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Hurt people hurt people.

Simple rules adhered to when children are young can prevent more serious problems later.

There has been an explosion in the prescribing of medication for very young children, particularly preschool and kindergarten boys (Juli Zito , Univ. of Maryland)

Relationships matter:  change comes through forming trusting relationships. People, not programs change people.

Early intervention is always better than crisis management - but it is never too late to do the right thing.

"Moody" and "unpredictable" are adjectives parents will often use when referring to their teenagers.

If there is no relationship - nothing else matters !

The teenage years require a delicate balance between the young person's need to gain independence, and the parent's need to retain authority.

Children today are under enormous pressures rarely experienced by their parents or grandparents. Many of today's children are being enticed to grow up too quickly and are encountering challenges for which they are totally unprepared.

"The thing that impresses me most about North America is the way parents obey their children"    (King Edward VII , 1841-1910)

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Stimulant Meds for ADHD

Stimulant medications (eg. Ritalin, Adderall, Concerta, Focalin, Dexedrine, Metadate, Methylin, Vyvanse) are the mainstay of medical treatment for ADHD. They have proven quite effective in controlling the symptoms of ADHD with relatively minor and manageable side effects.

There is however some disturbing findings coming from research initiated at Harvard Medical School by Dr. William Carlezon. Investigators have discovered that juvenile laboratory animals given stimulant medications display a loss of motivation when they grow up. These animals look normal, but they are lazy. Further investigations at the Univ. of Michigan, Medical School of South Carolina, Univ. of Pittsburgh, Brown Univ., Tufts Univ. and UCLA as well as schools in Sweden, Italy and the Netherlands have concluded that exposing young animals to these medications – even at low doses for short periods of time – can cause permanent damage to the nucleus accumbens, the part of the brain that is responsible for translating motivation into actions. (Dr. Leonard Sax – Boys Adrift – Basic Books 2007)

These studies are still in the early stages. The risks are not proven. Researchers do not know for sure whether the damage caused in the brains of animal also occur in children who take the same meds.

Stay tuned.

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Workshops

+ Behaviour Management (now available online)

This full day or 2 evening workshop will introduce you […]

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+ A Parent’s Guide to the Teenage Brain

  A teenager’s brain is not just an adult brain […]

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+ Reading Rescue

A program for children with reading problems

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+ A Guided Tour of ADHD (now available online)

This workshop will present the facts, myths, misconceptions, controversy and […]

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See more of our workshops


Contact

2720 Rath Street, Putnam, Ontario
NOL 2BO

Phone: (519) 485-4678
Fax: (519) 485-0281

Email: info@rickharper.ca

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Parents' Comments

“Implementing Rick’s techniques and adhering to them is exhausting, but it is a healthy exhaustion rather than the detrimental exhaustion I used to experience.”

(B.F. – Woodstock)