Diagnosing ADHD is clearly the preliminary step to its treatment. Yet vice versa, an effective yet specific treatment can help in confirming and diagnosing ADHD. Researchers in two separate studies have concluded that hyperactivity in the brain in children with ADHD is causative in an inability of these children to control impulsive hand movements. A study of mirror hand movements on children with ADHD showed that testing the non-dominant hand (successively tapping each finger of that hand to the thumb) produced twice as many mirrored hand movements in the other hand during the test. This was four times more predominant in boys with ADHD than boys without the condition. “The findings reveal that even at an unconscious level, these children are struggling with controlling and inhibiting unwanted actions and behavior,” researcher Stewart Mostofsky, MD, of the Center for Autism and Related Disorders at the Kennedy Krieger Institute of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, says in a news release. Besides, on motor development tests, children with ADHD also scored nearly 60% worse.
Diagnosing ADHD will soon be based on clear and specific clinical symptoms rather than being labeled as spectrum disorder. The following three symptoms are specifically present in ADHD:
- Mirrored hand movements
- Delayed motor milestones.
- Tight cranial sutures.
Dr. John Upledger, DO, of the Upledger Institute in Florida discovered that the craniums of these children are very tight with little or no movement at the sutures. This is especially so for the temporal bone. Releasing this bone on both sides of the cranium at its sutural link to the sphenoid in front, the parietal bone above and the occiput behind, is all that it takes to set free the cranial vault in order to decrease the pressure on the internal milieu of the brain. This has such a powerful effect, that these children have even been able to integrate into normal classrooms.The method described above is known as craniosacral therapy. Along with this using techniques to teach sensory integration, more or less completes the circle of healing. There is also lymph drainage therapy that offers relief through drainage of the dura, a tissue that completely encases the brain. This helps in decongesting the brain and brings relief from decreased pressure. A synthesis of all these techniques is what Healing Dynamics represents and therefore helps to resolve problems with motor control to decrease ADHD severity in children.
By definition a test is an assessment intended to measure a test-taker’s skill, knowledge or physical fitness, or classification in a topic or topics. A performance test is an assessment that requires an examinee to actually perform a measurable task or activity or produce a predictable response to the experience offered by the examiner. Thus Healing Dynamics is helpful in diagnosing ADHD, because the clinical response and results have predictability. Since “the proof of the pudding is in the eating”, the very fact that predictable results are obtained by techniques used in Healing Dynamics, confirms that this is a powerful tool in diagnosing ADHD.
