the link.

[unicorn]

Can't wait to be able to check out the link.