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High I.Q. Typical in Children with ADD – Dr. Stephen A. Ferrari
Dr. Ferrari • Jan 22, 2008

Persons with ADD typically have a higher than average intelligence level. Although the many guises of this disorder, along with possibly poor performance and/or behavior, may make it sometimes difficult to recognize, individuals with ADD (both children and adults) tend to be some of the brightest members of our society.

You may have noticed how children with ADD seem to hear everything that goes on around them, even though they’re not paying attention to it. They may exhibit intricate play-imagination, be great at video or computer games, have an excellent memory, or are adept in design or artistic skills. These are all signs of high intelligence, and if you’ve ever wondered about this, you’re instincts were right.

ADD is characterized by an inability to pay attention, and thus attention is widely spread out and stimulated by many different things. This high degree of stimulation is the very thing that creates intelligence in infants. While this difficulty in paying attention is not desirable as a person grows older and needs to focus and control themselves, it does usually tend to make that individual very intelligent.

Therefore, what you have is a very intelligent individual who is unable to express it, resulting in poor performance (grades) and/or behavior. This causes three problems: a child who is wasting his or her potential; a society, which through its rejection of poorly performing individuals, is “throwing away” some of its most valuable assets; and finally, and most importantly in my opinion, a hurting child (appearances often to the contrary) with an inaccurately low self-image (self-esteem), who does not feel good about themselves, and is likely to turn away from those activities which cause them to feel bad (learning and/or getting along with others).

Can we stop this from happening? The answer is more often than not (85-90%) yes, with the proper intervention. Does it matter when this intervention is done? Yes, the sooner the disorder is corrected, the less learning is lost and the less damage there is to self-esteem. Do we need drugs to do this? No, in most cases the brain is capable of correcting the problem with the proper treatment. Neurofeedback is a drug free, painless procedure in which the child learns to re-train the attention mechanisms of the brain, alleviating the condition. Once the training completed, no further treatment is necessary.

To request information on the treatment of Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD, ADHD), Mild to Moderate Autism Spectrum Disorders, Sleep Disorders, Chronic Depression, Chronic Anxiety, and Peak Performance Training contact:

Dr. Stephen A. Ferrari
Alta Neuro-Imaging Neurofeedback
1075 Yorba Place
Suite 105
Placentia, CA 92870
714.990.6536
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