Center Helps Attention-Deficit Children Focus on Social Skills

At first, you don’t notice the whispering as a teacher reads a book about jazz artist Duke Ellington to a dozen children sitting on the padded floor.

The whispering is going on at the back of the group, where a blond woman sits cross-legged among the children.

“Josh is raising his hand properly.”

“Jeremy is giving good eye contact.”

“Jordan is sitting properly.”

Oops. One anxious, sandy-haired boy blurts something out. Immediately the woman whispers, “Raise your hand.”

The continual whispers are one part of an unusual program at UC Irvine to teach 45 children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Children with ADHD typically have difficulty concentrating or following directions and become easily frustrated. Sometimes, they are hyperactive. As a result, they often end up in trouble at school.

The center doesn’t discourage students from taking drugs such as Ritalin, a controversial stimulant often prescribed for children with the disorder. The popular belief is that ADHD, which occurs in about 3% of children, is caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain. But the focus here is on behavior modification.

“We’re also finding that in addition to the use of medication, the psychosocial intervention is extremely important,” said Stephen Simpson, an educational psychologist who designed the program at UC Irvine. “Medication is effective in helping them increase their attention and focus, but it doesn’t teach them social skills.”

The center accepts children ages 5 to 12 for the one-year program. At the end of the year, most children return to the public schools.

The Irvine Unified School District plans the academic portion of the school’s program. The curriculum at the center is the same as at any school in the district. UC Urvine and its Child Development Center conduct the clinical portion of the program. For one hour each day, specialists trained in behavior modification techniques for children do intensive work with the children.

“The idea is to have intensive interaction to get the child to go toward appropriate behavior and have them take responsibility for that,” said James Swanson, director of the Child Development Center.

During one such session, about five adults stood in a room, monitoring children’s behavior during show-and-tell. Some held clipboards. Minute by minute, they marked down what types of positive and negative behavior the children exhibited.

A few times, the staff told children they were losing points for yelling or speaking out of turn; more often, they awarded points to children for raising their hands, contributing to the show-and-tell, sitting, making proper eye contact, saying nice things and sharing.

“Whenever they do something like that, you tell them they’re doing the right thing,” said Swanson. The goal is for the right behavior--following directions, working patiently, raising hands--to show up 90% of the time.

The public-school education is free. But the clinical portion costs about $1,000 a month, Swanson said. Sometimes medical insurance covers a portion of the fee.

In addition to the staff’s intensive work with the children, parents’ involvement is a requirement. They must attend two-hour sessions once a week for the first six weeks of the program. Then they must make a commitment to come to the school for a couple of hours each week.

Laguna Niguel resident Christine Hammond says the program has worked for her 6-year-old son Blake, who had seemed doomed to trouble.

Like many children with ADHD, Blake has always been bright. He knew the alphabet by the time he was 18 months old, but he also was hyperactive. When Hammond took him to social events, everyone knew his name by the end because he was so disruptive, she said. He was diagnosed as having ADHD when he was 2.

In preschool, Hammond noticed other problems. He touched everyone else’s lunch. He grabbed toys from other children. He never completed tasks. During nap time, Blake would continue chatting and walking. He couldn’t stand next to her for more than a minute and had frequent and loud temper tantrums.

Hammond signed Blake up for the Child Development Center when he was 5. A few months later, after the center showed her how it could help Blake modify his behavior, Hammond was able to stop his afternoon doses of Dexedrine. Blake still takes Dexedrine in the morning, but that’s all he needs, Hammond said. The center has taught Hammond how to reinforce the behavior Blake learns at school. Now, she said, he has fewer temper tantrums and can follow directions. The family has some peace. “My neighbors notice,” she said. “My family notices. We can have a family holiday now.”

The Child Development Center can be reached at (949) 824-ADHD.