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Summer Camp Provides Therapy
to ADHD Kids
 BIRMINGHAM,
Ala.
- Camp counselor Annie Artiga stood in a gymnasium on a rainy morning, jotting
down marks on a clipboard as she watched her 10 charges play kickball.
But she
wasn't keeping score. Artiga was recording points based on each child's
behavior, as part of a six-week program for children with behavioral disorders.
One child got points for sportsmanship; another lost points because she couldn't
remember the number of outs in the game.
The camp
— the University of Alabama at Birmingham's six-week Summer Treatment Program —
is one of a growing number nationwide that provide intense behavioral therapy
for children in a summer day camp setting.
"It
addresses a lot of important areas of daily life," said camp director Bart
Hodgens, a clinical psychologist at the university. "The children are developing
social skills, problem-solving skills, academic skills, and we also spend a lot
of time on recreation."
Most of
Artiga's charges have attention deficit hyperactivity, which often impairs
children's ability to function in multiple settings — including home, school,
and in relationships with peers. Symptoms include impulsiveness, hyperactivity
and inattention.
The
University of Alabama's highly detailed program addresses those impairments by
guiding the 24 enrolled children through a strict schedule of sports, academics
and art classes. Before and after each session, staff members lead the children
in a discussion about rules for the games and classroom and camp life.
Children
receive points for correct answers and maintaining eye contact, among other
behaviors. Those points earn the children rewards, such as permission to
participate in weekly field trips.
Vicki
Norris, whose 9-year-old son, William, is returning to the camp for a second
year, said she found the points-and-rewards system so effective that she adopted
it at home.
"I was
actually able to adapt the points system for daily use, and it absolutely
changed the way the whole school year went," Norris said.
The
camp's therapy is based around the concept that medication is simply a quick fix
for children with such disorders — and does nothing, in the long run, without
behavior modification.
It
follows a manual designed by William E. Pelham Jr., professor of psychology,
pediatrics and psychiatry at the State University of New York at Buffalo.
"People
are becoming increasingly aware that even though medication is what's tried with
most ADHD kids, medication alone is not a sufficient long-term treatment,"
Pelham said. "There's a lot of data showing that parents don't like to medicate
their kids."
According
to ADHD experts, such behavioral therapy programs have proven effective in
repeated studies.
"The
behavioral interventions, when combined with medication, are really what we
consider to be the standard of care," said Russell A. Barkley, a research
professor of psychiatry at SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, N.Y.
"We often
recommend that they be combined," said Barkley, who has written nearly 20 books
on ADHD and treatment options. "Many children obviously succeed with medication
alone, but the medication doesn't address all of their difficulties."
Pelham
said the demand for his manual has increased significantly since he developed
the program in the early 1980s. He estimated there are about 100 programs across
the country — including the University at Alabama's camp — that use a version of
his plan.
That
program — with graduate and undergraduate staff members — costs $2,800 for each
child — a sum usually paid by the families. Parents and staff said they hoped
that, in the future, camps would lower their prices or insurance companies would
become more willing to pay for the programs.
"I'd
like to see more of these kind of camps ... and have them be more financially
within reach," said Norris, the mother of camp attendee William. "It gave him
back a world of confidence — helped him develop better techniques for meeting
people and approaching people."
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On the
Net:
University's site:
http://www.circ.uab.edu/Sparks/ADHD/adhd.htm
Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity
Disorder:
http://www.chadd.org
By SHEILA FLYNN, Associated Press Writer
July 20,
2005
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